Something that I have been thinking about a lot lately is 1 Corinthians 5:11. This is specifically about the person who claims they are Christian, but is living in sin...even boasting about it. It is clear that we are not to associate with a person like this, not even to share a meal.
In these present times, I'm seeing more and more people who claim Christ embrace some of the very sins listed in this passage. I can scroll through facebook and see someone post about God's love only just to post acceptance of immorality not too long later; this person also lives with her boyfriend and child they have together. I've had a classmate who claimed she was Christian laugh about sleeping with her boyfriend; they're not together anymore and she has a new boyfriend who I've seen act inappropriately with her in public before they were "officially dating" and they even just went on vacation together. I know another girl who also claims she's Christian and lives with her boyfriend. My own sister is living in this way and sadly, we are not speaking because of it. She wanted nothing to do with me when I voiced how I felt about her lifestyle. These are just a few examples among what I am seeing a lot of lately.
I've interacted with all of these people, and yes, even shared a meal with them. I wasn't thinking too much about this verse then, but according to it, am I not to associate with them? What happens in the case where they study at the same university as you or work in the same workplace? Isn't that "associating" with them by the very definition of the word? The same passage says it is not talking about the people of the world, because to not deal with them we would have to leave this world. Obviously we aren't supposed to be best friends with the people of the world either, which leaves us free to do business with them, work with them, speak with them, etc. This must mean that for those who claim to be Christians and are living in blatant sin, that we cannot even associate with them in mundane everyday ways. How can we realistically do this, if say, they happen to be your coworker?
Is this verse talking about only the person engaging in such immorality, or does it also address those who are active supporters of it? I know of many who aren't committing immoral acts themselves, but they applaud those who do. They either think calling the person out on their sinful behavior will leave them feeling condemned and fear it will push them further from God, or they actually celebrate the lifestyle the "Christian" is living in the name of freedom and love. I am friends with someone else on facebook, an ordained reverend; instead of rebuking the other "Christian" friend who is falling away in faith, recently declared she is a witch, that she doesn't believe that the path she is on will lead to destruction and that she is in control of her power, gets the support and cheering of her new found freedom by the reverend instead. This left me so unsettled.
I don't understand why people who want to live in such a way don't just use their freewill and fully commit, since they are already doing these things anyway, rather than claiming Christ at the same time. It seems actually more complicated and less "freeing" if they want to be tied to the very faith that condemns these things. But I digress...
What I'm really wondering is how we follow this verse, especially in these times when so many say they follow God but live in sin. How do we navigate this issue in our everyday lives? How do we define "associating"? Is being employed by the same employer associating? Being friends on facebook? Are those who condone and even preach immorality while they themselves are not physically engaging in the sin on the same level as those who are?
In these present times, I'm seeing more and more people who claim Christ embrace some of the very sins listed in this passage. I can scroll through facebook and see someone post about God's love only just to post acceptance of immorality not too long later; this person also lives with her boyfriend and child they have together. I've had a classmate who claimed she was Christian laugh about sleeping with her boyfriend; they're not together anymore and she has a new boyfriend who I've seen act inappropriately with her in public before they were "officially dating" and they even just went on vacation together. I know another girl who also claims she's Christian and lives with her boyfriend. My own sister is living in this way and sadly, we are not speaking because of it. She wanted nothing to do with me when I voiced how I felt about her lifestyle. These are just a few examples among what I am seeing a lot of lately.
I've interacted with all of these people, and yes, even shared a meal with them. I wasn't thinking too much about this verse then, but according to it, am I not to associate with them? What happens in the case where they study at the same university as you or work in the same workplace? Isn't that "associating" with them by the very definition of the word? The same passage says it is not talking about the people of the world, because to not deal with them we would have to leave this world. Obviously we aren't supposed to be best friends with the people of the world either, which leaves us free to do business with them, work with them, speak with them, etc. This must mean that for those who claim to be Christians and are living in blatant sin, that we cannot even associate with them in mundane everyday ways. How can we realistically do this, if say, they happen to be your coworker?
Is this verse talking about only the person engaging in such immorality, or does it also address those who are active supporters of it? I know of many who aren't committing immoral acts themselves, but they applaud those who do. They either think calling the person out on their sinful behavior will leave them feeling condemned and fear it will push them further from God, or they actually celebrate the lifestyle the "Christian" is living in the name of freedom and love. I am friends with someone else on facebook, an ordained reverend; instead of rebuking the other "Christian" friend who is falling away in faith, recently declared she is a witch, that she doesn't believe that the path she is on will lead to destruction and that she is in control of her power, gets the support and cheering of her new found freedom by the reverend instead. This left me so unsettled.
I don't understand why people who want to live in such a way don't just use their freewill and fully commit, since they are already doing these things anyway, rather than claiming Christ at the same time. It seems actually more complicated and less "freeing" if they want to be tied to the very faith that condemns these things. But I digress...
What I'm really wondering is how we follow this verse, especially in these times when so many say they follow God but live in sin. How do we navigate this issue in our everyday lives? How do we define "associating"? Is being employed by the same employer associating? Being friends on facebook? Are those who condone and even preach immorality while they themselves are not physically engaging in the sin on the same level as those who are?