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When I was in high school, I "accepted Christ". I find out later that the more accurate verbiage was that He accepted me, but I digress. And I am thankful, regardless.
Back in the early 90's, it was common to be "sold out" for Christ, or "on fire" for Christ. Not saying this is good or bad, though it did cause a great many of us to have to come to grips with not having that excitement that we equated with being "on fire" as we grew out of our care-free younger years.
Back then, there were many times where we told our friends, "hey man, keep me accountable. 'As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another', you know. I struggle in this area, and I'm being honest with you so that you can can best help me stay on the straight and narrow", etc, etc. I'm sure these things are common in every generation.
What I found, though, was that what my friends REALLY wanted was a Christian they could sin with, who wouldn't really remind them that they are called to a higher standard, and that walking the Christian walk means giving up a lot of things. You see, a lot of big, mainstream churches like to talk about how tough the Christian life is, and then spend all their time trying to make it as easy as possible. When you read the Scriptures, you find that it IS a lot tougher than we originally thought, and what we thought would be a simple decision turns out to be a lifetime of denying ourselves what our flesh tells us we REALLY want. My friends wanted the semblance of being held accountable without having to make the tough decisions on who to spend their time with, how to behave, jokes to make, etc. When it came down to really being reminded that we are to attempt to live holy lives, they got mad when I did what they asked.
So now I'm 31. I thought I left high school FAR behind, but it turns out you never really go too far from it. There's a great deal of immaturity in all of us, and it comes out at inopportune times, making us look rather foolish.
I have a friend who I thought was my best friend. He came (back) to our friendship after he was having problems with the girl he originally left it for. She was now his wife, and she was now leaving him (She was not a Christian, and he was). When he dropped the news on me, I was flummoxed, and I dropped everything to meet him at the pub for a pint or three to talk. All of what had passed, things that were said to me; it was all forgotten, because he needed a friend, and now.
The divorce went through, after 3 years of pain on his part, begging her to come back, etc., etc. He wanted to reconcile, and he put himself through hell and back obeying the Session and making impassioned, heartfelt pleas to her to return. It was all to no avail, though she toyed with him, to be sure. I was there as much as I could be, knowing that he'd be weak at this point, and knowing that he needed a friend.
Fast forward to now, where he's decided that he wants to begin a relationship with another non-Christian. What's more, he's decided he wants to flip the bird to me, God, our Church, etc., regardless of the fact that I was there for this friend when he needed someone to be there for him. All was forgiven when he needed a friend, and now, he could care less again. He lies to me when I ask him what's happening, and he never bothers to talk anymore.
I've got a lot going on right now with my family. We just had our first child in December, and he's taxing my wife and I, and our relationship... I don't have the time I once did to encourage my buddy as I once did. I don't have the time to go down to the pub as often as I would like. I can't sit and play video games as I used to be able to do every now and again.
But that doesn't mean I don't care. I'm just sick of being the only one.
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