Is It a Sin to Avoid Him?
Is It a Sin to Avoid Him?
Question
I have a colleague at work who is very troublesome and annoys me in every way. I have tried with him every way of love and forgiveness, but he considered them weakness, and his harassment of me increased. If I avoid him in order to avoid problems, would I be in a state of quarrel? And would I be acting against the commandment, “Love your enemies. Bless those who curse you” (Matt. 5:44)?
Answer
God does not want us to be weak. At the same time, He wants us to be wise. If wisdom and love have failed with this person, there is absolutely no objection to avoiding him, not out of hostility, but, as you said, “to avoid problems,” and so as not to fall into sin because of him, and also so as not to give him an opportunity for further sins against you.
The First Psalm calls us to avoid the wicked.
For it says: “Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the wicked, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of the scornful” (Ps. 1:1, 2).
And in the New Testament it is also said:
“Evil company corrupts good morals” (1 Cor. 15:33).
The Apostle also says: “But now I have written to you that if anyone who is called a brother is a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner, not to keep company with such a person, nor even to eat with him” (1 Cor. 5:11). Therefore, not associating with revilers, extortioners, and those of corrupt morals is a Biblical teaching. The Scripture also says:
“We command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you avoid every brother who walks disorderly” (2 Thess. 3:6).
Whether from the moral aspect or the doctrinal aspect. The Apostle likewise commands us to stay away from foolish discussions and avoid them, “knowing that they generate strife” (2 Tim. 2:23).
Do not consider this avoidance to be a quarrel or contrary to love.
For it was not wise for righteous Lot to associate with the people of Sodom.
And it was a clear and regrettable mistake, with frightening consequences, for Solomon the Wise to associate with foreign women and marry them, which caused his heart not to be perfect before God (1 Kings 11:4, 5).
You can stay away from such a person and keep your heart pure toward him.
Do not bear a grudge against him, do not hate him, and do not speak evil of him.
You can also pray for him, that the Lord may deliver him from his faults. And in your prayer for him, you fulfill the commandment: “Love your enemies. Bless those who curse you”.
Pray also that the Lord may give you favor in his eyes, so that he may cease harming you. But if you find that such prayers renew within you the memories of the troubles caused by this person, there is no need to enter into the distressing details during prayer, nor to recall the sins. Let it be a general and brief prayer, and that is sufficient.
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