Who Do You Hang Out With?

It is a very natural thing for us as believers to want to hang out with other believers. One of the expressions that was first discovered in the early church and continues today is ‘fellowship’ (see Acts 2:42). It means ‘to have in common.’ Believers have in common a love for God and His word.

But what about those who are far from God? What about those around you who are not like-minded when it comes to spiritual things, the church, etc. Are any of those people on your friends list? Do you spend time with them? If not, why not?

One of the common criticisms Jesus faced was that He spent too much time with sinners. He associated with the unwelcomed and unappreciated of society. Are we not to be like Jesus? How many of us could be accused of spending too much time with the ‘down and outers’ of our culture?

I read somewhere that once a person becomes a believer, he distances himself from his unbelieving friends within 18 month. That’s tragic. If we hope to have any kind of lasting influence and impact for eternity in the lives of our unbelieving friends, we have to have contact. In order to have contact, we must begin by spending time and investing energy in being with them. No contact- no impact.

Jesus talked about His own ministry in two ways. First, Jesus came to serve. Jesus showed kindness to those who were hurting- the widows, the blind, the broken, and the needy (Luke 4:18). Second, Jesus came to save the lost (Luke 19:10). Serving and saving were the marks of Jesus’ life on earth and they should be the marks of each of us as well (John 20:21).

Who are you hanging out with? One wise sage put it this way: A church without the broken is a broken church.

Are you engaging with the hurting and broken around you? Can you name your neighbors by their first name? Do you find yourself caring about the hurting- showing the love of Christ to the lost?

Blessings,
Pastor Mark "The Bru" Brunott

P.S. Need a reset? Not because you have been wronged or are hurting or in pain, but because you have done the wrong to somebody else. You have deeply hurt another. You have inflicted pain onto someone else. What do you do when WE are the ones inflicting the pain? The broken promise, the unfulfilled vows? Join me this Sunday at 9:15 and 11:00 to discover biblical truth to these questions.