Friendships

During my recent trip to Scenic Hills Christian Camp I had a question for a group of 3rd graders..."Can anyone be your friend?" That question has stayed with me over the past week or so, and I have continued to mull it over. The answer... no...not everyone can be your friend, and here is why I say that....

Christ tells us to love our enemies...therefore...it stands to reason that not everyone can be your friend if an enemy can exist in your life. But I think that this goes much deeper than that. As I have continued to ponder that question I have had to ask another question..."Who is your enemy?"

When I originally thought of the word enemy I thought of being in a battle, you know...like in movies about war. The good guy vs. the bad guy kind of thing. But I'm not sure that is the only type of enemy that is being referred to in this scripture. I have come to believe that the enemy can also be someone that you actually like! There are a lot of people in the world who appear to have it all together...they are happy, they are friendly and they have a way about them that draws you to them... but their viewpoints just aren't quite biblical in nature. And if you aren't careful...if you aren't grounded in scripture... if you aren't looking at your bible to see if their viewpoints match up with those spelled out by God... you can find yourself sucked into a belief system that isn't what God had in mind.

So this 'nice' person, who you are called to love, can actually be an enemy if they begin to suck you into believing anything that veers away from what God's word spells out...

So friendships can be difficult to define.... that is why it is so important to gather with the body of Christ for fellowship. It is important to be with like-minded people, yet it is good to be aware that 'The Enemy' can invade there as well....

Bottom line.... if what you are hearing from a 'friend' doesn't add up to what you read in God's word... it's not all right...and the person doing the talking???? Well... you gotta love them... but like I told the 3rd graders... you don't have to like them! The people you hang with are important...they influence you in small suttle ways at all times. Sometimes you just have to walk away in love...and just maybe you will be leading them or others by example.