A podcast listener named Lawson writes in with a great question. I love this. "Pastor John, this fall I entered high school as a freshman. I want to know how can I be a Christlike example in my school and among my classmates? I feel that God has called me to minister to them in some way, but I don't know exactly how to do this.

Over the next four years, what are some practical steps I can take to redeem these years for the gospel?" Lawson, as I look back over my high school days, it was a long time ago, I'm 70, and as I ponder what I see in the Bible and think about God's calling on your life expressed in your words, which I'm so thankful for, six or seven things come flooding to my mind to suggest for you to pray about and consider first.

Gather a few friends with a similar desire, maybe from your church, neighborhood, wherever you've got your Christian friends. I hope it's your church. And set aside with them some regular time, maybe 30 minutes a week, that's what I do with my friends, or 10 or 15 minutes a day at the beginning of school, where you read a short passage of Scripture, like maybe take one minute to read a passage of Scripture, and then pray for 10 minutes or 15 minutes or 30 minutes, whatever you've planned, that God would help you, fill you with Holy Spirit, fill you with boldness, give you guidance, and then go on into your day together as a band of brothers.

And maybe you will call that group the 429 group. And the reason I say that is because of Acts 429. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed in the name of your holy servant, Jesus.

And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. Oh, I wish I had done that as a teenager, had myself a small group, a band of brothers, prayed down to God's power, and been more bold.

Number two, brainstorm together with your group of friends about proactive, visible good deeds that you could do for others at school or in the neighborhoods. And I say this because of 1 Peter 2.12, "Keep your conduct among the Gentiles, honorable," Gentiles means unbelievers, "honorable, so that when they speak against you as evil doers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation." Good deeds, Lawson, of course, can never replace words that explain the gospel and why you love Christ.

In fact, just three verses earlier, verse nine of 1 Peter 2, he said, "Proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." But practical good deeds have an important role to play, and they can put to silence the criticism that Christianity just means not doing certain things.

My dad used to love to quote one of his teachers, he'd say to me, "Do so fast you don't have time to don't." Because we were pretty serious Christians growing up, and there are a lot of things we didn't do because we were Christians. And he said, "No, be so fast in doing you don't have time to don't." That's what I'm suggesting in number two.

Number three, be on the lookout for lowly people, lonely people, hurting people, and step into their lives with interest and care and time that other people don't care about giving. Romans 12, 16, "Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight." What an unusual teenager you will be if you do that.

Number four, meet with the Lord alone early every morning, and get a good word from Scripture that you will keep in your mind as something precious and valuable and encouraging all day long. In other words, don't just have devotions and come away with nothing stuck in your mind, but look for some single phrase or statement or promise or command that helps you and keep it in your mind.

You might jot it on a little piece of paper and stick it in your shirt pocket. That's what I used to do. This will serve you all day long for encouragement, and it'll be there if somebody gets into a conversation with you and asks you, "What does it mean for you to be a Christian?" You can smile and say, "You know, just this morning, I was talking to God, and He was talking to me." Now, He doesn't talk with a voice.

He talks in the Bible. "He was talking to me, and this is what He said." Then you quote your verse or you get out your little piece of paper, and you read them and say, "That's encouraging me all day long. That's what it means for me to walk with God." Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." So take a word, take a phrase, and go with it all day long for encouragement and readiness.

Fifth, plan activities with your friends that you can invite unbelievers to be a part of. In other words, don't wait for the crisis where they invite you to go to something that you're not sure you can go to. Then you have to say no, and you might simply look like somebody who doesn't like people or doesn't have any friends.

Beat them to the happy punch. Show them that you love to have them join you by doing proactive thinking ahead of time that plans something that you and your friends can do, and then you're asking them constantly to join you rather than the other way around. Six, if you have parents, and I don't know your family situation, but if you have parents who love what you're doing, try to make your home a hub of relationships with your friends, unbelievers and believers.

So many young people out there that you relate to don't have any homes like that. They wouldn't ever bring you over to their homes. Their parents are divorced or they're not there, or they're always angry at each other, or nobody's ever home, or they're watching television, or they never pay any attention, or they never do any proactive hospitality.

They've never seen a beautiful family. And if you have one, show it off by making your home a hub of activity. Show young people that it's not uncool to hang out with or near adults. And the last thing I would say, like it says in 1 Peter 3 15, "In your heart, honor Christ the Lord as holy, and always be ready to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and respect." Now, that doesn't mean you need an advanced college degree in apologetics to defend your faith and have answers to every hard question that someone might ask.

It doesn't mean that. He's not saying that. What he's saying is that you should be ready simply to tell someone why you have hope in Jesus. And the answers are in chapter one of 1 Peter. He died for you. God is merciful toward you. He raised Jesus from the dead.

He promises the forgiveness of sins. In other words, you recite the gospel as the foundation of your hope. Peter's not telling us to prove anything. He's telling you to explain to them why you have hope, why you believe. So, Lawson, praise God for what he's put in your heart for this year.

And I pray that this will be the best year yet for you, and that God will fill you with wisdom and grace like he did Stephen in Acts chapter seven, whose words were so mighty, so gracious, so full of the spirit that his adversaries could not resist him. Amen.

Thank you, Pastor John. I will be praying for you, Lawson, as well, that you would find some friends at school, a band of brothers, and even send them this episode if you feel so inclined. And let's all pray for our kids and for our friends that we know who are in school, that God would give them strategic relationships and opportunities for celebrating Christ.

Well, for more details about this podcast or to catch up on past episodes we have released, or to subscribe to the audio feed, even to send us a question of your own like Lawson did today, go to our online home at DesiringGod.org/AskPastorJohn. Well, Pastor John and I will close out the week with a question about how John Piper tests his own interpretations of the Bible.

How does he discern whether or not his conclusions are true and biblical? It's a good question. I'm your host Tony Rehnke. We'll see you on Friday to find out. you you you you you