Yesterday I said that in Mark 2 there were three groups of people that Jesus related to. The first were those who were hurt and in need of healing. The second were sinners. Jesus hung out with tax collectors, prostitutes, and many other disreputable characters. He never shied away from people who wanted to be around Him.
My friend Bren summed up the principle here so well. "We are not to isolate ourselves from sinners, but we are not to adopt their lifestyle for our own." This is true, but it doesn't help with some of the decisions we make in this area. For instance, there is the whole area of Christian education. Some people choose Christian schools for their kids, others home-school and still others send their kids to public schools. Of course there is nothing wrong with any of those choices. We have to evaluate ourselves and our children and know them well enough to decide where they are able to be with others and yet not adopt a lifestyle that we know is contrary to God's Word. And that's different for everybody.
One of the choices I've made in the last few years is to cultivate some relationships with people who go to different types of churches, or who don't go to church at all. It is very easy to insulate myself and only have relationships with other Christians. By stepping out, I have been enriched by those friendships, and those friends continue to challenge me by asking me questions and making me define what I believe for them. The people I reached out to were people that I liked and "clicked" with, people who I enjoyed getting to know. But it takes time and committment, especially when they are outside your normal sphere of interactions.
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