My Best Friend Needed God

He was my best friend in the whole world. I wanted him to go to heaven and I wanted to spend eternity with him.
by Jarrod Stichter, as told to Chris Lutes 

I  punched Rick. He punched me. We ended up in detention together. As we walked out of detention, we got to talking about how stupid our fight had been. Before we knew it, we were best friends. After that, we only fought for fun, like when we watched pro wrestling together. That was way back in fifth grade.

Then something happened in middle school that totally turned my life around. A guy from school named Dave kept bugging me to come to his church youth group. For three months, he nagged me and nagged me. I finally said, "Dave, I'll go once, if it will shut you up!"

To make a long story short, I went, met a lot of cool people there, went back again and again, and I soon ended up asking Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. God totally changed my life, too. I know it sounds weird, but life suddenly seemed like an exciting adventure.

The bad thing was, Rick didn't feel the same way about God as I did. That really bothered me. After all, he was my best friend in the whole world. I wanted him to go to heaven and I wanted to spend eternity with him. And I wanted him to find out how cool life could be with Jesus Christ at the center of it.

One night during the summer before eighth grade, we camped out in his back yard. As we stared upward at the star–dotted darkness, Rick started asking me a lot of questions about religion. Soon I was telling him about everything I knew at the time. No big theological insights. I just knew the basics: Without God, we're sinners bound for hell. With Christ, we're saved and that means heaven. Most of all, I told him how Jesus had changed my life.

"I don't know too much, dude," I remember saying. "But I do know that without Jesus we're lost. Just try it, just try asking God to change your life. If it doesn't work, forget it. But at least try it."

He told me that what I'd said seemed to make sense and that he'd like to give God a try. So I asked him to repeat a prayer: "God, I know I'm a sinner. Please change my life for the better. Take away my sin. I want to give my life to you."

God did change Rick's life that night. Now he's one of the strongest Christians I know. He's even shared Jesus with his mom and now she's a Christian.

It's really cool to think about how sharing God works. Dave invited me to youth group and I became a Christian. I then told Rick about God and he became a Christian, and then Rick talked to his mom and she became a Christian. Who knows how God will use Rick's mom to lead others to Jesus. It's like this cool ripple in a pool that keeps going and going and going.

Witnessing gets me excited, but I know I need to be careful. I can't measure success by how many people pray after I talk to them. When I get that kind of attitude, my youth pastor tells me to lighten up. He says to leave the results to God. That makes sense. God is the one who changes hearts, not me. I just need to share my beliefs with the right attitude and then let God do what he wants to do.

Sometimes people wonder why I'm so into letting others know about my faith. I like to tell them something like this:

"If you understand what Jesus did for you on the cross, why wouldn't you want to share it with others? I just want to be a helping hand that helps people in need. I want to be a shoulder to cry on for someone who's hurting. I just want to be there when people have questions about God that I can hopefully answer. That's what's important."

And that's why I do what I do.

Jarrod, a high school senior, loves rocking hard with his Christian garage band and uses hardcore tunes to reach out to non–Christian friends. Like thousands of high school students, Jarrod received evangelism training through Sonlife. For more information on Sonlife's evangelism training programs, go to sonlife.com/semp/.

Copyright © 2005 by the author or Christianity Today International/Campus Life magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Campus Life.

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Should Christians Sing Love Songs?

from Tell Me about It
Chris Lutes 

 
I find myself very turned off by Plus One. I know they claim to be Christians, and I'm not questioning their relationship with God. But I do have to question their love songs. I think it's fine for Christian bands to sing about the love that God has given them, but it bothers me when they sing about romantic love. What do you think?
—LaDonna

I'm glad you wrote because I think a lot of people are confused when Christian artists sing songs about guy-girl relationships. And Plus One certainly isn't the only group with romance on its mind. Remember "Kiss Me"? Around a couple years ago this simple love song became Sixpence None the Richer's big hit on secular radio. And then in the May/June "Tell Me About It," I wrote about the Christian punk-rock band Ace Troubleshooter. On Ace's debut self-titled CD, there's a song called "Tonight," a love song somewhat similar to "Kiss Me." If I had the space, I could give many more examples of Christian bands and solo artists who sing about guy-girl relationships.

Is it wrong?

To help answer the question, I'd like you to open your Bible to a book called "The Song of Songs." Here is an amazing work of poetry that celebrates the joy and beauty of sexual love within marriage. Obviously, God isn't opposed to songs about romantic love. If he were, I don't think he'd have included this romantically charged book in his sacred Word. The Bible also celebrates romantic love outsideof marriage; Genesis 29 tells the story of Jacob's intense love for Rachel, and his willingness to work for her dad for seven years just so he could marry her. Scripture says those seven years "seemed like only a few days" to Jacob because of his love for Rachel. Now that's romantic! God is clearly very much for romantic love. And he should be. He invented it! Here's what he said just before he made Eve out of Adam's rib: "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him" (Genesis 2:18). God didn't—and still doesn't—want all men (or women) to be alone. Or lonely. As the inventor of human love, God knows that romance is very natural and wonderful. It's no wonder there are so many love songs. After all, God made us in such a way that we long for romance.

Now don't get me wrong. When it comes to love songs and Christians, I don't think "everything goes." Romantic lyrics from Christians should never promote premarital sex, lust, adultery or anything else contrary to Christian values. I also believe romance shouldn't be the only thing a Christian group sings about. If that's all that's on a songwriter's mind, I have to wonder if the artist has a very well-rounded, healthy view of life.

With these cautions, however, I must say I appreciate the way many Christian love songs celebrate the beauty and innocence of romance. Contrast this with the large number of secular songs that turn love into lust and romance into a game where you take as much as you can get before moving on to the next sexual partner. It's no secret that many secular songs twist love into something manipulative, dirty and even pornographic. So, no, I don't see anything wrong with Christians like Plus One singing love songs. In fact, when it comes to the topic of love, it's great to have the Christian alternative.

Send your questions about music; we'll do our best to track down an answer: "Tell Me About It," Campus Life, 465 Gundersen Dr., Carol Stream, IL 60188. You can also reach us via fax (630-260-0114) or e-mail (CLmag@campuslife.net).

Copyright © 2001 by the author or Christianity Today International/Campus Life magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Campus Life.

 

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