Guilt by Association

When I was young, I was spending time with a friend when we found ourselves in a bit of trouble. We were walking past a swimming pool where a group of people had jumped the fence for a night swim. We knew the group of people, so we were chatting with them when we were all caught. My friend learned the lesson of guilt by association.

To be clear, my friend and I were outside the fence, but we still were ‘lumped in’ together with those who jumped the fence. After we explained the situation, our parents were called and we were warned about hanging out with the wrong people.

Brethren, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? Why am I in peril every hour? I protest, brethren, by my pride in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesos? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” Come to your right mind, and sin no more. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. But some one will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” You foolish man! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body which is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.

1^st Corinthians 15:29-38

Saint Paul was teaching the Christians of Corinth what my friend and I learned so many years ago. “Bad company ruins good morals.” This has been a struggle for Christians for generations. We are supposed to live by a certain Christian moral code, while at the same time living in a world that follows a different code.

This is where “Church Community” plays a vital role. When the Church gathers, we gather as ‘likeminded’ people. We gather to lift each other up when we are down about life. We gather to encourage our Christian moral code and strengthen our resolve against bad morals.

If Christian behavior is not reinforced when the Church gathers, the gathering is no different than a worldly gathering. It is hard enough to follow the Christian way of life in the world. We don’t need to make it harder by ‘allowing’ that same behavior inside the Church gathering.

The world lives by the motto, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” The Church lives by the motto, when we die, we will live with God in Heaven. We should fast and pray and love, for tomorrow we are judged.

Check your ‘friend circle’ and ask yourself if the circle helps your Christian way of life. If it does not, find a different circle. Listen to Saint Paul’s advice. “Come to your right mind, and sin no more.” At the very least find a circle of friends that has the same goals.