Thoughts from a Random Mind

 

What sort of people should a Christian spend time with?  Only those who believe the way they do? No. That would make you somewhat of an isolationist in the respect that you want to isolate yourself from the outside world and live in a bubble. It is important to have Christian influences in your life, but not to the exclusion of those who are in need of Christ as their Savior.

Should you mingle only with the unsaved? Sometimes that’s the way your life ends up. You work with them, go to school with them, live near them... That makes it all the more important to have contact with other believers to counterbalance worldly influences. 

What about if your best friends are either unsaved or claim to be Christians yet exhibit no spiritual fruit. What if you vent to those same friends about all your problems and they either commiserate with you or advise you from their secular perspective? How would you grow spiritually? You love the Lord, but seem to serve Him under YOUR terms rather than His. You don’t like to go to church because either the sermons are too long or they are always asking for money (or both). You don’t feed your spirit man or woman, so you are susceptible to having your faith wilt. 

In my humble opinion, spending most of your time with unsaved people when your own walk with the Lord is weak presents a dilemma that is easy to fix, but you have to be willing to have it fixed. We are told in scripture to be ambassadors of Christ; His representatives in a sin-sick world. What good are you to the Lord if your focus is on the wrong thing? 

This world will pass away at some point in time, and all our material possessions will rot and blow away.  What we have done for Christ will last for all eternity. Now I am not for one second saying we should shun the unsaved. Never. We just need to try to have a healthy balance of folks who we can interact with, whether liberal or conservative, Christian or not. Rely on the Lord for advice and/or a trusted brother or sister in Christ. Be mindful of your relationship with the Lord. He loves you and desires your company. Don’t think for a moment that just because He cannot be seen that that is nonsense. It should be the closest, most intimate relationship we have, with our spouses, and families being right behind a close second. Use your relationship with your unsaved friends to share your faith with the end result potentially being their receiving Christ. 

We need to take our relationship with Christ seriously, while not allowing ourselves to become so heavenly minded that we’re no earthly good. A healthy balance. Until next time, walk with the King & be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries