Being Friends With Unbelievers

[patricia1]

kari~ I do not concern myself with that too much. Most people know my reputation and many cannot believe that jesus would send someone in there for them...they usually end up feeling special that someone will take a chance in doing what God asked no matter what. They could ask me also. If someone states why a christian goes to a bar. I ask them why not. Answer is sometimes for them. Lol

I believe as well God protects your reputation when you do as He instructs. There is no reason why I can't be there. It is not a weakness of mine.

I come from a long line of alcoholics and perhaps if someone who represented Jesus was there early they would not have died of the disease, but who knows.

I have walked with prostitutes and drug dealers as well. One went into rehab..the dealer stopped dealing and the other prostitute has a Job in Shoprite in the meat department.

Two bars shut down ,one is a korean chuch (Christian)and the other is a place for kids to go.

I remember my car kept breaking down...I was so aggravated and said to the Lord, I am going to go somewhere else!!! I have had it with these people. But He directed me to the same people. I handed in my car and the guys could not believe I was back again. I walked home.

When my car was ready I was walking to pick it up. A older beat up looking man was close to the mechanic and walked towards me asking if I can give him a ride. I said I will. Another person on the street saw him come over to me asking what this man wanted... I replied a ride. The guy said"oh. he is the town drunk...just don't mind him" , the mechanics said the same thing.

I left with my car. I prayed and said Lord if he is still there I know to pick him up

He was there. We drove around and we talked a awful lot, He really had no place to go.

His hurts..his pain, his value of his life, his family all sorts of things. I told him about Jesus.

I asked him if I can bring him to a inpatient detox and will he sign himself in. He said yes, I took him. I stayed with him to make sure he was admitted. Before I left I gave him a track and he put it in his back pocket.

! year later I was giving testimony that we can sow a seed and pray that it grows and trust the Lord with it.

Someone recognized my testimony. A man from another church gave testimony how a ride saved his life and helped him to become a christian. The person put us together and it was the same man I had given a ride to. He definitely did not look the same sober, cleaned up...and in a suit. We cried together. He woke up in the hospital and when they discharged him he found the track. Bits and pieces came back to him. He called the church before leaving and they went to get him.

Needless to say..My car did not cost much...maybe a few dollars and it wasn't major.

Yes ..I should be careful..but the problem is trying to find another christian that does not have 'Airs' about them. I think his life was worth the few bucks and my car stopped breaking down!!! lol patricia1

[OneLight]

patricia1, God Bless You! I work with the homeless and have found friendship with them. It is different with them then it is with my Brothers and Sisters in Christ, but, still the same, there is a friendship. It is the lost that Jesus came for.

I read in Matthew 9:11-13; "And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples,

[damo1]

damo1

if you want to do some thing diffrent and wild and are willing to get out off your comfort zone you can be friend unbelivers or you can be a wittness for christ by wittnessing to un belivers were i use to live in canberra i use to wittness in a gay bar with sevral other christian males from sevral diffrent churches

i am going to be moving as of the 27th of dec back to canberra and when i am settled and un packed i will track the guys down i use to go wittnessing with and see if they are still doing this

before i take of for the phillippines

were people go wrong is by sitting in their comfort zones and taking on all sort of stupid ideas to were you forget how to communicate with un belivers

how many hear can honestly say they have christians friends with in and how many can say the church and the friends you have from with in are their for you when you need them ?

are you only seen as a christian on sunday and then threw the week do you get any contac at all by those from with in ?

if a person is going to give up what ever they are use to they will also need new friends from with in as the people i have gotten to know were once active christians but are no longer active christians due to not being able to fit in and not being able to make new friends

this is were we do loose people if they see they cant fit in or have the same group of friends like they use to when they were worshipping the spirit off this world

this is why i have friends as un belivers does that mean i am stepping out of gods will or disobeying his commandments because i decide to have fellowship with un belivers ?

god bless from your brother in the lord damien stipic

[artsylady]

Patricia1:

God bless you. Walking into a bar is far less frightful than walking into darkest, deepests depths of Africa where the occult and devil worship is so predominant, yet some people see the 'bar' part and somehow conclude you're up to no good.

[kari21]

What if someone does not see that they need repentance or salvation. What of Christ do you give them then?

To be honest, it's really not my concern then. I have planted the seed, and the Holy Spirit will bring the conviction. You must remember, it is NEVER us doing the convicting and saving - it is God alone. If one rejects what you have said, the Bible says to "shake the dust from your feet" and to move on.

I kinda figured you would say that. The fact is not all people were saved from John 3:16, but some were saved from, John 14:6. Others were saved from John 6:53-57. We must present the Christ that a paticular individual needs. Some may need to see the Law, but not all. But if this is all that we present when we witness then we are surely misrepresenting Christ.

