Peer Pressure

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.” Matthew 7:13

Charles Spurgeon has a prolific commentary on the book of Matthew. When it comes to the verse above about the wide way, he kept his comment short with, “Do not choose that way.” I am not sure we could summarize that better.

What do I value?

There seems to be two main contentions. The first is that we associate Christianity as not compatible with fun. If we reflect for a moment, we should see that is not the case. Unless your motive is wrong, playing video games, sports, going to concerts, and many of the other events we call fun are not inherently sinful. When we go to these events though, are we carrying ourselves as ambassadors of Christ, or do we shamefully leave him to wait for us in the car while we head into a concert? If we are not wanting Christ to always be with us and wanting to make Him known, our values and priorities are wrong.

The desire of our heart does not have to be to always be sitting in an old church pew, and that is okay. The issue is when we never thirst for God’s Word. The issue is also that we want to be a baseball player, and not a Christian baseball player. We want to talk with our friends, but in contexts and ways Jesus would have never spoken. Following Jesus is not abandoning these things, but subjecting them to Him. 1st Corinthians 10:31 says, “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” All actions, not just churchy actions should be for the glorification of God. The way we eat a single slice of pizza should glorify God. No task, no matter how small, should be done outside of praising God.

“For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” -The Apostle Paul

How Do I Handle Peer Pressure?

Now what about when we are confronted with the ‘fun’ things that cannot be Christ centered such as underage drinking, drug use, and pre-marital sex? We still have a priority and value issue. If we cannot follow God’s Word and praise Him in the act, we should not do it. We often think we are incomplete if we are not with our friends or have not had sex like everyone else has. For a character study, we can look to Jesus. Would you consider Jesus an incomplete person because He never experienced sex, never did drugs, and did not drink underage? Of course not, and we also can be content to deal without or wait. Jesus has given us that ability.

The issue here lies in what we value. Do we consider participating in the wrongness of our friends more important than avoiding and showing Christ? Do we pray when we wake up or scroll through the latest social media app? Our actions and words reflect what matters to us, do your words and actions show that Christ matters to you? If they do not, not only are you telling Jesus He is not enough, you are not being a witness and showing your friends that he matters either. I got to listen to the testimony of an evangelist who came to speak to our church youth. One of the many things that kept him from Christ were the supposed followers of Jesus that he knew. He couldn’t tell a difference between himself and them. He assumed he was either a christian or that those Christians did not actually have anything he needed. He said that he saw these nominal supposed Christians and they “drank the same liquor and smoked the same dope” that he did. He didn’t see a difference, and couldn’t tell them apart from the rest of the world. As a professed Christian, if your life doesn’t appear different than those around you, has it really been changed?

We do not necessarily have to give up the friends we have, and it may be wrong to get away from them. You can likely stay friends with people who do things you do not always agree with. The friends you will need to avoid will likely seperate themselves from you as you start to live more like Jesus and continue to share that you are a follower of His. The friends you have to consider avoiding are the ones who will lead you into sin. You can be someone’s friend and not participate in their sins. They will see that you care for them. Abandoning them may be a bad witness. I was lucky to have several really close friends in highschool, and because I stayed in contact with most of them I was able to disciple one of these friends coming to Christ. He saw in me that I had something he needed. To make this testimony even more remarkable, this friend was known for two things in highschool, his afro and his atheism. Now he is a Christian and his children are now asking about following Christ, and his wife may not be far behind. You do not know how God may use you, or even those He will call. When we value Christ most, our friends will see that and our lives will change.

Following Jesus is a daily commitment. It is a daily prayer saying, “I need you Lord.” It is a daily denying of yourself. The physician Luke wrote that it was a daily picking up of your cross. Being a follower of Christ, like the rest of life is not always defined as fun and easy.

“It's not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.” ― Roy Disney (co-founder of The Walt Disney Company)