When you have no words to say to a friend who asks, "What's wrong with living my life the way I want?"
When you really want to share the gospel with a friend but don't know how,
When I tried to preach the gospel diligently, but my friend refused to listen, saying it was too obvious.
When you feel insecure and think, "I can't even handle my own life, so what qualifications do I have to share the gospel with my friends?"
Nevertheless, when I really want to share the gospel with my dear friend...


『Gospel for Friends』 is a book planned to spread the gospel to the young people of today who drink one Americano a day, shout out the YOLO (You Only Live Once) life, and dream of a life of small but certain happiness, but somehow a corner of their hearts seems strong, and to the young generation who live each for themselves to survive in the competitive Korean society.

The author, as a young person and pastor living in this era, begins the book by asking the many questions he has heard every time he shares the gospel with friends and acquaintances.
Friends have been asking me this question:


"Why should I endure for the sake of the future? Is it wrong to enjoy today?
“I want to live the way I want.
“Will God punish me then?”
“I don’t need God’s love.
I love myself.
“Shouldn’t I just love myself?”
“I’m fine with just having a boyfriend or girlfriend.
“What on earth is the use of religion?”

Faced with this stark and direct question, how can we lead them to the gospel? Seo Chang-hee's "The Gospel for Friends" captures the process of finding the answer with a friend.


Young people living in this era struggle fiercely with real-world issues such as work, money, career path, love, and marriage, but ultimately want to find the true meaning of life.
Our friends, each struggling in their own way and pursuing their own selves in the reality of a competitive society...
What story can the Gospel tell them as they face the life questions they face? How does Christianity interpret life and offer them a path? The author unfolds his story in a relaxed and warm tone, as if talking to a friend, or with sharp clarity and clarity, depending on the topic.
As I follow his writings that unfold the 'good news, the gospel,' my friend may soon meet God who is calling from the end of the road.


The story of an old scrap of paper lying around on the floor of a high school classroom, which appears in the book's preface, is also interesting.
The junior I met through the double-sided paper incident and who gave me the opportunity to write this book, the high school student who asked, “Is my life worth living even if I don’t achieve what I want?” later became the CEO of a venture company and an evangelist at the ‘One Person Church’ where the author currently serves, and wrote the epilogue for this book.

I decided to call the people who would encounter this book 'friends'.
This book is a gospel for friends, as it delivers good news to my beloved friends who struggle with real-world issues like work, money, career paths, love, and marriage and seek to find the true meaning of life.
The friend then asked me back how Christianity interprets life in reality.
Could we say that the religion called Christianity is placed before a person who is thoroughly realist?
I had to answer a question to a junior who was living in the reality of modern Korea and knew nothing about Christianity.
These are questions that are currently facing the younger generation in Korean society.
This book contains the process my friend and I went through to find the answer.
… 『Gospel for Friends』 will first convey the gospel as it is to my loved ones through the stories of those who have tried to communicate their concerns and concerns.
_From the prologue

They say young people should have dreams, but how did we end up like this? It's probably because I was disappointed with the results of my efforts, which I invested in and looked forward to for the future.
Even if you work hard and save up your salary, it's difficult to even afford a decent house, and even if you work hard and get a job, you're just suffering from the difficult work.
But it's not that we don't want to prepare for the future.
No matter how hard you try, you can't look forward to the future, so your weary mind just struggles to find solace in the present. --- p.
29

While listening to his life advice, I suddenly thought, 'I shouldn't have sad thoughts and should just buy the Americano I want to drink today and enjoy life.'
But after empathy, another question immediately came to mind.
Can the sorrow of losing my brother forever be covered by today's happiness?
No matter how strong an Americano is, I think the depth of our lives and the relationships we've built throughout our lives is incomparably stronger and heavier.
Although we say we should enjoy the present, there are still many worries in our hearts that question its meaning, and it seems that they remain hard like rocks, not melted even by hot Americano. --- p.
31

Are you getting the idea now? For a person's life to be valuable, the "object" we use to describe that person must also be valuable.
Once you understand this cultural phenomenon, everything that people around you admire begins to make sense.
“Wow, that person went to Seoul National University!”, “That friend goes to Samsung!”, “That bag that woman is holding is really expensive!” Everyone is elevating themselves through the object.
So, I think our era makes us obsessed with things like academic background, wealth, and ability that will elevate us. --- p.
50

