“But now I am
writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother
if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler,
drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one.”
- 1 Corinthians 5:11 (ESV)
How do the people you
associate with affect your salvation walk with Christ? Each person you spend a significant amount
of time with has an influence on your behaviors, attitudes and tolerances for
sin in your own life. By associating with those who behave unseemly, yet claim
to be followers of Christ results in an atmosphere within your circle that
promotes hypocrisy, acceptance of sin and destroys your Christian testimony and
reputation. Such behavior eventually results in you lowering the bar of your
own standards towards living a holy, separate life for our Lord and savior. It
begins with an innocent night out at the bar. You have gone out on a Thursday
or Friday night many times before and have always woken up early enough to get
to work on time and fulfill all of your commitments. As you get more
comfortable, you find yourself singing along to the lyrics of the secular
music, even the songs that use curse words and take the Lord’s name in vain.
Some of the songs played even refer to criminal or sexual acts as you sing them
just as loudly as you would the praise and worship music at church on Sunday
morning. You choose to compartmentalize your secular life and your church life,
but then something changes one weekend: a special event late on a Saturday
night! Your best friend urges you to come as one of your favorite bands will be
performing that night. You reluctantly agree and set yourself an early curfew
that you fail to keep. One drink leads to another and the next thing you know
you find yourself in bed with a stranger on a Sunday morning with a hangover. The
shame and guilt causes you to avoid church the next week, the week after and
the week after that. Before you know it, you’re not attending church services
at all. This scenario is far too common in our society. The desire for
friendship, sex and the acceptance of our peers in the secular society in which
we live is too great to overcome in our own strength. That is why it is so
vital to closely guard our inner circle and ensure that those who share our
morals, core values and salvation itself are the ones with whom we associate
most frequently. In this section, I will be discussing how bad company ruins
good morals, unbelievers lead Christians astray and to be not unequally yoked
with unbelievers.
Bad company ruins good morals
“Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”
-
1 Corinthians
15:33 (ESV)
Whether we would like to
admit it or not, many of us are like a sponge. Whatever type of environment, atmosphere
or influence we immerse ourselves in gets inside of us and becomes part of who
we are. Not only do the beliefs, behaviors and words of others influence us,
but they become integrated into who we are as individuals. The words of others
become thoughts in our own mind and these thoughts can sometimes manifest as
actions. The moral compass of those with whom we spend the most amount of time
begins to sway our manner of thinking towards theirs in a subtle yet consistent
pull like a magnet. In a physical compass, it is the magnet that consistently points
north that allows us to determine our bearing and direction when identifying
landmarks on a map. In our salvation, our roadmap is the infallible word of God
in the Bible. As Christians, Jesus Christ is our steady pointer north on the
compass of our souls. By taking life’s journey with those who are using the
same compass that we are will help ensure that we will not go astray ourselves.
Unbelievers lead Christians astray
“The righteous choose their
friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.”
-
Proverbs 12:26
(NIV)
As Christians, we must be very careful to select our associations with great care and discretion. Particularly those within our inner five, each person we associate with most frequently should be those of generosity, sobriety, character, and individuals with a strong moral conscience. There are times when we convince ourselves that we are engaging in secular activities as an attempt to lead someone to the Lord. However, I have found that taking on this approach to secular evangelism usually results in the Christian individual becoming more like the secular person far more frequently than the secular person changes to become like the believer. The fact that you participate in their worldly ventures gives credence to the idea that such activities have value to you as well. The truth is the only thing that will result in a transformed life is a true salvation experience through faith in Jesus Christ. Once you realize that you are powerless on your own and that only Jesus Christ can transform their life, then you allow yourself to yield to the influence, guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit within you. Remember, it is the Christian individual who is responsible for living separate from the world as salt and light to guide others to Christ.
Be not unequally yoked with your associations
“Be ye not unequally yoked
together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with
unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?”
-
2 Corinthians
6:14
We are to be separate from
the world as professing Christians. Those who claim the name of Christ must be
salt and light in this dark world. There must be a stark difference between how
the world lives and how those who claim salvation through faith in Jesus Christ
must live. The Bible tells us that all will give an account for what we did in
our bodies. Fortunately, those of us who have received a salvation experience
will have the righteousness of Christ imputed to us though the blood-bought
atonement achieved on the cross. However, professed Christians will still be
required to answer for how we spent our time, used our resources for the
“Wherefore come out from
among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean
thing; and I will receive you,”
-
2 Corinthians
6:17 (KJV)
In divine knowledge and
wisdom, God knows that his people are influenced by those who do not follow in
the ways of righteousness and holy separation from sin. In the Old Testament,
we see countless examples of how God’s chosen people intermarried with those
who inhabited the Promised Land. These other people groups led God’s people
astray to worship idols and disobey the commands of the Lord. So too Christians
will be led astray from obedience to the teachings of the Bible whenever we
allow those who do not believe as we do to become our associations. You truly
are influenced greatly by the five people you spend the most time with in your
life. Ensure that those who you choose have also chosen Jesus Christ as their
Lord and savior.
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