Where to go from Here?

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"After a long and grueling day at the golf course Blake sits down to blog. The sounds of Relient K blasting from his computer, he prepares his second post........."

Fighting Statistics: Most teens don't show Christ in their everyday lives.

So as I thought about todays post, I thought "What should I write about?"

The past day I've received a great amount of feedback for my first post; so naturally I decided to go for a day 2.

But when questioning what I should write about I drew a _____ (blank). I've always wanted to do a blog mostly to share my thoughts with the world. But I never imagined it would be a blog about doing big things in the world and starting a fire within the youth of the church.

So I had a few ideas streaming through my head....

• I could continue yesterdays message on trying fight statistics, just to make sure people got the picture.
• I could do a challenge of the week type deal. Once a week I could give the readers a challenge that would somehow improve their relationship with Christ and others around them.
• I could write a random post about a favorite song.
• Well.. thats about all I got for today.

And so I decided this morning that I would try the Challenge of The Week.

This weeks challenge:

To go out and pick a fight with a complete stranger. (Ok not really, but how cool would that be?)

Really my idea of a challenge was to do something that statistically does not happen too often in our everyday lives: witnessing.

Now I've witnessed to others before but usually it has been during church sanctioned events.

But I wanted the challenge to be challenging. Most Christian teens have most likely witnessed to someone during a church event. It's a lot easier to do then, because you're surrounded by other Christians who can back you up. But what about in a place that people wouldn't expect to be witnessed to, when you're "alone?"

Today I was playing the first day of the last tournament of my high school career. And I knew that I had to talk about God to someone. About 13 holes in I had realized that things weren't looking so good for me, and my plan to "Praise God when I win or lose" was not holding up. I was tired, and totally windswept. But I kept reminding myself "Don't be a statistic!" And so I prayed that God give me an opportunity to at least give me a situation to share my vision of Fighting Statistics to someone in my group.

And so on the 13th hole my prayer was answered. I was talking to one of my playing partners and just trying to keep a conversation going. He was upset because he was playing bad, and I kept running things through my head wondering what I'd start with.

And very smoothly I asked, "So do you go to church?" He gave a shrug and said "Sometimes."

Hooked: now all I needed was to reel him in a little deeper.

Me: "So why is that?"

Guy: "I don't know, my family just doesn't go much."

Me: "What church do you go to?"

Guy: "(names church)"

Me: "Where?"

Guy: "(names location)"

Me: "Oh ok, so are your parents just too busy to go?"

Guy: "Yeah, both my parents work."

And from here I proceeded to ask what his thoughts on the church were. He was fairly open and explained that he just wasn't really into the whole thing.

My answer was simple. I told him "Thats cool."  This might seem wrong but I didn't want to come down too strong. I said that Im glad he was honest about it, and that he didn't try to hide behind some "Jesus is my homeboy" facade.

And so we talked for a few minutes and I brought up a lot of points about how I was trying to start a ministry about going against the norm. I gave a lot of examples from "Do Hard Things" and allowed his input on the topic of whether teens are not given too much responsibility. He agreed with what I said, and although I'd like to say I went on to preach the gospel, I didn't. There is a time and place for everything, and I knew that slamming him with scripture would prove fruitless. 

I pray that what I said sticks, and anything that wasn't of God he would forget.... Because I planted a seed today that will hopefully make him look at his life and realize that as teens we are not expected to do much. I pray that he sees the need for a savior that would give him the desire to "Do Hard Things" and Fight Statistics.

While most people might not see this as witnessing, I believe that it was. Because witnessing isn't always about pulling out a crumpled tract from your wallet and reading through it hoping the guy is listening.

Witnessing should also be how we live our lives outside of church. 

-This is what separates us from the statistics-

So that is my challenge this week: Be a witness. Not just to some random person, but to everyone. Let others see Christ through you. Do you think my words would have meant anything to Guy if I had acted like the rest of them out there today? No. A major part of being a representative of Christ is to show that you have something they don't.

So this is Day two's post.

Fight the Statistic that says Christian teens don't bring Christ everywhere they go.

So whether you're at school, the field, the court, the drive-thru, or even in the bathroom between classes, let others see the light that shines within you.

Matthew 5:16

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in Heaven. (ESV)

Once again, thanks for reading my post for today. And I hope you continue to read it. Please feel free to add any advice or make a request for a topic etc...

I take criticism well (sometimes) and I love to hear what my readers think.

Your brother and fellow Statistic Fighter,

Blake