I need some feedback...

[JCHCPUNK]

2 Cor. 6:14 - 18
"14Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15What harmony is there between Christ and Belial ? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."
17"Therefore come out from them
and be separate, says the Lord.
Touch no unclean thing,
and I will receive you."
18"I will be a Father to you,
and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."


So it says not to yolk with unbelievers. That also means we shouldn't spend lots of time, making them some of our best friends, right? Correct me if I'm wrong.

All my friends in the area I live in are Atheists. The only way I can ever truly pull myself away from them is if I move far away. Which I'm actually doing...But I can't for a few months. I feel like in between the time that I stay here and move, I need to do something to witness more to them. Believe me, I've been witnessing to them for over a year...and with lots of love. They've been tearing me apart with it too.
So, without spending a lot of time with them, what can I do to witness to them? Should I even continue to witness to them, or should I just give the rest to God and see what happens?

 

[ephraimanesti]

2 Cor. 6:14 - 18
"14Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15What harmony is there between Christ and Belial ? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."
17"Therefore come out from them
and be separate, says the Lord.
Touch no unclean thing,
and I will receive you."
18"I will be a Father to you,
and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."


So it says not to yolk with unbelievers. That also means we shouldn't spend lots of time, making them some of our best friends, right? Correct me if I'm wrong.

All my friends in the area I live in are Atheists. The only way I can ever truly pull myself away from them is if I move far away. Which I'm actually doing...But I can't for a few months. I feel like in between the time that I stay here and move, I need to do something to witness more to them. Believe me, I've been witnessing to them for over a year...and with lots of love. They've been tearing me apart with it too.
So, without spending a lot of time with them, what can I do to witness to them? Should I even continue to witness to them, or should I just give the rest to God and see what happens?

MY DEAR BROTHER,

YES, i believe you have interpreted the Scriptures correctly. There is a big difference between "witnessing" and "being best friends."

As a Christian, you are a citizen of the Kingdom, not of this world, and hanging out with others who are wrapped up in the sins of this world can only drag you down, sow doubts in your mind, and drive a wedge between you and God. As you say, you have been witnessing to them and "they've been tearing you apart with it." So do your witnessing from a distance and do not get physically or emotionally involved with your former "friends."

What about your Church Home? Are there not a wealth of potential friends where you fellowship? Are there not youth groups and bible studies and prayer groups you can get involved in between now and the time you move? If not, you might check around for a Church which offers these important supports and opportunities for building Christian relationships.

Seek your friends and relationships among believers and God will bless your witnessing to the atheists. Just keep your distance from them.

A BOND-SLAVE OF CHRIST,
ephraim

 

[TexasGirl06]

We certainly want to maintain friendships with non believers.

But, let not make them our Best Buds.

We should be going to other believers for advice, etc...
and these should be our best buds.

Our Lord wants us to love people....
and be friends with them.

God can choose to use these friendships to draw others into The Kingdom.

 

[Hagios17]

Brother, you should keep your heart right with the Lord. Ask and listen to what the Lord has to say. If you are having doubt you should ask Jesus, but when it comes to preaching the gospel, that is a must do. God wants us to share this message of Jesus Christ. And pray along with your preaching. This way you'll know where and when to pray.

I'll be praying for you
Josh

 

[rocklife]

sometimes it is helpful to step back and let them see you more from a distance, especially if you have already been witnessing so much. They can see you witness if you are doing other things too, spending time with your parents, or picking up trash from the streets, or playing with some young ones, etc. surely God gives many creative ideas if you ask. maybe you can take this time for more bible studies also.

From my experience, it is best to not continue on with those who are more mocking us or seeking entertainment of us rather than seeking truth. and pray for them, and move along. help the poor, not the ones who reject continually.

 

[sinneD]

..sometimes it is helpful to step back and let them see you more from a distance..

Yeah, I agree with that.. I often have to work closely with non-christians, travel with them, spend time with them...

Without even having to get into serious witnessing, they all know my convictions and beliefs just from my lifestyle and actions.. and, funny, when they have serious questions, problems, issues they need to talk to someone about, they always come to me..

In some situations, our actions speak much louder than our words..

You can still have a relationship with them..be yourself, be friendly, be open, and politely refuse to partake in anything that conflicts with your witness...

 

[Squeejie]

i have seen nothing wrong with being best friends with unbelievers. they respect my ideas and i respect them. how else are they truly going to see your good fruits if you don't allow them near you. religious followers do their best to keep people who aren't like them as far away from them as possible. this is wrong because alot of overly religious people loose touch with the world, and how are you going to show the world the great ideas behind your religion when you don't know how to interact with the world? i have had a ton of really close friends who didn't believe what i believe. why did they want to be friends with me? because i showed them grace through my actions. will other see grace in your actions if you push them away from you? no way. friendship is an awesome thing, don't give it up just because you don't believe what they believe. sounds a bit petty doesn't it?

 

[Johnnz]

Look at the context and Jesus. The context is not mingling pagan and Christian worship patterns and concepts. it has nothing to do with friendships with non Christians.

Look at Jesus. He was called the friend of publicans (a local term of abuse) and sinners. His life within us will draw us towards loving those who don't know him.

