Last week I faced a tough decision. I’d made a new Christian friend in the past year, but as I was posting my blog last week, I saw a comment on his FACEBOOK Page. It seemed that before he moved to Nashville from out-of-state, he’d been involved in a business deal where people had lost a lot of money. The comment wasn’t very flattering about my new friend.

I don’t know him that well; we talk about our faith and my writing when we bump into each other at arts events in town. But I wondered what I should do the next time I saw him. Should I mention that I saw the post from the investor or pretend that I didn’t see it at all?

I prayed about the right answer, but instead of asking God for the decision, I tried to do the “human thing” and list the pros and cons about asking him about it:

CONS

1.    I’d be uncomfortable for invading his personal life
2.    I didn’t want to sound accusatory or judgmental
3.    I was afraid it would ruin the friendship that we had 

PROS

1.    It would give him an opportunity to explain: maybe it wasn’t even him!
2.    I could relieve him of the burden of keeping it a secret
3.    I could show Him God’s love and remind him of God’s grace, mercy and His unlimited forgiveness

After more prayer, God asked me a question, “How emotionally connected are you to him? Will he accept that your questioning is from your love for him as a brother in Christ, not to be superior or to make him feel bad? Have you spent enough time with him to earn the right to question him? Read Proverbs 9:8: “Don’t reprove a scoffer, lest he hate you. Reprove a wise man, and he will love you.”

I decided to send an email telling him that I’d seen the FACEBOOK post, offering to listen if he had a story to tell, and reminding him that God has already forgiven him for his past sins, and so have I as a Sister in Christ.

I got a short email back immediately, “Thank you.”

Did I do the right thing?  

What would you have done: ignored the information or asked about it? What do you think will happen the next time I see him?

Share your thoughts by leaving a comment.

Blessings, my friend,

Agatha

Emotional Connectedness- (Click here for MP3 file)