I Need Revival When...(Part 9)

Read: Ezekiel 3:16-21


Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.                                                                                                        Ezekiel 3:21


When I allow my friends to get away with things I know are not right, I need revival.

     “Tattletale, snitch, canary” – three dreaded names among the many that no one ever wants to hear directed at him. They make a person feel like an outcast somehow, like they did something wrong by informing someone in authority of something that just wasn’t right. Most Christian schools are fairly small, so someone willing to tell on another person sticks out like a sore thumb. Because the school is small, most of those who attend are friends with each other. So, rather than be an outcast, everyone looks the other way when a person does wrong. It is your responsibility to stand up to your friends who are doing wrong, and, if they don’t change, to turn them in to the proper authority.

     The world and Christianity desperately need young men who will stand up for righteousness and call sin what it is. As Robert E. Lee wrote, “Never do a wrong thing to make a friend or to keep one.” The root of the problem is the “you-scratch-my-back-and-I’ll-scratch-yours” mentality. In other words, “I’ll look the other way on your wrongdoing because I know that someday I’ll do something that I will need you to look the other way for, as well. I will look past your sin if you look past mine.” Sadly, many young men care more about being popular than they do about being right. They hear all the filthy talk in the locker room; they know all about the things their friends have done to deliberately break the rules; and they listen silently as their friends tear down their parents and teachers. They are willing, unfortunately, to sit by quietly as wrong goes unchecked and unpunished.

     I am not suggesting that it is an easy or a fun thing to stand up to a friend or to turn him in for something he has done, but this generation needs godly leaders, and standing up to sin is where they start. Of course you may become the target when your friends find out that you turned them in; but again, it is more important to be right than it is to be popular. Of course they are going to be looking for things that you do wrong so they can call you on it, but that just gives you more accountability and incentive to do right. You may end up standing alone, but one day you will stand before God and see Him smile in approval of the stand you have taken.

Quote of the day: “He is your friend who pushes you nearer to God.”