Q: How can I reach out to my “cool” friends without looking like a “loser”?
A: That is an incredibly good question! When you hear a good joke or funny story or watch a good movie, you want to tell or show someone else. It’s natural! It’s the same way when you come to know Jesus. After Jesus becomes our Savior, one of the natural first steps we should take is to tell our family and friends what has happened and how they can come to know Jesus, too! This is the best news ever! We are all sinners, condemned to spend eternity separated from God, but Jesus came to earth and died in our place, taking our punishment. That’s way better than any joke, story, or movie!
There are at least three reasons to share your faith or “reach out” to friends:
1.)For your friends! Revelation 20:15 says, “And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” Why tell your friends? To save them from an eternity separated from God in the lake of fire, hell. Would you really be a good friend if you didn’t warn your friend about what happens when we die? If you knew your friend was sleeping in a burning building, would you try to warn her? I hope so! I hope you’ll do the same with your friends’ eternal destiny!
2.)For yourself! God has commanded that Christians “go into all the world and preach the gospel [the good news of Jesus] to every creature.” (Mark 16:15) That includes your friends-all of them! Jesus said that sharing Him with the world was not optional: “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32-33) Will you deny Jesus in your friendships? If so, you don’t really know Him, and He will one day deny you before His Father.
3.)For God! When the Lord appeared to Isaiah in Isaiah 6, He asked, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” And Isaiah replied, “Here am I, Lord, send me!” For whom was Isaiah going to the people? For the people, to save them from hell? No! For God-to declare His glory to the people so the “earth may be filled with the glory of the Lord”! Our love for people will run dry and not always motivate us. We have to share for the glory of God-to make Him known and share how amazing He is!
That question was good and very important; however, it is not a valid question. What would you tell me if I asked: “How can I learn to breathe without using my lungs?” I’m pretty sure you would tell me that yes, knowing how to breathe is important, but I can’t breathe if I’m not willing to use my lungs. In the same way, learning to reach out to our friends is important, but we can’t share our faith with our “cool” friends if we’re not willing to look like a “loser”. “And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But He who endures to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 10:22) Following and obeying Jesus is hard and may cost you friends! Jesus never said it would be easy.
I think a more valid question then would be “How can I reach out to my cool friends?” My answer? The same way you would reach out to your “uncool” friends! Tell them what Jesus did for you, invite them to church or a youth group activity, then share Jesus with them. Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort have an acrostic to help you remember how to share Jesus: WDJD.
W-Would you consider yourself to be a good person? Most people will say yes. The Bible disagrees, so keep going!
D-Do you think you’ve kept the 10 commandments? You’ll probably be told that they have… mostly, or that they think so. Ask if you can walk through a few. Ask if they’ve ever lied. When they say yes, ask them what that makes them (a liar). Ask if they’ve ever stolen something and what that makes them (a thief). It doesn’t matter how big the thing they stole was. Ask if they’ve ever disobeyed their parents. When they admit they have, tell them those are just three of the ten commandments (you can walk through more if you want to) and the Bible says the only thing we have to do to be guilty on judgment day is break one (James 2:10).
J-If God judged you using the 10 commandments on judgment day, would you be innocent or guilty? If they say innocent, take them back to the 10 commandments and show them again that they have broken God’s law and are therefore guilty. When they admit they are guilty, ask, “Would you go to heaven or hell?” They should say hell. If not, remind them that the Bible says the punishment for sin is death-separation from God forever in hell.
D- Does that concern you? At this point, if they say no, they are obviously not ready to hear the good news of Jesus and what he has done for them. Tell them you care about them and will pray for them. If they say yes, you can tell them all that Jesus has done for them and how if they turn from their sin (repent) and trust that what Jesus did for them on the cross was enough to pay for their sin, God will forgive their sin and give them the free gift of eternal life along with the Holy Spirit who gives us the desire and strength to live for God.
Your friend will most likely not respond the first time you talk to them. That’s ok! Keep sharing Jesus not only with your words, but also by the way you live your life. If they see you are a hypocrite, they won’t want anything to do with ‘your Jesus’. Pray for them no matter what, and be patient, not pushy.
I had a friend a few years ago who was not a follower of Jesus. Her name was Jen, and as much as I valued our friendship, I knew she needed Jesus. So I told her about Jesus and how He had died to pay the penalty for our sin. She had a really hard time believing that, and kept pushing all my talk about God away. I never gave up on her, though. I continued to be her friend and show her Jesus by the way I lived and shared Him with her every chance I got. This went on for several years, and then one day, I found out that she had died. She was only 16 years old. It was hard for me to hear that, because I don’t know if she ever trusted in Jesus for Salvation. But I know it would be so much harder for me if I had never shared Jesus with her.
So be bold for Jesus! Don’t be afraid of what your friends will think of you. You wouldn’t worry about that if they were in a burning building, would you? “And do not fear those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28)What’s the worst that can happen? You may be made fun of or laughed at. You may be called a “loser”. But Jesus tells us that whoever “loses” his life for the gospel, will find true life, and that those who are persecuted, or made fun of for their faith, will have great reward in heaven. (Matthew 5:12)
Matthew 10:19-20 tells us not to even be afraid that we don’t know what to say- “Do not worry how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.” God will give you words!
After reading this, by still refusing to reach out to your friends, you’re saying two things about what’s really true in your heart:
1: You don’t think your friend is worth the risk of being laughed at.
2: You don’t think God is worth the risk of being laughed at.
1 Corinthians 15:33 warns us, “Do not be deceived: evil company corrupts good morals.” If your friendship with your “cool” friend is more important to you than your friendship with God, maybe your morals have already been corrupted. Maybe it’s time to stop being such close friends with that friend. Yes, I realize that is radical, but Matthew 5 tells us we should go so far as cutting off parts of our bodies if they are keeping us from God. “It is better that one of your members [or friendships!] should perish than for your whole body to be cast into hell.” (Matthew 5:25)
Jesus took your friends’ eternal destiny so seriously that He died for them. I pray you will get serious, too.
No comments:
Post a Comment