How do we present Christ the Righteous Judge to an African girl who was kidnapped and forced into prostitution? Is this truely how He wants to reveal Himself to that person. We should be ready not with a script but Life. They need the Christ that meets thier needs. Then if one rejects after we have properly given them the Christ that they needed, we then "shake the dust from our feet".

I kinda figured you would say that. I believe that God is wise enough to send the perfect person to witness to an individual.

One person may need to hear about Christ's love, others will respond to seeing how they look in God's eyes through the Law.

[Guest Biblicist]

i go into a bar...sit down order a soda, no one knows I am drinking a soda

What if someone you had witnessed to before, but was still making up their mind, saw you in the bar? What conclusion would they come to? Perhaps that you were a hypocrite, and thus reject the Gospel message?

I'm not saying that your motives aren't good, just that appearance does count for a lot.

Kinda like a man going to witness in a strip club.

I do not see how going to a bar is much different than going to any restaurant anymore. They all have "bars" and they all sell alcohol. Well, maybe not IHOP or Eat-N-Park!

A hypocrite would be someone who drinks in private and condemns another for drinking in public.

[Axxman]

I don't really see how going to a bar...or a gay club... has anything to do with the OP.

No one ever said you can't preach and evangelize to the lost. That is what we are supposed to do. The question is...are we supposed to have relationships with unbelievers? In my last post I asked for scriptures affirming that it was okay scripturally to be friends with the world...two pages of discussion later...still none of those scriptures have arisen. Instead we are discussing evangelism and going into worldly places to preach. Thats an entirely different topic.

I also don't like the CONSTANT implication that people who hold my opinion are somehow "looking down our noses" at sinners. I AM A SINNER. Being a sinner, or hanging out with sinners isn't the point of the OP either. We are ALL sinners. The Disciples of Jesus were sinners and he specifically called them 'friends.' The OP is in reference to unbelievers, who are also sinners, but we are not discussing their sinful state, but their worldly state. With that said...I don't look down my nose at unbelievers either. I am also not afraid they are going to make me sin in some way. The reason I don't hang out with unbelievers is simple...we have NOTHING in common. We are light and dark. There is no unity or fellowship. Oh sure...there are moments when we'll discuss a topic that we mutually enjoy...but it can't truly go any deeper than that because my bottom line is Jesus Christ and their bottom line is whatever worldly thing they happen to cling to.

Jesus called the disciples "friends" in John 15. He established a pretty clear criteria for calling them friends. Jesus said "You are my friends if you do what I command." (John 15:14) Naturally, He didn't have friends that didn't follow His commands. However, that doesn't mean that He couldn't fulfill His role on Earth simply because he refused to call people who didn't follow His commands "friends."

[eric]

Axxman, you said it better than I could. my sentiments exactly. Who needs carnal friends anyway. Our landlord is an unbeliever, but when he comes to do some job or other about the place, my wife invites him to have a drink of tea or coffee. I still wouldn't like to join his circle of friend though.......good post bro.

[Guest Biblicist]

I just do not see how one can effectively witness to someone without knowing their needs and their specific personalities.

Many of you have said you use different tactics with everyone, how do you know what "tactics" to use if you do not know the person.

When it comes to certain belief systems, you must become friends to gain trust before you earn the right to talk Christ about them. If you go into a person's house, when they do not know you, and begin to preach the Bible at them it is going to turn them off.

I've even had Christians tell me not to "preach Bible verses at them". So how can I preach Bible verses at non-Christians when even Brother's and Sister's in Christ don't respect it. I need to earn trust and gain respect as a person of God with people before I gain the right to give God's Word to someone.

I'd like to know how you reconcile Luke 10

1 The Lord now chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit.

2 These were his instructions to them: "The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.

3 Now go, and remember that I am sending you out as lambs among wolves.

4 Don't take any money with you, nor a traveler's bag, nor an extra pair of sandals. And don't stop to greet anyone on the road.

5 "Whenever you enter someone's home, first say, 'May God's peace be on this house.'

6 If those who live there are peaceful, the blessing will stand; if they are not, the blessing will return to you.

7 Don't move around from home to home. Stay in one place, eating and drinking what they provide. Don't hesitate to accept hospitality, because those who work deserve their pay.

8 "If you enter a town and it welcomes you, eat whatever is set before you.

9 Heal the sick, and tell them, 'The Kingdom of God is near you now.'

10 But if a town refuses to welcome you, go out into its streets and say,

11 'We wipe even the dust of your town from our feet to show that we have abandoned you to your fate. And know this

[artsylady]

In my last post I asked for scriptures affirming that it was okay scripturally to be friends with the world...two pages of discussion later...still none of those scriptures have arisen. Instead we are discussing evangelism and going into worldly places to preach. Thats an entirely different topic.

Jesus ate and drank with sinners.

Eric asserts that this is a case of Jesus example of "do as I say, not as I do". What's your take?