The Better Dessert

It was similar to I-Hop, with a Japanese Country twist: Their main and most famous dishes were omelets. Its a Thursday night, and sitting across the table from me is a very unlikely contact. He is a high class professional businessman in Shibuya, Tokyo. The company he works for is an immense pharmaceutical giant in the world of medicine, and here he is, sitting across from me.

The beginning of our relationship is how many should start, but countless times never do. I am at Starbucks, drinking my overpriced Japanese coffee, when out of the corner of my eye, I see him holding a piece of paper with Kongi and English. This was my segway for conversation. As we began to talk, I soon found out he would travel to New York, Chicago, and LA to close deals for his company. You do not send a low level businessmen to represent your company in America. He was so delighted to talk and interested in my story that he offered to take me to dinner in the future.

We connected at this local Japanese casual restaurant, and it is here the mystery of the Gospel was presented to him. As we dove into the topic of religions, I knew my work was cut out for me. Most Japanese do not believe in a religion, but most believe there are 8 million gods, and everything around you is a god. Not to limit the amount of gods, for the 8 stands for infinity. This man believed somewhere along these lines. So then, after intently listening to his thoughts and views, I begin to layout a case for Christ.

We discuss a multitude of topics, from the historical accuracy of the Bible, the nature of God, and the differences between Christianity and all other worldly religions. But as I found through personal experience, numbers of manuscripts and theological philosophy will not fully capture the image of Christ to those who are lost. The most personal and powerful story of the Gospel is not found in an academic book or in statistics - it is found in us. The story of how Jesus’ good news saved and changed us.

This story comes from the heart. As I began to pour out my life of how Christ changed me, I could see true understanding in his eyes. My friend was not bored with the story. I quoted the end of the beatitudes in Matthew were Jesus calls us to be salt and light in the world, to let our light so shine before men that they will see our works and glorify our God who is in heaven. I told him how I want my life to be different.

This was the sticking point to move into a metaphor of how I wanted my life to be. I heard this example many years ago, and through the years, it has flowed into the context of my conversation. But never before as perfect as this.

“Imagine I am eating a dessert,” I said. “Its just so good, the cream, the chocolate, the little nuts that tie the flavor together...This is perfect.” (Cue waiter, walking to table beside us with breathtaking dessert.) “But wait, look at that dessert over there. It makes mine look like nothing! Look at the precision, the creativity, the flavors, the art. After looking at it, I feel like mine is missing something. I wish I could have that something which makes it different. I want the better dessert.”

God’s perfect timing spurred me on to drive home the point. When people see my life, I want them to see me as the better dessert. I want them to look at their life and say, “What does he have that I don’t?” In this world of darkness and despair, in this world of seeker and sinners, every person is looking for something to fulfill their life. As the believers in Antioch whom first were called Christians, may we be salt to a tasteless life, may we be light to the dark places, and in a world searching for something more, may we be the better dessert.

Pray for my friend, as I connect him with a missionary who lives here, he will continue to have a thirst and desire to know the one and true God of the Bible.