That guy standing in the Quad yelling at people

Ok, I'm really riled about this, and it just happened to me, so forgive any grammatical errors that I'm sure will occur.
So you know that guy who was going to burn the Quran? yeah, I think I just met his cousin or something.
I'm walking to the library, which, according to an upper classman I talked to moments before this happened, automatically stamps the word FRESHMAN on my forehead. I'm on my merry little way when I see this middle aged guy standing on the raised grass in the quad, holding a bible, yelling.
Oh crap.
First off, anyone who carries a bible in their hand and makes a fool of themselves makes me want to punch babies. Seriously. Could you try to be articulate about your beliefs and not just solidify the notion that all Christians are idiots?
As he continues to yell about nothing in particular, I see that a few recognizable people from the WSU "Free Thought Club" were gathering around.
My thoughts on the Free Thought Club: I find it somewhat ironic that they advertise for "free thought" yet only adhere to the atheist/agnostic view. What if I'm a Muslim who loves free thought. Or a Christian who loves free thought? Am I not allowed in? So they should really just call themselves the Atheist/Agnostic club. That makes a lot more sense.
Ok, back to the incident. I see that this guy is screaming at one of the free thought kids. Way to be the mature one there, buddy.
I pass by. Don't make eye contact. Don't associate with this guy.
I say a little prayer, "God, please just let this guy shut up soon."
But as I'm approaching the library a thought pops into my head. Go back. Oh hey there little voice in my head that convinces me to make right choices. Nice to hear from you again.
So, I go back, not really sure of what I'm going to say. Maybe I'll chastise him for being such a poor representation of Christ. Maybe I'll tell him that he makes me sad and walk away justified.
When I get there he is still screaming at this guy. Crazy dude is trying to explain the dead sea scrolls in a really awful way, and free thought guy is just screaming "JESUS ISN'T REAL! JESUS ISN'T REAL!"
Is this what Jesus had in mind when he said "Go into all the world and preach the gospel." Two incredibly closed minded people in a screaming match. Neither one able to convince the other? That doesn't remind me of Jesus at all.
In the midst of this, I raise my hand (once again, probably labeling me as a freshman) and very politely ask "Can I ask you something?"
"Hang on!' he yells at me, and turns back to continue his pointless argument.
A few more people gather around, a few start trolling him. "Do gingers have souls?" "Let's start a rousing chorus of 'God Dammit'".
"You should wash your mouth out with soap!" He replies. I really have no point to make with this one, I just thought it was funny. I mean, seriously, who even says that?
He continues with his screaming. He's red in the face as he makes a really poorly constructed argument. Ugh. Come on, this one is so easy dude. But because he's yelling and arguing, no one will even listen to try to understand his point. Way to be weird yelling guy.
But once I get my chance to talk to him, I don't really know what to say, so I kind of just wing it.
"Do you really think this is an effective way to reach these people for Christ?"
He immediately gets defensive. "Oh," he yells "So what are you? A Muslim, and Atheist?"
"I'm a Christ Follower."
He looks at me like he didn't understand what I had said.
"A Christ Follower?"
"Yes, and i really don't think this is an effective way to get people to listen to the gospel. You're making me really sad."
Then he goes off at me. Yelling about how this is exactly what Paul did and Peter and even Jesus. he made claims that I hadn't read the story of Paul and even that I hadn't read the bible. I try to continue a real conversation with him, but all he does is yell.
This guy sitting on the stone wall next to me, just looks at me and says "He's just trying to piss you off."
"Yeah, he is pissing me off."
He was pissing every body off.
I felt pretty helpless, in that situation. I mean, he wasn't listening to me. Every time I tried to speak, even going as far as saying "Can you be quiet and let me talk?" he shut me down. It was as if he were incapable of hearing anything but his own voice.
"Do you know why I do this?!" He screams at me "Because for four years no Christians shared the gospel with me!"
"That's very sad." I reply calmly.
"Yes, it is." and it's almost as if he hadn't expected anyone to reply that way.
And in that moment when his face relaxed, I saw how much tension and hatred had been held there.
Just as I thought this, a girl behind me chimes in.
"You gotta do it out of love!"
"What's that?" the man yells. It's kind of like he has no other register.
"Out of love man. You can't be screaming at everybody who disagrees with you. That's not what Jesus did."
"And you know what Jesus did?! Have you read the bible?!"
"Yes! I have, I carry my bible with me!"
And there she goes, pulling out the sword. She carries, not the pocket bible. Not just the New Testament. She doesn't have it on her iPod or Blackberry. Huge, in a leather case, and most likely filled with papers and notes, comes her bible from her purse. Way to be awesome girl.
What happened next truly surprised me.
Applause.
The crowd of "Free thinkers" and Christians alike were applauding this wonderful, strong, brave sister of mine.
The soap box guy, however was not.
"Have you read it cover to cover?!" he shouts.
"Yes, I have."
"Then you know what Jesus and Peter and Paul did! They did exactly what I'm doing now."
"No, they didn't. They did it out of love. There is no love here." Then she addresses the crowd. "Y'all need to leave. He's just trying to make you angry. You gotta do it out of love."
As she walks away, this guy who is trying to 'profess' Christ, hurls out insults at her.
"Oh, so you're a bible scholar? You've read the whole bible? You know everything?" Every word out of his mouth is cutting and condescending.
"No," she turns "I'm just a Christ Follower."
Holy crap, do I love this person!
And then I realized why I had to go back. Did I change the heart of that guy? No. Probably not. He's probably going to be there more throughout the year, and probably at other universities. But maybe we might have reached someone in that crowd. Or maybe not. Maybe someone saw that not all "Christians" are raving, chemically imbalanced, unreasonable lunatics. Or maybe not. But something might have started. And that's all that matters.
She really couldn't have said it any better. You gotta do it out of love. That's the thing that will make the differance in someones life. Did Jesus stand on hills preaching? Yes. But he did it out of love. And so did Paul, and so did Peter and every other great saint who professed Christ. Because that's really what Jesus is all about. "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him." John 3:17.
I don't know that girl who pulled out her bible, but everything that she said were all the things that I wanted to say, but didn't know how. I don't know two things about her, except that she's my sister. And that's all it took for something to maybe start.