Guilty by association - just doesn't sound good does it. In our political process we hear about Obama's association with Bill Ayers, and we hear about McCain's past ties with the Charles Keating. And yes I think it matters. But what about our associations? Are we "guilty by association too"?In the last two sermons I talked about how important our friends are. We asked the questions: Who are they? Who's are they? Where are they taking us? I have been guilty by association. I have hung around the wrong people at times. Listened to the wrong advice. Made the wrong choices - and many times it was because I was with the wrong people.
But I am glad to say I am "guilty by association" with a really great bunch of folks at Harmony. We are in the process of doing staff evaluations. And having looked at them initially I am just ecstatic. We are so blessed with a great staff. A REALLY GREAT STAFF!
And as we are taking resumes right now for yet another staff person it's easy to see that others want to be "guilty by association" with them too.
You and I are going to have associations - let's make sure that when we are "guilty by association" - that it's a good thing not a bad thing.
2 comments:
I have struggled with the argument that we need to separate ourselves from "bad friendships." Comparing that to Matthew 11:16-19, Jesus set an example for us of someone who is not afraid of what others think about his crowd. His focus in entering those associations was not just to hang with those people but to effect their lives, as opposed to us, though, who often allow our lives to be effected by others. That's probably the difference right there. If we have a weakness, we need to be cautious about our associations with people who promote that weakness. However, we should also be cautious not to keep others away from an opportunity to bring others closer to God if they are stronger than we are in certain areas of their life. Maybe the message of Jesus is that we should not judge simply by associations but by the actions of the person within those associations.
I actually addressed this in a sermon a couple of weeks ago... what it boils down to is influence. And who is influencing who? We need to have folks around us who are positive influences in our lives and we need to be that same influence in others.
Jesus was a friend of sinners and he was an influence. So were Paul, Peter, and others. But, like Jesus had his inner circle - we all have them too... they just need to be healthy inner circles.
Thanks for your comments - well said.
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