I don’t know about you, but most of my life I have been in Christian circles of friends, but now I am mostly around non-believers. I hang out with a group of friends during lunch every day during school. Generally, I don’t say much because I am naturally quiet and the conversations they carry usually revolve around TV shows, partying, awkward topics, and other random stuff. That is lunch.
Why do I hang out with them? That is a question I ask myself often. On one hand, “The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.” –Proverbs 12:26. Friends can build up and strengthen, but if your friends are not seeking the Lord, they can lead you to think or do things that compromise your faith. But on the other hand, “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.” –Matthew 11:19. Even people who saw Jesus said he was a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. But his deeds spoke otherwise. So, I think how we act around others can be a huge testimony to them. Also there is this to take into account: “To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” -1 Corinthians 9:21-23. Paul becomes weak so as to save the weak. He becomes like the lawless to save the lawless. I am not saying that we should do whatever the rest of the world does so as to save them, but I am saying that we should live at a place where we can minister to the lost. If people aren’t drawn to the church, we should go out into the streets and meet them at their level.
But is what I am doing ministering to my friends and meeting them at their level? Honestly, I have days when I want to walk away from whatever they are talking about. It is a balance between being with them and trying to find opportunities to minister to them, and acting like them. One my friends in that group says she is a Christian, yet is no different from the others. That is my fear. I do not want to go astray under the influence of my friends at school.
God calls us all to be bearers of Himself to the lost. I believe that one of the best ways to do that is through love. To love others right where they’re at. Not wanting them to change who they are before you will love them. Befriend them and show them that you’ll be there for them when they need you. The way I see it, witnessing is like breathing. You have to inhale before you can exhale. In other words, you have be filled with the Spirit before you can really be a light to your friends at school. Stay in a strong relationship with the Lord. Spend time in God’s Word and in prayer. If you are filled up with Christ, you are less likely to let your mind be filled with things that aren’t pleasing the God. If you arent 'breathing God in', you probably arent witnessing by the Spirit, and thus, could be dragged down rather than building up.
So, my encouragement to you is this: Spend time with God. Your life should reflect your relationship with Him. And other people will see a difference in you.
In Christ,
-Daniel C.
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