If my existence is meaningful because God created me, then I have a reason to continue living even if I don't have any special object.
If the only thing that means anything in my life is God and His plan for me, then I don't need to have the special things in this world that others say are good.
No, let's put it more positively. What if there's meaning to "not being able to get a special object"? --- p.
60

I think it means that no matter how much others love me or how much I achieve, I can't be happy.
Why is that? It's not fun because it's not the satisfaction I feel for myself.
The key lies in ‘me’.
No matter what others say, it means that I cannot be satisfied with myself.
Why is it that when I try to love myself more, I become depressed and can't be happy? Because people have to go one of two ways to love me.
I have to either create a higher me or a lower me.--- p.
71

The way to be loved comfortably without doubt is through the cross.
Jesus, who suffered on the cross in my place, will elevate me in a way that does not hurt me.
When I let go of my standards and my obsession with loving myself, I will be able to experience God's love flowing into my heart like a tidal wave. --- p.
84

The life you and I live in today is about finding God in love.
I strongly believe that meeting that person will make my life happy and safe.
If love becomes a means to increase the value of my life, believing things like, "If I can just meet a man like this, I'll be happy," or "If I lose this woman, it's over," then my life will inevitably be put at risk depending on the reaction or situation of the person I love.
And rather than giving and sacrificing more and more to the other person, I have no choice but to demand more perfection and more difficult things from the other person.
If you pursue love without restraint, thinking that as long as you are attracted to it, there will be no problem, love will inevitably disappoint you.--- p.
99

At first, I thought I could live my life by finding joy as an answer to the difficult reality.
But life is too heavy to say that I only lived happily and then left, and life has too many worries to say that I only had fun, and the relationships I've built so far have been truly precious to say that it was a good experience and that I have no regrets even if we break up now.
There are many moments in life that yearn for meaning, so it's difficult to dismiss everything as 'just fun.'
The Bible never tells us to throw away the weight of meaning, the price of meaning.
The meaning of life we ​​want to know is not cheap.
We must find the meaning of life.
So the Bible says about this that those who mourn are upright, and those who mourn will be blessed. --- p.
115

Only when I meet Jesus can I find true courage in my life.
Even if no one acknowledges me, it's not about holding back my desire to be loved and mustering up the courage.
We can take courage because we know that there is someone who loves us and has the courage to sacrifice himself on the cross of death for me, a worthless and insignificant person.

If you need courage, I hope you don't get caught up in an inferiority complex by following specs or appearances that are wavering here and there.
There is no need to shout “I am precious!” with courage that no one acknowledges without any basis.
All I have to do is remember Him who sacrificed His life for me, a worthless person, and loved me forever.
He will hold your life until the day you die.
In Him is the courage of my life.--- p.
147-148


Have you ever met someone who insists on never forgetting a bad memory? Listen to their story.
It's such a sad and unfortunate story.
But have you ever heard it over and over again? It's the same thing every time we meet.
I'm not saying you should ignore bad memories.
When that memory becomes your entire life, all other life becomes paralyzed.
These people do not want to come out of this sorrow.
Who am I? My parents are divorced.
Who am I? I was bullied as a child.
Who am I? I'm a person who has suffered from poverty all my life.
So resolving that memory and getting compensation became my whole life.
Making compensation for memories a goal in life is neither healthy nor God's will.--- p.
157

Before I believed in Jesus, I thought there was no justice in this world where bad things happen to good people, and that money and power were everything.
But after believing in Jesus, whenever something happens in life, I can think like this.
'Bad things can happen to good people too.
My Lord, Jesus lived like that.
But because he lived that way, good things happened that made me a child of God. Even in my life, following him, incomprehensible things sometimes happen.
At that time, I now had a framework to interpret it.
Even when I do good things, bad consequences can still come.
But above all that bad, God will think of something completely good.
So I won't compromise.
'I will not give in to the fact that I am a wounded person.' This is where the freedom and confidence come in. --- p.
166

The Bible promises that for those who accept Jesus as Lord of their lives, fantasy will become reality at the end of life.
That is life eternal, life that overcomes death, resurrection.
Why are people increasingly drawn to superhero and science fiction films like "The Avengers" these days? It's because there's a deep longing within humanity for a world beyond reality to truly exist.
So, J., who wrote The Lord of the Rings,
RR
Tolkien said in his essay that Christianity provides a good explanation for why people are fascinated by fantasy.

--- p.
174