"You pushed me into this, God, and I let you do it. You were too much for me. And now I'm a public joke. They all poke fun at me. Every time I open my mouth I'm shouting, "Murder!" or "Rape!" And all I get for my God-warnings are insults and contempt. But if I say, "Forget it! No more God-Messages from me!" The words are fire in my belly, a burning in my bones.
I'm worn out trying to hold it in. I can't do it any longer! Then I hear whispering behind my back: "There goes old 'Danger-Everywhere.' Shut him up! Report him!" Old friends watch, hoping I'll fall flat on my face: "One misstep and we'll have him. We'll get rid of him for good!" Jeremiah 20:7-10 (The Message)
Every single person is in a position to lead…it doesn’t matter how good you are at your sport, or how popular you are on your campus, every person has the opportunity to influence other people.
I played JV soccer this past year at my high school, but I’m friends with all of the Varsity guys and I would always talk and hangout with them.
One day before training I walked into the Varsity room just to say hey and they were all talking about sex. They were asking each other, “Have you had sex before?” When I walked in on the conversation, one of my friends turned around and asked me this same question. I sat and thought for a moment, God has just given me this opportunity to tell someone about Him and I could either lie and go with the crowd or I could step out in faith KNOWING I would be made fun of.
I told him I had never had sex before, to which he responded with a question I knew he would ask, “Why?” The question “why” is always going to open up an opportunity for you to tell someone about the God you serve. I told my friend that I wanted to wait until marriage and that it was because of my faith that I didn’t believe in having sex before marriage. He laughed at me. But when we put ourselves on the line for Christ we have to expect for people to make fun of us and laugh because they don’t believe in the same way of life we do.
Even though people may make fun of you because you follow a God that they do not, once you put yourself on the line for Christ, it’s like you are putting a huge target on your back for people to shoot at you. People are going to LOOK for you to mess up so that they can point out that you’re just like everyone else. One misstep and people will shoot you down, it doesn’t matter if your mistake is big or small. People are hoping that you fail and fall flat on your face…but don’t stop. You’re blessed if people are tearing you down for your faith!
Put a target on your back, answer the "why" question with the faith and confidence in the work of Jesus Christ and show the world that you cannot be shot down!
- Have you ever been laughed at for telling someone about Christ? Did you stop because they were laughing?
- Do you have a target on your back?
- What opportunities do you have to share Christ?
- Jeremiah 20:7-10
- 1 Peter 2:11-12
- 1 Peter 4:16