Avoiding the Path of the Ungodly: Discernment in Christian Companionship

Proverbs 4:15 commands us to "Avoid it"—a directive that demands the same decisive character we exercise in worldly affairs. This duty offends the natural mind and cannot be softened for worldly taste; it rests upon God's command alone, for our salvation hangs in the balance.

What society must we avoid? The openly immoral and those who boldly deny religion present no difficulty. Yet the maxim extends further: we must shun the ways of all who do not love and fear God. This includes the cold-hearted formalist, the inconsistent professor of religion, and the man who knows what is right and Scriptural yet harbors no true piety in his soul—such companions endanger those who would walk humbly with their Elohim.

How far should this avoidance extend? We need not retreat entirely from the world, for then we could not fulfill our daily obligations or labor for sinners' salvation. We may lawfully conduct necessary commerce with those outside true faith. Neither must we forsake the professing Church merely because hypocrites dwell within it; the tares and wheat grow together until the harvest.

What we must avoid is unnecessary familiarity with sinners and a disposition to comply with their ways. We converse with sinners for their good, but we shun intimate companionship that compromises our devotion. Discernment, not isolation, marks the Christian's path.