Posts
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon!'
The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.
~ Matthew 11:18-19
I have forsaken my church friends often of late to spend time with my friends from work. There are a few reasons for this. One is that I appreciate my friends made at work. I also enjoy team trivia, which is our primary activity that has required me to choose between two sets of friends. I like the fact that my friends from work are closer to my age or older than I am while most of the friends from church are at least a few years younger. I am much more accustomed to having older friends! This situation requires me to be on my guard, however.
My friends from work, with a few exceptions, are not saved. They live like those who do not know Christ. It is true that when we are together alcohol is almost always present, and often quite conspicuously so. I am not one to consider this an inherent evil. I have observed very little drunkenness, and my friends know that I will not have more than two drinks and often will stop at one. They do not try to force alcohol upon me and are respectful of my self-imposed limits. My alcohol consumption is not problematic in my estimation, though others may disagree.
What I think poses a greater danger is the conversation. These friends do not hold back from uttering all sorts of unseemly words. I have noticed that the Christians in the group will emit the occasional obscenity, those those cases are rarer than they are common. My own speech is not perfect, admittedly, and much to my own shame. It is vastly "cleaner" than most of my peers' speech, and I know what I can and cannot say based on who is around to avoid offending anyone, but I do not and should not operate on a standard of "better".
I think the challenge lies in striking a balance. On one hand, bad company corrupts good morals. Spending too much time with them may tempt me to embrace too much "liberty". On the other hand, one of the reasons I spend time with them is to develop relationships with them that will allow me to share my faith with them more openly and candidly without "preaching" at them. Jesus spent time eating and drinking with sinners, yet without sin. His detractors still accused Him of being a glutton and a drunkard. How important is my reputation among Christians of the Northeast who often consider consuming one drop of alcohol as an indicator of a debauched life? I desire to be like Christ. He did not shy away from spending time with sinners, yet did not sin.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
10 comments:
Angie, I understand your situation real well, and I think you nail it with your last paragraph - striking a balance.
Personaly, I love my friends at work very much, but since I'm involved in too many church activities, it limits the time I spend with them. It rarely goes beyond office hours. Also, this is the happiest I have been at my church and I love those people as I would my family; I look forward to spending time with them.
I would encourage you to witness to your friends from work, and invite them to church. I think right now, the problem may be (and I may be wrong) that you don't have CLOSE friends from your church. Hum, I know this is tricky, but I guess it goes back to striking a good balance with the too....
oops, with the two, hihi :o
Sarah, you are quite right that I do not have close friends at church. Can I be quite frank and say that these non-Christians are more welcoming and inclusive and much less likely to form their little cliques than the people from church? I think that's one reason why I seek their company. One of my closest friends from church is also a friend from work, but she doesn't hang out with the group from church much at all. In September I will start hanging out with the group on Wednesday nights again, since our regular meetings are starting up again next week. Team trivia might move to Tuesday nights (change in venue for our group) instead of Wednesday, so I wouldn't have to rush from church to trivia. I'm trying to have my cake and eat it, too!
I do plan on inviting at least one or two friends from work to church! What I need to NOT do is invite them to church and never tell them the Gospel myself.
Hi Angie,
Balance is key. I am glad you are spending time with unsaved, unchurched friends. You are a light in a dark place.
I am not sure I like spending much time with worldly people. I do sometimes.
I think it is more important for the church to be a strong community than to attempt to make as many non-Christian friends as possible.
I think we need to bear in mind the fact that cults that separate from wider society are often far better at evangelism than most churches. Why is this?
Every Blessing in Christ
Matthew
You already know how I feel about this! ;)
Angie, may the Lord send you a good friend in your church. I think that would make all the difference.
Maybe he can send you Shieryl ;)
Um, Shieryl, want to come out here? Cost of living is a lot better! You'll be a LOT closer to hubby's family, too! ;) And, yes, I do know where you stand on this. Do you want one slice of lime or two? I prefer two...
Rose, I hope my light will shine untarnished!
Matt, I understand where you are coming from on that. Time spent with believers is definitely different than time spent with those who do not (yet?) believe. I don't attempt to make as many non-Christian friends as possible, but don't see how I personally can effectively share the Gospel if I do not seek at least some interaction with the lost.
You could knock on some doors.
LOL! I'd love to live out there. Except for the freezing winters and snow thing. The freezing winters and snow thing is a big check mark under the "NO" category. LOL. But, ya never know where God could take hubby and I! We might end up out there after all, snow and all! ;)
Post a Comment