Actions Speak Louder

When's the last time you really invested in a non-believer's life?

Last night I was able to hang out with friends from high school for the first time all summer. I live in a small town border line country where I've known about 90% of my classmates from kindergarten. However, not one of them has a relationship with the Lord. As I was with them last evening I was shocked at the types of conversations that came up because I've basically lived in a bubble this entire summer- pretty much for the past two years even. Late into the evening I was asked a question by one of the girls that convicted me instantly. She asked, "When's the last time you heard a swear word in person?" Honestly, I couldn't remember.

This might seem like nothing so some, but for me growing up in a very nonreligious community this showed that I wasn't there anymore. I had traded my friends from elementary that didn't believe in God for Christian friends that I have just about everything in common with. Don't get me wrong, it's extremely important to have those relationships with other believers to encourage and lift them up in their walk, but how often do we forget about our witness in friendships?

Romans 10:14 says "How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?"

These friends are completely engulfed in the world. They come from broken homes and resort to the pleasures of sin to find happiness. Many of them are not looking for God because they think their life is complete living however they choose. They're not the poor or the needy, they're middle class sinners, just like you and me. But they don't have anyone to reach out to them.

As I thought through all of this last night I asked one of the guys what the best way to show that I'm a Christian is to him. He answered with, "By being our friend, accepting us for who we are, and being yourself". They don't need someone to preach words at them- they've most likely heard that before- they need someone to live like Christ in their life. When we live in a society that bashes Christianity and says we're the hypocrites, how much more then do we need to realize how important it is to live like Christ?