A sad tale, a lesson to be learned, hopefully...

So here's a story, the names have been changed, the principles still the same.

Rod and Todd (not to be confused with the Flanders boys) are two friends. They go to high school together, hang out, and end up going to the same university. Rod and Todd still are friends as college begins but something happens to Rod. Todd would say Rod became religious. Rod would tell Todd he became a Christian. Are you keeping it straight so far?

Either way, Rod has some sort of conversion experience in which he becomes a Christian. And all of a sudden, Rod joins this huge Christian organization on his campus. Because of this, he and Todd don't hang out so much. And unbeknownst to Rod, but beknownst to Todd, because Rod now hangs out with all his Christian friends and no longer hangs out with his good friend all through high school, Todd thinks Rod feels too good for him.

So the two basically separate. You see, those of us who follow Christ must learn from this story. Rod decided, and was probably taught, that to be a good Christian is to do a whole bunch of church things with church friends in church places, but Rod was taught wrong. Because of this, Todd is now more skeptical. He's been hurt by someone who has become a Christian and then decided that their relationship wasn't important. And who wouldn't be hurt by this?

When someone follows Jesus, they are supposed to follow in Jesus' example. Who did Jesus hang out with? The religious people all the time? No. Jesus hung out with the people that needed Him. And when Jesus sent His disciples out, what did He commission them to do? To hang out with their church friends all the time? No. Jesus said to go and make disciples.

As followers of Jesus, it is so important to keep and foster those relationships with people who do not yet follow Jesus. If we do not find a balance between hanging out with our friends who are Christ-followers and our friends who are not yet Christ-followers, we do a disservice to the kingdom.

I am as guilty of this as anyone. You could call me a recovering youth group poster child who has recently converted to a missional lifestyle. God help us as we seek to be the light of the world, not a lamp under a basket called church.