There are so many awesome things about being a Christian. I think the best things are knowing that Jesus has taken away sin and defeated death, and knowing that I have a one-way ticket into heaven. But these things aren’t awesome for my family and friends who don’t know Jesus. Just like anyone else who doesn’t know Jesus, they haven’t had their sins taken away, and they don’t have a ticket to heaven.
Paul says in Romans 6:23 that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Notice the parallel between death and eternal life. It’s one or the other. If people are not following Jesus, there is no way they can access heaven on their own. Everything they work for leads to death.
This is a seriously bad and sad position for them to be in. But they don’t have to stay in that position.
Is there anything we can do to help them?
God, in his great wisdom and mercy, has given us the job of telling people about Himself. In fact, he’s commanded it. He said to them “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” (Mark 16:15)
It’s our responsibility to be actively sharing what Jesus has done, and we need to be sharing this with our family, our friends, and anyone else we come across. One easy way to do this is to bring our friends to youth group or church where you know the message of Jesus will be preached clearly. It’s a great place for your friends to hear the good news and believe!
Sometimes inviting our friends is easy, but sometimes we might find inviting our friends scary or hard. Here are some practical steps to help you do this.
Three steps to inviting your friends
1. Think of some people you could invite.
Which friends need to hear about Jesus? Is there anyone in your class who would come? Don’t limit this list to just your close friends either. There are probably many people you interact with every day who would be happy to be invited to youth group.
2. Be praying for the people you want to ask.
It might be our job to tell them, but God is the one doing all the behind the scenes work, so we need his help! Pray that God would give you the courage to invite your friends, and pray that they would say yes and be able to come along!
3 Ask them to come along!
Remember, do this honestly, don’t try to hide the gospel or be ashamed of it. Don’t invite your friends for a night of games games and more games, and then forget to mention the forty minute bible study – this will leave your friends feeling deceived and they will be less likely to want to come back. Be honest and upfront about the purpose of youth group and church – isn’t that why you’re inviting them anyway?
Put it into action!
Over the Easter season this year, be thinking about who you can invite, be praying for them, ask them along to a Good Friday or Easter Sunday service, and let God do the rest!