With the explosion of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, I’ve noticed many of you are using this type of venue to courageously share your faith, especially when you may not be so inclined to do so in person. Of course, we still want to encourage all of you to “get up, GET OUT and share your faith,” but even when you use these sites to share the great news that is the Gospel of Christ, you are being obedient and the Lord is glorified.

Sadly, I’ve also seen many of you enter into a tremendous struggle as your friends and family have expressed THEIR feelings when you make a stand for the Gospel. There seems to be much anger coming from those we love, and I know from personal experience that while it can make me completely frustrated, more often than not, it simply fills me with a great sadness. The only thing we need to keep coming back to is to remember that as the message is rejected over and over again, our Lord still receives glory every time, in Truth, His name is mentioned!

So with this in mind, I’ve written another letter you that you can send to your friends and family, explaining the reasoning as to why you feel it is so important that you proclaim the truth of the Gospel to them, even at the risk of offending them and potentially destroying a good relationship. Please don’t do a “cut and paste” job, instead, personalize and edit it to your liking—the last thing your friend wants is a “form letter.” Just use it as a possible guide, and allow your own compassion to funnel through YOUR own voice!



Dear _________________

It seems you and I have been engaged in some “spirited” discussion lately, and truth be told, I know I’ve said some things that have upset you. First of all, I want you to know that I hope I’ve been compassionate and kind in my tone and demeanor throughout our conversations. If you feel that this was not always the case, please let me know because I want to make sure my attitude is always in check and beyond reproach.

Also, whatever the direction our conversation goes from here on out, it is also important that you realize that there is nothing we can say to each other that will stop me from caring for you. You may not see this as clearly as I’d like you to, but the whole reasoning for my sharing the Gospel with you is rooted in the fact that you are very important to me.

Listen, we’ve gone through the various positions of our arguments back and forth for awhile, so I won’t do that here. But here’s what I think it all comes down to: if I believe that you, as a self-professed non-Christian, upon your death will go to a place as horrible as Hell, then I owe you, as a true friend, to tell you what has to be done in order to avoid such a horrendous place. Look, you don’t agree with my beliefs; I understand that. But how could you consider me a friend if I thought these things and yet kept them to myself? In fact, if I did decide to keep silent, I would EXPECT you to be hurt and offended even if you thought what I was saying was ridiculous!

In respect of the history of our friendship, would you consider this last little analogy? Okay, here goes: you are driving down a dirt mountainous road, unaware that you’re heading for a 100 foot cliff. Now I am up ahead, on the other side of that cliff, talking to you on a cell phone, completely aware that in moments you will soon meet your untimely death. Since you are my friend, I want to start screaming into the phone, begging you to hit the brakes, but instead, something stops me. Nagging thoughts enter my mind as I begin to consider the fact that you might really be enjoying your scenic drive, and my persistent warnings may put a damper on your trip. I am also afraid that you may not believe these various warnings and thus get mad at me, ultimately putting a strain on our relationship—a relationship that is invaluable to me.

Now you know where I’m going with this, so I think I’ll put “the brakes” on my little story. The basic idea behind it is that the feelings I have for you motivate me to share the Truth with you, regardless as to how you may take it. Please: I will never be angry with you for choosing NOT to believe what I do, but please put yourself in my shoes and know that, yes, I want you to be heaven someday, but more importantly, I want to see your sins forgiven just like He has forgiven mine. My eyes have been opened to this forgiveness and to His grace and mercy—and I just want the same for you.

I will promise you that you never have to worry about me “cramming my religion” down your throat. I have given you the Gospel Truth and will continue to do so when the opportunity arises, but I will also continue to do everything in my power to keep up the relationship that we have shared for a long time. In time, our differences may split us apart, but please know my feelings for you will never change, even if yours might.

Oh, and know that I will also continue to pray for you as well (you can’t stop me from doing that!

Your Friend,