The logical extension of being really seperated from sinners is monasticism - walling yourself away from their influence. In the NT slaves and most ordinary people just could not have seperated themselves from society. They had no rights if any sort to do that.

John
NZ

 

[JCHCPUNK]

I love my Atheist friends, but see they don't respect my Christianity. All they do is ridicule me. One even punched me a couple weeks ago on my birthday. I wasn't even talking about Jesus or anything!! What's even more screwed up, is that the rest of my friends that saw it happen just laughed about it and gave her props for it behind my back. My automatic thought was to strike her back 10 times worse, but I knew that's what Jesus wouldn't want me doing. I can't be myself around them, or they'll just rag on me about it. It's getting really old and it hurts...really really really bad. Cause these people were my best friends, and we experienced everything with each other. Including touring throughout the state and many other things...

I've been praying about it for a while, and God just keeps throwing these verses and others at me. I really do feel convicted to leave these people...I can still witness to them, I just can't spend a majority of my time with them anymore. I can barely stand being around them for more than an hour without feeling crappy.

I've done my witnessing to them, and I need to give the rest to Jesus. I don't think there is much more I could do as far as my own witnessing, it's all on them now. I've said what needed to be said. It's their decision, and I can't make them accept and love Jesus. Jesus can't make them do that either...like I said, it's their choice. They've gotta come to Him.

As far as even being around them, I don't even feel the need to be in this state anymore.

 

[ephraimanesti]

I love my Atheist friends, but see they don't respect my Christianity. All they do is ridicule me. One even punched me a couple weeks ago on my birthday. I wasn't even talking about Jesus or anything!! What's even more screwed up, is that the rest of my friends that saw it happen just laughed about it and gave her props for it behind my back. My automatic thought was to strike her back 10 times worse, but I knew that's what Jesus wouldn't want me doing. I can't be myself around them, or they'll just rag on me about it. It's getting really old and it hurts...really really really bad. Cause these people were my best friends, and we experienced everything with each other. Including touring throughout the state and many other things...

I've been praying about it for a while, and God just keeps throwing these verses and others at me. I really do feel convicted to leave these people...I can still witness to them, I just can't spend a majority of my time with them anymore. I can barely stand being around them for more than an hour without feeling crappy.

I've done my witnessing to them, and I need to give the rest to Jesus. I don't think there is much more I could do as far as my own witnessing, it's all on them now. I've said what needed to be said. It's their decision, and I can't make them accept and love Jesus. Jesus can't make them do that either...like I said, it's their choice. They've gotta come to Him.

As far as even being around them, I don't even feel the need to be in this state anymore.

MY DEAR SISTER,

Perhaps you need to look up the word "friends" in the Dictionary. Their behavior towards you sounds like anything but "friendly" to me!

Have you not made any Christian friends yet at your Church or elsewhere? As a Christian, you must keep your close associations within the Body of Christ. Not being unequally yoked with unbelievers (2 Corinthians 6:14) is a serious and binding injunction for believers--basically for our own good. Once you have witnessed to your former atheist associates, it is best to leave them alone, because the odds are that they will drag you down before you can lift them up.

A BOND-SLAVE OF CHRIST,
ephraim

 

[JCHCPUNK]

MY DEAR SISTER,

Perhaps you need to look up the word "friends" in the Dictionary. Their behavior towards you sounds like anything but "friendly" to me!

Have you not made any Christian friends yet at your Church or elsewhere? As a Christian, you must keep your close associations within the Body of Christ. Not being unequally yoked with unbelievers (2 Corinthians 6:14) is a serious and binding injunction for believers--basically for our own good. Once you have witnessed to your former atheist associates, it is best to leave them alone, because the odds are that they will drag you down before you can lift them up.

A BOND-SLAVE OF CHRIST,
ephraim

Yeah, their friendship was a lot more friendly before I quit the band. But I guess things change...

As far as making Christian friends, It's very hard for me to find someone even my age that is a strong Christian around the bay area. Especially one with interests that we'd find in common. The Christian friends I've met live halfway across the country, (Oklahoma, I live in California...bay area) when I visited there I thought it was so amazing to actually have friends that are Christlike. I wanted to cry of joy when someone said that they wanted to stop everyone from what they're doing to pray over someone...

I've decided to move to Oklahoma, but during the time I'm saving up money to move and being in California still, I still need to do a good job on witnessing to people. But it's so hard, cause I don't know how much more I can deal with my "friends". I guess I'll have to just suck it up, distance myself and try my hardest until I move.


Pray for me. This isn't easy.

 

[ephraimanesti]

As far as making Christian friends, It's very hard for me to find someone even my age that is a strong Christian around the bay area. Especially one with interests that we'd find in common.

Pray for me. This isn't easy.

MY DEAR SISTER,

There are literally hundreds of thousands of young Christians in the Bay Area. Have you REALLY been SERIOUSLY seeking for friends among them? There are also doubtless hundreds of Christ-centered Bands in the area--have you checked them out?

There is absolutely no valid reason for you having to hang with your old associates. You are a child of the Kingdom--find brothers and sisters in the Lord to help you grow into your new role. DON'T LOOK BACK--REMEMBER LOT'S WIFE!

You are indeed in my prayers!

A BOND-SLAVE OF CHRIST,
ephraim