Bad Company

If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your home, and don't say, "Welcome," to him for the one who says, "Welcome," to him shares in his evil works. - 2 John 10-11

Is there ever a time when it is acceptable to be impolite?

Overseas, I learned that it was impolite to refuse to receive another person into your home. Yet John wrote that if someone does not bring the teaching of Christ (in other words, teaches heresy), you should not welcome or receive them. Why did John say this? Is there is a difference between hospitality and fellowship?

A Christian should not fellowship with "darkness" (error), yet it is important for every Christian to share the light with everyone they meet. Is it possible then for a Christian to guard their testimony and still be friendly to someone who teaches lies? While I think it is possible, it certainly isn't easy. Everyone agrees that a person should choose their friends wisely. The Apostle Paul wrote, "Do not be deceived, 'Bad company corrupts good morals'(1 Cor. 15:33)." Is it important for a person to be careful about the people with whom they "hang out?" Of course, it is very important. Friendship should be reserved for those we trust, those with whom we share a common aim. While it is always good to be friendly with everyone, we should reserve our closest relationships for those who follow Christ.

The prophet Amos once asked, "Do two men walk together unless they have made an appointment (Amos 3:3)?" Paul wrote in another letter, "Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever (2 Cor. 6:14-15)?" We should all be careful with whom we walk, and how far.

That friendship will not continue to the end which is begun for an end. - Francis Quarles