Mardi Gras #2

The Depravity of Man

A friend called me last week and invited me to go do some street evangelism at Mardi Gras in New Orleans. After thinking and praying it through I felt like I should go. I knew that Mardi Gras was wild and filled with partiers, but it exceeded my expectations. I have been among the party crowd before doing evangelism and this was similar just multiplied by a factor of 10.

What goes on at Mardi Gras? Most people are aware of the party atmosphere, the copious amounts of alcohol and the scantily clad (if clad at all) people. But, there are some things that you don’t hear about or see on t.v. There is open drug use, public sex acts, voodoo, demonologists, fortune tellers, and all kinds of lewd and lascivious behavior. A police officer once told a friend of mine that the only thing that is illegal during Mardi Gras is inciting a riot and public urination. All ten of the Ten Commandments were broken in clear site with no shame.

Let me give you an example. As we walked down Bourbon Street just as we passed the porno shop, I saw two girls dancing to the street music. As we got closer they were not just dancing but they were basically gyrating in a motion to imitate like they were having sex. Now, these girls did happen to have on their clothes, there are those who do not, but what really shocked me was their age. They stopped for a moment and I approached them and asked their age. They were 16 and 17. I attempted to share Christ with them, but they were more interested in resuming their lewdness. 16 years old!!!!

It breaks my heart to see such young teens caught in the bondage of sin. Their only hope is to be redeemed by Jesus Christ. I pray that He saves them before it is too late.
You might be tempted to think that the only people that do things that are done at Mardi Gras are the losers of society. Not so. The losers are there, but so are your neighbors, and co-workers. There were people of all ages, races, colors and creeds. These are people that could be a mechanic or an accountant. This is not something that is isolated to a few days in New Orleans. We may not see it exactly, but there are people that we see in our everyday life that are caught in sin.

I was thankful for what the Lord did in my own life. I was thankful for the opportunity to share the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. I pray that seeing the depravity of man will motivate me to share that good news more often.