Do You Know How to Save a Life?

By Lane Palmer, Christian Post Guest Columnist Friday, January 22, 2010

Have you ever been so close to death that someone literally saved your life? I have.

I was a highly skilled and highly prideful skier. At 15, most guys think they can do anything, especially when you are bombing through the trees in unmarked and sometimes restricted areas of the Rocky Mountains.

I remember shooting out onto a trail at warp speed, when suddenly I felt an impact from behind, then a loss of control as I was headed in a direct path towards a tree.

But instead of hitting the tree, I was yanked out of the way, hit the ground, and everything went black.

When I awoke, there was a professional slalom competitor asking me if I was OK. Then it came to me… I had accidentally shot out onto a closed course and was hit by the skier - who then wrecked us both on purpose to save me from hitting a tree and having a terrible, or more likely, fatal accident.

He saved my life, and I've never been the same.

Have you ever wanted to save a life? I think all of us deep down would love to know that we played a life-saving role in someone's existence - it's just the way we're wired.

I have great news for you! You have the opportunity to do that! In theaters* this coming weekend is a movie called "To Save a Life." It chronicles the journey of a super-popular-talented-have-it-all teenager named Jake, whose life is changed when he realizes what Jesus meant when He said:

If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed? (Luke 9:24-25).

This film is engaging and powerful, but more than that, it creates an opportunity for you to bring up the good news of the gospel with your friends. I was incredibly moved and impacted by "To Save a Life." While the movie itself doesn't give the gospel, it shows the impact of the gospel on the life of one teenager in a powerful way. I can honestly tell you that it made me want to share the message of eternal life through Jesus Christ with anyone and everyone.

I won't spoil the plot, but the way God gets deep into Jake's heart is through tragedy and heartbreak - which I'm pretty sure describes you, me and everyone else who lives in this world. God seems to use the pain of this life like a megaphone to break through our petty distractions and shallow perspectives and speak the Truth of salvation into our souls.

"To Save a Life" does that as well. There is hardly a difficult teenage issue left untouched, which is why you should take your unsaved friends to see it. They will most likely relate it to their lives, and those reopened wounds give God a chance to reveal His amazing offer of healing and restoration through your conversations after the movie. This movie gives you a wide open door to share Jesus with your friends in a way that is natural.

In many ways, your unsaved friends are like an out-of-control skier headed for a major crash. Will you be bold and reach out to them? It may cost you… but what is any cost compared to saving a life?

As you pray about and think through this incredible opportunity, meditate on these passages from the Bible:

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes (Romans 1:16).

Yet preaching the Good News is not something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I didn't preach the Good News! If I were doing this on my own initiative, I would deserve payment. But I have no choice, for God has given me this sacred trust (1 Corinthians 9:16-17).

Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment (Jude 1:23).

Friends, life is fragile and time is short. Don't waste this chance to play a role in impacting someone's eternal destiny! God has purposely placed unsaved people in your life and truly given you a "sacred trust"…
To save a life.

*Find To Save a Life at the theater nearest you by visiting http://www.tosavealifemovie.com/tickets/

Flashpoint: Ignite Into Action

Call/Text/Facebook your friends right after you read this and invite them to see To Save a Life with you. Make sure you have time after the movie to go to coffee and have a conversation about the gospel. Ask your friends "What do you think was the message that transformed the main character's life so dramatically?" Then follow up with "I think what changed his life was a relationship with God and not a religion" and segue into the gospel.

Accelerant: Feed the Flames

"I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins" (John 8:24).

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light (1 Peter 2:9).