Being Friends With Unbelievers

[kari21]

i rang my mother we only talk every 2 months with each other this is all she can handle i had to even tell my own mother i forgive you and do not want to blame you for the choice you made when you left us i just want to get to know you and i hope you are willing to alow your son to get to know you

May God bless you for your wonderful testimony, brother Damien!

[jeffnevins]

Funny thing is, if my parents weren't unequally yoked, I wouldn't be born.

I still agree with the rule, though. If I wasn't born, there'd be plenty of other Christians serving Him.

I have more Christian than non- friends as I get older, it seems.

[Sherman]

A dear friend and pastor once shared that he was in college and felt compelled to join a fraternity that was certainly not a Christian one. He knew that the current of relationships would tend to try to push him towards drinking, partying, and sleeping around, so he was reluctant to join. He said as he prayed about it, he believed the Lord instructed him to be like a boulder in river. As long as the boulder diverted the river, he should stay in the river. But if he ever started rolling with the river, he should get out of the river.

[stan4257]

A dear friend and pastor once shared that he was in college and felt compelled to join a fraternity that was certainly not a Christian one. He knew that the current of relationships would tend to try to push him towards drinking, partying, and sleeping around, so he was reluctant to join. He said as he prayed about it, he believed the Lord instructed him to be like a boulder in river. As long as the boulder diverted the river, he should stay in the river. But if he ever started rolling with the river, he should get out of the river.

A great analogy.

The dangers, though, are high, and only to be taken by those Christians who have carefully and prayerfully considered the issues. Many have started out with an enthusiasm that is largely based on ego and found it difficult or impossible to withdraw once the 'boulder' starts rolling.

The analogy still stands if considering how much easier it is to roll a boulder into a river than it is to pull it out again, and also that the current in some rivers is so strong that it needs a very big boulder to stop it rolling the moment it hits rock bottom.

With God, though, all things are possible.

And thank you for sharing with us about your dear friend and pastor. The fact that he is still your friend and pastor is proof that the Lord was there with him when they jumped into the river together.

[Guest Biblicist]

How does one witness to un-believers if they have no emotional attachment?

Does this mean one must quit their job if they work with or for un-believers?

What of family members, do we cut ourselves off from them, too?

Faith without works...is ineffective.

Amen bibs ... this is a thread that lost its way and needs help...You know those frayed threads... lol

Strange how questions like this get ignored.....

[eric]

How does one witness to un-believers if they have no emotional attachment?

Does this mean one must quit their job if they work with or for un-believers?

What of family members, do we cut ourselves off from them, too?

Faith without works...is ineffective.

Emotions have nothing to do with anything when witnessing.

No one is suggesting you leave your job because are working with un-believers.

nobody is saying you cut yourselff from unsaved family members.........Once again Jesus was not a friend of tax collectors and and sinners and the like. It was the people that hated Jesus, that accused Him of being friends withthem.

If you worked for a big firm that put on a big party at Christmas, as an end of the year fling, with all the booze and maybe a couple of strippers, would you mingle and mix in with their ungodly behavior, just because you were an employee? What sort of witnessing would that be........Bib, a person can not socialise with ungodly people as friends and be a christian at the same time.

Last question............Why would a christian want to be friends and hang out with pagans in the first place. 2nd Cor, chapter 6 says it all for us. Ya can't straddle the fence.

[Axxman]

How does one witness to un-believers if they have no emotional attachment?

Does this mean one must quit their job if they work with or for un-believers?

What of family members, do we cut ourselves off from them, too?

Faith without works...is ineffective.

Strange how questions like this get ignored.....

No fair Bibs...I was at work

I witness to un-believers all the time. I don't see what an "emotional attachment" has to do with it. There are non-christians at my work that I care deeply about...and I pray earnestly for them. The funny thing is...they would probably all consider me a friend simply because I am polite, kind, and loving. This just speaks to the shallow nature of many friendships nowadays. I would imagine that Jesus experienced much of the same thing in that MANY people claimed to be his friend. Simply acting like Jesus and being charitable with people should open plenty of doors for sharing our faith. IMO we should be able to do this without establishing commited friendships with the world.

And yes...the same is to be said of family members. I believe Christ specifically addressed that. Does that mean to alienate your family? Not at all. However, as a follower of Christ you have to be willing to abandon all worldly relationships and "come out from among them." We can still be courteous,loving and kind to people...but if they are not saved then there is simply nothing of value in the relationship.

We are all sinners...this isn't a prideful thing. Its not like I hold myself above non-christians. I feel for them, I pray for them, and I long for them to find the truth of Christ's salvation...because ONLY THEN can there be true fellowship, communion, and unity in the relationship. Until then, there is simply NOTHING a relationship with them could offer.

[artsylady]

Jesus ate and drank with sinners. Of course, he was in the wrong according to the religious people of the day.

1 Corinthians 5

9I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people

[eric]

Jesus ate and drank with sinners. Of course, he was in the wrong according to the religious people of the day.

1 Corinthians 5

9I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people

[MrsSealedEternal]

What I noticed shifted was the way I interacted with old friends and family members as I became closer to God. You can't help but have this happen with people who are not. This definately changed the dynamics of all my relationships, creating enmity and fellowships where there was none. I still want to show His love and care for all people and am actually more capable of doing that in His ways than my old ways. We are to love the person while abhoring sin. This can be a delicate balancing act. We should take care to not hate the person. This does not demonstrate the love of God. Friendships, in the sense that Yeshua was teaching about them, will always be effected by our willingness to abide in His agape love.

Joh 15:7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

Joh 15:8 "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.

Joh 15:9 "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.

Joh 15:10 "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.

Joh 15:11 "These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.

Joh 15:12 "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.

Joh 15:13 "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.

Joh 15:14 "You are My friends if you do what I command you.

Joh 15:15 "No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.

Joh 15:16 "You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.

Joh 15:17 "This I command you, that you love one another.

Joh 15:18 "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.

Joh 15:19 "If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.

Joh 15:20 "Remember the word that I said to you, 'A slave is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.

Joh 15:21 "But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me.

God Bless