Young believer & peer concerns
Q: Is it normal that being a Christian since young (and the trials that follow) kinda made alienated among my peers? (in school mostly, since I’m still in high school).
Most of the difference in values I have observed is that my compassion, warmth and love have no place in a society that promotes indifference, apathy and self-centeredness.
And it’s the different set of problems we encounter to a day to day basis. The same way I don’t understand their frustrations over not excelling in the video games they play, they don’t understand my effort to guide people younger than me. Most of the time they think I overthink too much and I think they frustrate over non existent and self inflicted problems.
Then it’s the difference in values. My apparent “conservative” values makes me seem “old fashioned” and “close minded” compared to my peers (where everybody is fornicating). I feel like I am on a different planet.
I sometimes feel isolated too when I don’t have anyone to understand my hope to devote myself to serving God full time after I graduate rather than pursuing a worldly career.
It just makes me feel further and further away from my peers and I don’t know what to do about it.
This is why it is important, vital, to find Christian friends to fellowship with and hang out with. "Find them" at your church, Church or your Christian school. If you are alone at church like I was in the boonies, perhaps you can as your pastor and deacons for Christian organization recommendations (where you can find those folks to connect to their teen children to "find" born again ones there, or/& contact a Christian school near you and ask if you could join some activities that go on at their campus groups (varied groups they offer) to meet some saved teens to befriend.
Today we do have social media to stay connected, unlike in the past, but you are likely to drift from most if not all your young friends once you get to college (where you can "find" saved folk to befriend there too), but will drift from them also once you start working. If you go in ministry, without knowing what kind, i can only say that if it is missionary then you will travel around and not have many solid friendships but mostly associates, even in the temporary church you might find yourself at. If your ministry work is at an organization Stateside, then you will likely form friendships there, but if they or you change companies and move far or to other states etc those friendships will become distant. Same as when church members move for jobs or become pastors, theyll all go [I've lost so many friends to that cuz they graduated seminary or moved to lead other churches; tho my loss is a entire congregations gain).
Regardless where you are you will likely form friendships there, though many to most of them might have friends from childhood living in that area and they will gravitate towards those and not to you as "new folk", same goes for whenever you move around.
This is one reason finding a spouse and starting a family is important, because theyre really going to be your nucleous center for lifeling relationships. Friends come and go, but your family is your core.
But you can and have the privelege of blessing all those you come in contact with (from the ones you befriend and associate with) even if you are only friends in person for a time or a few years. It is loving and serving others, and doing it all as unto Christ.
You do not walk like those in the world, you do not talk like nor behave nor respond like those in the world. Being transformed by God and given a new nature makes you a new creation. Jesus said the world will hate us. That will be subtle or blatant.
Feeling like we dont belong in this world is normal. We are not of this world, our home is with Christ in Heaven where our citizenship is. So what you are experiencing is the expected life of a believer. While Scripture says all humans go thru what fallen humanity will, but believers even more so. In West or America we have it much better than the rest of the world because of the Christian foundations here, freedom and liberty. But we will experience troubles, being mistreated by the unsaved, and persecution in varied forms. The Apostles were jailed & even killed for their faith, we are to realize picking up the cross and following Christ isnt just about death to us and life in Him spiritually, but that at the end of where we carry our cross... is expected to be physical death. Peter rejoiced to be found worthy enough by Christ after all his blunders to foreknow his end was on a cross. Persevere to the end.
*Be a solid witness to those around you. Both in your life, and sharing the gospel.
*Be a forgiving, gracious, merciful & loving example of Christ.
*Persevere to the end.
Hope this helps.
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