September 29, 2021 – Click here to listen
Well, my whirlwind trip is almost over. It’s hard to believe that I left mid-July and am still not home. I’m going fishing for Wahoo with one of my really good friends and fishing buddies this morning here in Stuart Florida and I look forward to being with him. Whether we catch any fish or not, we will catch up with each other on what is going on in our lives. Then I will head to home sweet home!
I think it’s awesome to have so many good friends at home and all over the country. The Bible has much to say about friends. I like Proverbs which has plenty to say about it. My favorite is, “Iron Sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another”. I read this with the full understanding that we should choose our friends wisely and not just to enlarge our circle and be popular. Proverbs 13:20 – Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.
My Bible study partner tells me at least once a week that we are the sum of the five people with whom we spend the most time. I believe this to be true.
I lived In Islamorada for approximately ten years and developed many friendships, many of which I met through our church. When we returned to the Keys, we moved quite a distance south and it is simply not feasible to go that far to church every Sunday or spend as much time with the friends up that way that I know and love. It is hard and time-consuming to find good friends and it has hit me particularly hard in finding fishing companions.
So, recently I was told about a guy who lived “right around the corner” from me that loves fishing and has a boat similar to mine. I was genuinely excited about meeting him, that is until I did meet him and discovered he is an alcoholic. All he talked about was going bottom fishing and drinking beer and was so drunk when I met him, I had to tell him four times how to pronounce Bimini until I finally just gave up, chalking it up to he was too drunk to think.
I don’t allow drinking on my boat and don’t like to go fishing on anyone’s boat where folks are drinking. It is unsafe and stupid to me. If folks want to get drunk, then they should stay home and get drunk, and not get behind the wheel of a boat or stagger around on the deck where serious injury including death is a real possibility.
When I heard about this potential new friend who lived so close, my mind automatically went to going out to eat, lobstering, fishing, going on sunset cruises on our boats, going to concerts, going together to Bible study and church, and so on. Then those aforementioned Bible verses came to me, and I asked, will this man sharpen me? Or is he a fool who will harm me? I admit I was tempted by Satan when he popped a thought into my mind to consider it because I really do need an experienced hand who will chip in on fuel, help clean the boat, and assist with fish cleaning and the myriad of things that must be done on fishing trips, but that thought was quickly thrown out and I will pass on this dude.
Taken out of context a case can be made for trying to be this man’s friend. Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 13:1 – If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
Jesus is also quoted in Matt. 22 – “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. ‘ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
If I choose not to be a friend of a drunk, am I violating this command? Not hardly – The Bible must be taken in context and not read in bits and pieces and that is one reason I urge you to read the entire Bible for yourself. God uses friendship as an instrument of sanctification. It is important that all Christians carefully choose their friends. In the past, I used to have trouble choosing friends and I’ll tell you from experience friends can either bring you up in life or bring you down.
Note: This is not to say I won’t take a stab at helping with his alcohol problem, but experience tells me it will be a tough row to hoe and I will not be hanging out with him unless he changes course.
Wise Christian friends will build you up, help you, and bring wisdom. A bad friend will lead you to sin, encourage ungodly traits, and generally would rather see you fall than do good in life. Being a loving and forgiving Christian doesn’t mean that you are to hang around with bad friends who will with certainty bring peer pressure in your life to do the wrong things.
Sometimes you have to know when friendship with another person is leading you away from the Lord. In this case, you must choose Christ or that friend. The answer is always going to be Christ.
Just like a good parent tries to remove negative influences from their child’s life, we should remove bad influences from our life and replace them with godly friends.
In short: Don’t take a bath in dirty water to try and get clean . . .
1 Corinthians 5:11
Now, what I meant was that you should not associate with people who call themselves brothers or sisters in the Christian faith but live in sexual sin, are greedy, worship false gods, use abusive language, get drunk, or are dishonest. Don’t eat with such people.