Finally Back

Well, I'm finally posting again. :)

Something that I have been thinking about on and off for several weeks: Colours. Have you ever noticed how colours change depending on their surroundings? For instance, my eyes. Most people would probably call them brown. If you look closely they are actually mostly green. Yet in some lights, they look gold. Obviously, my eyes are not actually changing colour: they are simply changing surrounding.

Or paint swatches. There are hundreds of colours that are classified as white by the paint company. And on their own, they all do look white. But if you hold them together, one will look blue, another pink, another brown, and yet another green.

The spiritual significance behind this? Your surroundings will generally dictate how you appear to the world. If you spend all your time with non-believers, whether or not you act the same way they do, you will appear the same to the world. Now you may be thinking, "But they are my friends! And if I don't spend time with them, how will they ever come to know Christ?!"

This partly comes back to the fact that friendship has been devalued in our culture. You should not call someone your "friend" simply because you took a college class together, or see each other every Wednesday in a Bible study. Those are acquaintances. The denomination of "friend" should be reserved for those whom you trust and love. I heard a good sermon on this topic several weeks ago. It used the example of David and Jonathan to make a point.

1Sa 18:1 ¶ And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.

1Sa 18:3   Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.

1Sa 18:4   And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that [was] upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle.

These items that Jonathan gave to David were not merely nice gifts; they were the symbols of Jonathan's status. He was saying to David, in effect, "You are the rightful heir to the throne.". Jonathan gave David his very identity. He was saying that whatever David said or did, he completely agreed with.

How many of your "friends" are you willing to say that about? If you knew that everything that person did or said was going to be ascribed to you, would you still call them your friend?

This does not mean that we must never speak to unbelievers or spend time witnessing to them. By all means, witness to people every chance you get. If someone is truly interested, spend time going through the Scriptures with them. But let them remain acquaintances, rather than friends. This is partly for your own protection (very few Christians are strong enough to spend all their time with unbelievers, and escape spiritual damage), and partly to keep your witness untarnished.

One last picture: a diamond is a beautiful thing, and no one can deny its worth. Whether it is set in a priceless diadem, or discarded in a trash heap, it is still valuable. But if it is left in that trash heap, over time, its brilliance will diminish and its glory will fade. Eventually it will be indistinguishable from the trash surrounding it. The diamond is still unchanged underneath. It is still worth just as much. But no one can tell that. It has lost its ability to beautify its surroundings.

May God bless you all abundantly,
Rachel