Question in the service
Question in the service
Question:
If the Lord Christ sat with sinners and adulterers and loved them, should I also sit with groups who walk in a sinful conduct or with a person who has a bad reputation, even if that may cause a stumbling block to many?
Answer:
When the Lord Christ sat with sinners and adulterers, He had the spiritual power that changed them. Are you like this, or might you stumble because of them and be influenced by them, and thus become a stumbling block to others? When you sit with them, are you in a position of strength, or does the saying apply to you: “Bad company corrupts good morals” (1 Cor. 15:33)? In this, be cautious.
As for shepherds and priests, they may mix with such people in order to serve them, because they are within their responsibility. This is their work, for the Scripture says: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick” (Matt. 9:12). These priests are like physicians who visit the sick and treat them without being infected.
Secondly: what is meant by bad company that corrupts good morals is the association in which the sinner loses his spiritual reverence and dignity… and also loses his influence and achieves no result.
My advice to you:
If you sit with sinners, let it be in individual meetings, not in a group setting, because in a group they may encourage one another in wrongdoing and prevail over you, unlike in a private meeting.
Therefore, be cautious in this matter. And know the degree of their error, and whether you are able to endure it and treat it or not.
It is possible to visit some of them in their homes, where they may be less reckless.
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