Can you be a good friend … and stay silent while your friend destroys their life, and torches other lives their rebellious behavior touches? Or, can you be a good friend - and step back to allow consequential lessons when a rebellious friend continues in willful destructive behaviors?
My husband & I have this same type of talk every time Kelso comes into play:
He doesn't "understand" why I take issue with his friends' or family's behavior patterns.
And I, don't understand why he doesn't understand.
My understanding from a Biblical point is that bad company corrupts & staying silent about said bad behavior means that you approve of that bad behavior. And ultimately the person you refuse to make "man up" and start behaving like a decent person … will eventually disrespect you because they see that you have no moral compass while claiming to be moral.
I don't spin my wheels. Once it becomes abundantly clear to me that situations aren't going to change - I move on. Keeping a friendship seeped in bad behavior, simply because "I've known them all my life" is foolish. If the "friendship" has lasted that long, then everyone knows where they stand on issues; and if your "friend" feels comfortable doing things around you, or comfortably talking to you about those wrong things: they have no respect for you at all. And neither do you.
Mature people want mature friendships.
Honest people want honest friendships.
Moral people want to hang with moral friends.
Commonality seeks commonality.
Your relationships TELL a LOT about YOU.
Who & what you associate yourself with tattles loud & clear.
Christians can't judge the world - the world does not know any better … or, they are rebellious to the point of callousness & deliberately snubbing their noses at Elohim & you - like Lucifer, their Father. And sometimes you can't avoid them; but, you do not have to go out of your way to make a place for them in your inner circle - the place of close companionship. They are an unruly flame that will seriously scar you and burn everyone and everything in their proximity to the ground, with their willful recklessness.
The waffling excuse of "it's none of my business how they live" is a self-serving, lame, excuse for you to indulge in a wrong-minded situation. IF they are DOING IT in front of you; IF they are OPENLY DISCUSSING IT with YOU - then, IT IS {YOUR} BUSINESS. They have made "it" your business. And you have a decision to make. Are you a true-compass Christian; or are you a lip-service Christian? Why do you continue to make time for them and their bad behavior that you know is wrong? Why are you continuing to allow them to disrespect you? It's true that they are not Christians … BUT YOU ARE. Why are you not sharing with them that there is a better way to enjoy Life? Why are you not encouraging them to be a better person - for themselves, for your friendship, for the people around them? Who you chose to hang with IS [your business]. And it reflects, affecting the people close to you. Waffling taints relationships & is an unfair burden on those you claim to love.
Christians ARE to judge the spirit among their brethren and prod them out of the weeds & back on track. If people claiming to be Christians get angrily "offended!" when their bad behavior becomes the topic of conversation - and if they refuse to behave, let them go; their attitude highlights the reality that they are "not of us, and never have been": they were pretenders & they will foul your Life up if not nipped in the bud.
IF people I personally know and associate with, tell me that they are Christians … then, I am going to EXPECT them to act accordingly. Or cut them lose without hesitation. I have enough troubles of my own - I don't need, or want theirs.
You can love a person without getting down in the muck with them. Elohim does it all the time. He expects us to understand that simple understanding.
So, I really do not understand why people claiming to understand … don't "understand".
Practical Takeaway: Scriptures (Old Covenant & New Covenant) urges those who claim kinship with sons & daughters of the Most High God - to seek godly, encouraging, and morally upright companions who will lift you up and help you grow in faith … & we are warned against the dangers of negative influences, reminding us to be discerning in our friendships: “The company of the godless is barren” (Proverbs 4:23).
So choose your inner circle companions wisely, for the choice you make, shapes who you are and who you become; this admonition is often paraphrased as, “You are the company you keep”. A truth Scripture affirms through many verses, such as these:
Psalm 1:1-2: “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.”
Proverbs 13:20: “Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.”
Proverbs 12:26: “The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.”
1 Corinthians 15:33: “Do not be misled: Bad company corrupts good character.”
2 Corinthians 6:14: “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?”
The Word, is the Christians Handbook on Godly Character, Righteous Living, & Holy Relational Matters. It's the standard for Life in real-time, down here on Earth = it doesn't apply in Heaven: Heaven is our Graduation for completion of lessons learned & applied.
The modern idea that a Christian can become as the worldly to save the worldly is a direct lie passed to your itching ears from the lips of Lucifer & his imps. If you feel perfectly comfortable & at ease among blatant sinful behavior … your character, as well as your salvation status is in serious question - and you need to get real with yourself and reevaluate your soul situation. Then have a heart-to heart with whoever (relative or friend) that you have been willfully & sinfully engaging with: and if necessary carry scissors and cut the rotten umbilical cord.
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