That depends on you. When you choose Christ for your friend, building his kingdom for your cause, the Bible for your guide book, the Christian church for your fellowship, then these consciously chosen influences will transform your life. You will be different. Guaranteed your friends will notice. How they react is up to them. But what they do, to some degree depends on you.
Will they see someone who cares about them even if you choose not to engage in behaviors that may not honor God? Will they see someone willing to share your discovery of the greatest friend anyone can know? Will they see a joy in you that makes them want to find out what’s changed?
You may fear that you will be rejected, and we all know that fear of being different is a big problem in life— and it does not go away however old you may be. We all want to be liked and accepted. However, if Jesus is God in human form, then living like Jesus will be different.
It’s possible that you will discover that some of your friends treat you differently and may reject you. You may find new friendships among other Christians or those who want to befriend someone who lives a positive Christ-like esistence. Once you embrace the understanding that as Christians, we are in communion with the living God, your outlook on life and friendships will change as well.
As followers of Jesus, we are called to be ‘salt and light’ to a darkening post-Christian world. Our world desperately needs Christians to tell them about Jesus. It is more important to be a loyal friend of Jesus than to worry about being different. So, we encourage you to dare to be different for Jesus!