christian vs non-christian friends

Teen Devotions
Should Christians have non-Christian friends?

This is an interesting topic. I personally have people in my life who are both
Christian and non-Christian. I think there are a couple of things to keep in mind
when we consider this topic:

Number 1: The Bible gives us clear instructions on this. Let’s look at 2
Corinthians 6:14. It says,

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do
righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what
fellowship can light have with darkness?

The word yoked means to be “joined” together or to be “attached.” When
people fellowship or when you have a “communion”, there is some type of
common association of which an “exchange” of some sort is happening.
When I look this word up in a Bible dictionary, I find a few types of words
being used to describe fellowship and communion:

Share, community, association, joint participation…here are some deep
ones…intimacy, intercourse (Oooo…)

Based on these words, this scripture is basically asking us, “How can two
people that are unequal have a true, intimate relationship?”

Now when we say unequal, we are not saying that one person is better
than the other. That’s not what this means. It’s asking, “How can two
people who believe differently, have different values, and morals have an
effective relationship”? In a real friendship, you have a give and take
relationship going on. Because of this, it is really important that you are
careful about who is “giving and taking” in your life. If you have made a
decision to live a life according to God’s Word, it’s important that you do
your best to put people in your life that have decided the same. If not, you
may have a harder time, maybe even impossible time, trying to live a life
pleasing to God and one filled with His blessings.

Number 2: Now, on the other hand, if we look at the life of Jesus, we see
Him very often hanging around people that were considered sinners.
Prostitutes, criminal tax collectors, even one of his disciples was a crook!
Why would Jesus hang around these people? Well, let’s see what He
says about this.

Mark 2:16 – 17 (NIV) says:
16When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw
him eating with the “sinners” and tax collectors, they
asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors
and ‘sinners’?”
17On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the
healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come
to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Jesus is saying here, how could sinners ever come to know who He is if
they were never around Him? How could they ever know God and who
He was if He never spent time with them? This is the same example we
should follow in our lives. I have family members and friends that don’t
live the Word. Some don’t even desire to. But I know the power of my life
being lived out in front of them as an example of God’s Word and love. I
know that my life can be a living testimony of the goodness of God just by
me extending God’s love towards them. Whatever way I can show them
the love of God, I purpose to do. Hopefully, one day, this will draw them to
Christ and they will be born again.

BIG NOTE!!!
Now what this DOES NOT mean is for me to go hang out around people
that I know will entice or tempt me to sin. Do not choose to be around
people that will take you away from a life in God. If you can’t stand the
heat when you are with them, you need to take a some time to separate
yourselves from them. We didn’t see Jesus being pulled into sin when He
was around sinners. He was always in control and always drew people to
Him. This is what we need to purpose to do. Our presence should
demand respect from those around us and ultimately draw others to us.
Then, if the time is ever right, maybe we can share the good news of God
with them.

Click here for a pdf version of this post.

the appearance of evil

Was Turning Tots into Tarts the Original Objective?
by Traci Henderson-Smith

Okay, wait! What were Beyoncé’s people thinking about? Ever since the House of Deréon launched Deréon Girls, the new kids clothing collection created by fashionistas Beyoncé and mom, Tina Knowles, the reviews have been pouring in and Beyoncé Knowles has been the target of one fiery dart after another.

Article after article, blog after blog, critic after critic, I keep asking myself, is this what Beyoncé intended? Don’t get me wrong, I am not about to make the use of ads of provocatively clad 4 and 5 year olds for profit okay. It’s not! But, this is not the talk of just another hating Beyoncé basher either.

I just can’t imagine that Beyoncé sat in her room doodling sketches, dreaming of expanding her high fashion clothing line, and the answer was what has been dubbed the new hooker look for kids. I mean come on, was she really thinking this is how it would all play out? Which begs the question, is this the moral issue it’s been made out to be? Or, is this simply a product of poor taste and a really bad marketing team? Is this training camp for Girls Gone Wild, or is this the unintended result of a failed attempt to marry “dress-up” with reward for adoration?

Every little girl has played dress up at one time or another. Mommy’s over-sized pumps, dripping jewels, and all the colors in her eye shadow case were an absolute must when I was a kid. I would like to think the Deréon Girls’ campaign was an attempt to rekindle those memories with the added perk of having one of the hottest names in music attached to it. Unfortunately for Beyoncé, not many people are going to think that deeply. People will usually judge you on sight, so you had better be sure of what you are presenting. Rarely do people search the meaning of our hearts which means the responsibility for thinking things through, clearly drawing the line in the sand and defining our position of right and wrong rests solely on us.

I am sure Beyoncé thought she was doing a good thing—giving her smallest fans a piece of her world. I mean really, what’s the alternative, that she willfully launched a crusade to turn tots into tarts? There is such a great lesson in this for all of us. We have all at one point or another had our best intentions take a wrong turn. What will help others to determine the meaning of our actions is what we have lived and presented in times past. Can’t you just hear the words of every Sunday school teacher and youth counselor crashing back? “Abstain from the very appearance of evil, children!” Were they old-fogies who were overprotective and made too much of having a ‘good time’, or did they somehow know that if the line we walked between right and wrong got too thin, we’d possibly one day end up on international blast or be put on front street with accusations being hurled at us that we were pimping preemies for profit.

We may never know the truth behind what has been labeled as a campaign to pressure very young girls to present themselves as hotties before they even know what the word means. Whether the Knowles duo purposefully and intentionally designed to make preschoolers look like prostitutes, or Beyoncé is in tears over this debacle, one thing is true. Another look at the ad reveals that these clothes could easily be ‘kidded’ down. Remove the feather boas, skull cap, and fedora. Get rid of the make up, stiletto heels, and sway in the hips—no one really expects that little girls would walk out of the house looking like that anyway—throw on some sneakers and add a few ponytails and wha-la they’re cute kids again. They are kids that need to be kids for as long as they can and they are kids who deserve our example of what is clearly the right thing to do. Most of all, they are kids who deserve to never be placed in harms way.

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