Separation anxiety...

[Sis]

Jesus is our ultimate example: He gained a reputation for spending time with the worst of sinners, yet He was utterly unlike them. 

I don't believe this is true. He spent time with people religion considered unworthy, but they were people who wanted to do good. The proof of this is that they cared about the things he talked about; the things of God. Also, for him to have done otherwise would have contradicted the teachings in Proverbs against hanging out with thieves, drunkards and bloodthirsty men.

Wasn't Mary Magdalene a hooker? How about the woman at the well? Nobody would associate with her because she had lived with five guys to whom she wasn't married.  There are two, anyway who were sinners and not outcast only because of religioin.

[TRAV]

I don't believe Mary Magdalene was a hooker.

[InChristGirl]

Well if I recall right she was an adulterous wasn't she?

[TRAV]

Well if I recall right she was an adulterous wasn't she?

Even so, I don't believe that's a hooker. Not good, but not a hooker.

Maybe she just had a little separation anxiety...

[titushome]

Tradition says she was a prostitute, but if I remember correctly no Scripture explicitly states it was so.

[wire2john]

But the purpose of the warnings in the Proverbs is to keep us from hanging out with people who might negatively influence us.  If we are at a point in our walk with God that we are sufficiently Christ-like that their presence will not influence us to sin, then those warnings no longer apply.

I don't exactly disagree with you but...
1 Corinthians 15:33
Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character."

[TRAV]

Tradition says she was a prostitute, but if I remember correctly no Scripture explicitly states it was so.

Yeah.

[titushome]

1 Corinthians 15:33
Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character."

That's exactly my point, and the point of the Proverbs.  We must know ourselves well enough, and be honest enough with ourselves, and listen enough to the Spirit, to know when we ought not to spend time with people because to do so would corrupt our character.

[sunlight]

yeah, or something to that effect... I am interested in seeing where this one ends up though...

i have a different type of seperation anxiety... well... i guess i could if i ever had anyone i was anxios a bout being seperated from... lol.

lol right?
thought this thread was about long distance relationships didn't you??  lol

[wire2john]

1 Corinthians 15:33
Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character."

That's exactly my point, and the point of the Proverbs.  We must know ourselves well enough, and be honest enough with ourselves, and listen enough to the Spirit, to know when we ought not to spend time with people because to do so would corrupt our character.

Let me quote you from another thread, "Don't read more into the text than is there."
The Apostle isn't saying bad company further corrupts bad character, though that's certainly true. He's saying bad company corrupts good character. You don't have to have a penchant for drunkeness to be negatively impacted by hanging out in a bar.

[titushome]

Let me quote you from another thread, "Don't read more into the text than is there."

If we were considering this one verse - I Corinthians 15:33 - in isolation from the rest of the Scriptures, then we most certainly would arrive at the conclusion that someone endeavoring to have and keep good character should never keep company with anyone whose character is bad.

But one must hold a balanced view that takes all the Scriptures into account.  That's part of allowing "Scripture to interpret Scripture."

The Apostle isn't saying bad company further corrupts bad character, though that's certainly true. He's saying bad company corrupts good character. You don't have to have a penchant for drunkeness to be negatively impacted by hanging out in a bar.

This is quite true, and it's the main reason I don't spend much time hanging out in bars.  I don't like the atmosphere, and I don't wish to associate with most of the people who do like that atmosphere.

There may, however, come a time when the spirit of the law trumps the letter of the law: when our mission to reach the lost, to befriend them and love them and win them to Jesus, becomes more important than toeing the line.  The last time I went to an establishment that might be considered a "bar," it was to join a group of folks who were seeing off a friend who was on his way to serve in the Army in Iraq.  The purpose of the gathering was not to party, nor to get wasted, nor anything like that; it was to treat our friend to a nice lunch and let him know that we care about him.  I've known this man for many years, and he's always known I am a Christian.  In this particular instance, I felt the Spirit prompting me to get past my own inhibitions about the venue, and demonstrate my friendship with the man by being present at this gathering; in fact I was able to speak with him briefly, and (I believe) be a witness of the Lord in his life.

[Sis]

Being friendly and befriending are two different things. How can we share the Gospel if we're not friendly with sinners?

[titushome]

Being friendly and befriending are two different things. How can we share the Gospel if we're not friendly with sinners?

How can we truly be friendly with sinners unless we befriend them?

[TRAV]

Being friendly and befriending are two different things. How can we share the Gospel if we're not friendly with sinners?

How can we truly be friendly with sinners unless we befriend them?

We can let them know that we are using rubber gloves for their own good. Safety first, y'know.

[Sis]

There's a difference between making someone a close friend and doing stuff with all the time and being a friend to someone you are trying to witness to.

[newkris]

kind of reminds me of the st. francis quote, "preach the gospel at all times.  when necessary, use words."

i try to live by those words. 

[titushome]

There's a difference between making someone a close friend and doing stuff with all the time and being a friend to someone you are trying to witness to.

I don't think there should be a difference: either I am a genuine friend to someone, or I am not.  If I'm their "friend" only so I can be a "witness," that's going to come through to them, sooner or later, loud and clear.  The message they're going to receive is "I'm only your friend because I hope you'll become a Christian like me."

The counter to that is "how can two walk together except they are agreed?"  I can be the genuine friend of a non-Christian, as long as that person is to some degree seeking God.  When it comes to someone who has no interest in knowing God - who wants only to live for himself or herself - then naturally we have no basis for a real friendship.  We cannot walk together, because we are not agreed.

Having a close friendship with a non-Christian, or "doing stuff all the time" with a non-Christian, is acceptable - yea, unavoidable, irrepressible, and a joy - as long as we are moving in the same direction: toward God.  It doesn't matter as much that we are at different places on that road.

[Babs]

a saying i heard years ago and think it applies to this thread very well............

"They will not care how much you know, until they know how much you care."

[Sis]

Ok, I don't know about you. I've never met anyone who was a close friend to everyone they knew.

I had close acquaintances at work, and various other parts of my life. Kinda close at work but not close friends that I would use for a confidant.

It's just a fact, that people don't become close friends with everyone they know. That doesn't mean you're not kind, that you don't have long talks with people you know, but you can know these people, like them but not be really close friends with them.

[wire2john]

Being friendly and befriending are two different things. How can we share the Gospel if we're not friendly with sinners?

How can we truly be friendly with sinners unless we befriend them?

We can let them know that we are using rubber gloves for their own good. Safety first, y'know.

I'm beginning to think you love the Lord...

[TRAV]

Being friendly and befriending are two different things. How can we share the Gospel if we're not friendly with sinners?

How can we truly be friendly with sinners unless we befriend them?

We can let them know that we are using rubber gloves for their own good. Safety first, y'know.

I'm beginning to think you love the Lord...

took you long enough. lol