April 12, 2016
Do Not Join Them, But...
I wanted to do a follow up on this verse. What I have to say isn't in the context of I John, but I believe it needs to be said. What I have to say is scriptural but cannot be taken from I John. Also, I will just write what I am thinking, hoping to think of scriptures as I write...
It is true we are not to join them. But who is the them? It is those within the church who profess Christ, yet refuse to stop sinning. It is those who teach false doctrine within the church and work to destroy it. And, it is some people of the world.
It is more than who but why or the way we join worldly people. As mentioned yesterday, we must not join in with sinners. We are not to do the sin they do. When we do, we will be constantly pressured to compromise our beliefs, or convictions for the sake of the business, the marriage, or other venture.
Those who like to compromise and others like to refer to some verses in the Bible and say That Jesus ate and drank with sinners. "The pharisees said he was a glutton and a drunkard, so if Jesus can party them, we can too." This is fool hardy. It is not right to "party" with unbelievers. Nowhere is it recorded that Jesus did that. Being accused of something and actually doing it is different. There are only three or four event recorded where Jesus went to eat with sinners. We know he never got drunk because that is a sin, and he was sinless. If it were so, he could not be our sacrifice and Christianity is a sham, and we are bound for Hell!
No, there were results when Jesus ate with sinners... They became different people. They stood up and confessed their wrongs and declared how they would live differently, they made recompense. (Luke 19:8) Jesus was purposeful in his living. Our presence should help lead sinners out of sin. If we participate in their sin, they are changing us.
We are not called to live away from the world, but to be witnesses in it. If you want to eat with them, invite them to your house and control the environment. When in Tulsa, the family I stayed with was invited next door to eat. They weren't Christians, in fact the man was a former secret service agent! Anyway... while there, the tv was on, and the adults were in the other room and the children and I were together. It didn't take long to see what was on was an R rated movie... all of us were subjected to the filth of the world, it is vivid over 30 years later. We had to go somewhere else and sit.
Daughters, You can't leave this world (I Cor 5:10). You must be willing to be around sinners to be an influence to them, but you must never join in their evil. If you do, you are them. You must be separate in practice and thought. You must never accept what they do. You must stand against their way of life, yet love them and help them find the Lord. And remember... if it wasn't for God's grace... there to go you. ( "There, but for the grace of God, go I" Bradford) You and I would be rotten sinners if we had never met God. So, live among them but never join them in their sin. Help bring them to the Savior.
~Dad
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