Mirroring a Forgotten Image

“You would be so much cooler if you weren’t a Christian,” one of my closest friends muttered as his hearty laugh quickly switched to pensive silence. “Seriously. Don’t you think we would hit it off perfectly as long as you didn’t have to be so stubborn about the Jesus stuff?” 

My heart clenched as I heard the plea in Isaiah’s words. We had experienced so much  life together in our decade of friendship. Still, despite the fact our bond was deep and true, he knew where the line was drawn. He knew my love for Jesus, but Isaiah had no interest in joining me in pursuing Him. Isaiah knew nothing he said would change the fact that, in my heart, Jesus came first. It baffled him to no end how I could put an invisible God above something as precious as what we had built.

I had two choices in that moment. I could have agreed with Isaiah, and walked away from Jesus, or I could sit in the tension and stay faithful to Jesus, even though my choices confused my friend. Eventually, our friendship faded as Isaiah realized I wasn’t kidding when I told him giving up my faith to make our friendship more comfortable wasn’t an option. One of the last things he said to me was, “I don’t have time for Jesus, and don’t understand how you do. But if I ever change my mind, I know where to find you, and I know I can trust you.” 

As the world runs harder and harder away from Jesus, following Jesus will cost more and more. My heart’s cry and hope for the Body of Christ is that no matter what, those watching us pursue Jesus will know that though we stand firm in our faith, we are always available when they’re ready to know why we cling to Jesus. 

May we continue living as image bearers even in front of a world that has forgotten what Jesus looks like.