Friends From the Past and Their Hindrance in the Future

Due to a recent interaction with an old high-school friend on politics, it made me think  a lot over the past few days. The argument was over if the government should continue borrowing money to keep giving unemployment to those who have been without jobs over a year. Of course my answer was no, and his was yes. But his was not just a yes, it was a yes but telling me that my ruthless heart had no compassion for my fellow-man, and that I did not practice what I say to claim as a religion. To him Christianity was all love and all giving and if I believe in the so-called man Jesus Christ that I would care about those who lost their career at GMC or at Chrysler Motors. Besides the fact that what he thought was not true, what really got under my skin was everything he had seen, knew, and interacted with of me during my high schools years was today’s same picture of me. This is ever so far from the truth.

Friends from the past can be great, and well can be a pain in the you know what. There are at times in life that one (such as myself) seems he can never get away from his high-school days. Which I’d either one, do them all over again, or two, never like to think about them again. No matter what happens now, they are done but they are not over. No matter where I may travel for work, where I go on vacation, what I plan to do somehow those awkward 13-18 year old days keep coming back and back and back, and seriously… back and back and back. Then when you try to ask someone to forget them, they come back and back and back, but never in a good way, and it is always something you rather never hear again.

This is most seen on Facebook at how much I am ignored in Disgust. I am ever shocked by the massive amounts of friend request I receive from fellow high school students during my 4-years there and even students that I knew of before and after high-school on Facebook. Whatever is more intriguing is the number of them that do the following:

1. Message me that they are sick of reading my religious Facebook status.

2. Comment on my Facebook wall bashing me because I have an awful worldview.

3. Delete me from their friends list after sick of reading my “religious” status.

However it is the same request I get from today’s Christian friends.

1. Message me that they do not care what kind of music I listen to, what burger I ate, or where I am head. They only want to read my blog post, Christian news, or something about a new book coming out.

2. Comment on my Facebook wall bashing my for a conservative view, or not such a conservative view.

3. Delete me from their friends list after sick of reading my “religious” status.

No matter a believer or not, I hear the same thing from both sides but dealing with different issues. Nothing is going to change however, I’ll still talk about my blog, I’ll still write blog post for me to help me on my english and I’ll still tweet about Lebron James, the Ohio State Buckeyes, Jesus Christ and faith Alone.

However the reason for the post now, is that so-called friends that one had in the past are not in the past once you start using Facebook. The relationships ruined, the hearts you hurt, and the lives you made fun of when you were 16, 17, and 18 are very much the “friends” on Facebook that read your status’ your notes and look at your pictures to see how much weight you have gained or how many kids you had. But they still remember you the way you were, because they cannot see you the way you are. How great of the Gospel, that doesn’t continue to look back at our failures, or continue to look back at how bad we were in sin. How great of the gospel to look at you through the lens of Christ, clothed in Him and constantly putting ones self down, to make Christ known greater throughout the everyday battle with what we are still yet stuck in, the old, the flesh and this nature. How great it is of the gospel that one day, we will never have to deal with that of today, we will not live dealing with past mistakes and we can continue to enjoy the gospel to its full potential throughout eternity.