Should We Eat With Non-Christians
In Luke 15:2 it says," And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them." We know they were speaking of Jesus, and so the question arises, should we as Christians receive sinners and eat with them?
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---Mima on 1/24/08
Helpful Blog Vote (3)
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I think Jesus meant by associating with them, that we should not consider people worse than ourselves. We have to remember we are a Chosen people, royal priesthood, a people set apart, taken out of darkness and brought into his wonderful light. Why would we want to mix with children of darkness. I think it is dangerous. The first rule in saving a soul, is making sure your own is saved. Not getting in the ditch but pulling people out. Being a shining light, different to them. |
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---frances on 1/31/08 |
Robyn:
Unfortunately, many people's discipleship training consists of reading Christian best-sellers or watching popular Christian evangelists on TV, or reading hearsay on the internet. |
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---StrongAxe on 1/31/08 |
Where did you people receive your discipleship training? Where do these type questions come from?Christians are sinners too, so why not? The only difference: we are sinners saved by God's grace. Your faith must be might small to even consider a question like this. But there are no silly questions. We all are to help one another. God bless. |
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---Robyn on 1/30/08 |
1st Corinthians 5 verse 11 But here is what I am writing to you.You must stay away from any who claim to be believers but do those things.Stay away away from those who commit sexual sins or who always want more and more.Stay away from those who worship statues of gods or who tell lies about others.Stay away from those who get drunk or who cheat.don't even eat with people like that. |
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---Anthony on 1/30/08 |
joe:
Paul was not talking about unbelivers.
He was talking about apostates - people who claimed to be believers, but were engaging in behaviors that were manifestly unacceptable. (This was part of the "shunning" process). |
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---StrongAxe on 1/29/08 |
the anwser is no ,, paul said him self about eatting with with such,,1cor5:9-13,,, well note in v11 paul said with such a one no not eat,,,were not to be yoked up with un belivers, so we need ot be carefull betwen fellowship and witnessing |
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---joe on 1/26/08 |
Ah, Jesus ate with sinners. As long as we are not allowing to to influnce us to sin, there is no problem with eating with them. If you are not around them, how is your light going to shine? |
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---Daniel_Marsh on 1/25/08 |
Man is Not equal, You are either a Lamb or a Goat & you know what happens to the Goats!
God measures a man by his FAITH,
God has his favorites & he knows whos closest to his heart.
Lest your Righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees you will NOT enter the Kingdom of God. I THINK THIS SAYS IT ALL,You BETTER be MORE RIGHTEOUS than the Pharisees were or YOU ain't making it!!!
I would read-up on the Pharisees & Don't be as they are.YLBD |
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---Duane_M on 1/25/08 |
If it has'nt been sacrificed unto an Idol when being prepared & you give thanks & ask God to Bless it! Nothing is unclean that God has Blessed.
Pharisses were so caught up in the Letter of the Law(Legalist), They COULD'NT even recognise the Lord when he came unto them.
However, they did believe in the Ressurection of the Dead, Nicodemus,Paul(saul), Joseph of Aremathea were all Pharisees at one time in their lives too.YLBD |
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---Duane_M on 1/25/08 |
Ha, ha, Elder, that was funny.++ |
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---catherine on 1/25/08 |
One must understand WHAT the Pharisees thought and believed. Though they "studied" the O.T. Scriptures, they did not understand what they said. If they'd known the Scriptures, they would have recognized YAHUSHUA (Jesus Christ) when He came. But, they REJECTED the Messiah that the Scriptures foretold about. They had a wrong perception of LOVE, MERCY, SIN and HOLINESS. YES! Saints may eat with sinners. It's the ones who CALL themselves "Saints" but, are REPROBATES that we are to avoid! |
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---Gordon on 1/25/08 |
Last week my wife and I were invited for lunch at a hotel by a Muslim Ambassador and there were other Muslim Ambassadors.
We enjoyed our meal and we didn't speak about beliefs but enjoyed conversing and joking together. |
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---Caring on 1/25/08 |
Jesus had no problem eating with prostitutes and extortionists (tax collectors). Should we be "holier" than he was? |
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---StrongAxe on 1/25/08 |
Love the sinner, hate the sin. |
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---HEARTY on 1/24/08 |
oh yes, we gotta go to them ,not sit back and wait.jesus did.are we different than our lord? |
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---tom2 on 1/24/08 |
My son played in a Country Band and had the band members to our house to practice and also to any dinners,social get-to-gathers we had,I never said no. I got to know them and they knew I am a Christian,and sometimes I would get to talk with them about using their talent for God instead. Some have died by now but I hope the little seed I planted took effect before they did. Jesus ate with snners,thats good enough for me. You can't win souls,reach the lost, just sitting in the Amen corner at church. |
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---Darlene_1 on 1/24/08 |
If you are a trained preacher, yes, you might want to do that...but otherwise....why should we put ourselves in the hot seat to be mocked and cursed in front of? We are merely provoking the unbelievers. I say normal believers should have nothing to do with them. I think that is written in the Bible more than once. However, when I was a Catholic, I learnt a lot by mixing with non-Catholics. Not all the non-Catholics were saved. You could see it from the way they treated me as an outcast. |
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---frances on 1/24/08 |
Of course we should sit with sinners, eat with them, fellowship with them. How else can we as Christians share the word of God with them. Also, keep in mind, we are all sinners, just because we (I) have accepted Jesus Christ as my savior and been baptized dose not make me a pure person. Any way that we as Christians can lead a lost person to Christ, we are bound to do so. |
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---LARRY on 1/24/08 |
It would shock people if they saw us eating with republicans and sinners. |
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---InimicusStultitiae on 1/24/08 |
Of course we should.We are to be as much like Jesus as possible.You can't win sinners to the Lord unless you associate with them. |
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---shirley on 1/24/08 |
Jesus ate with them. But not for fellowship. I believe it was to teach and win them. On the other hand, Paul, when addressing the Church, said this about those who are supposed christians:
1Co 5:11 " But now I have written to you, not to keep company, if any man that is named a brother be a fornicator or covetous or a server of idols or a railer or a drunkard or an extortioner: with such a one, not so much as to eat." |
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---john on 1/24/08 |
mima, the way you phrased this question cracked me up because you said, "should we as Christians receive sinners, etc.?" Did God, in while we were yet sinners receive us?
Not only that, Christians are sinners, but most of them are repentent of their sins, the rest of them either deny they've sinned or justify it. Sad, but true. |
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---Donna on 1/24/08 |
It all depends on what's cooking.......... |
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---Elder on 1/24/08 |
The answer to Mima's question is the the verses that follow the one he quoted. We can never help unbelievers by avoiding them but there is a limit to how we should be involved with them. As fast as we are trying to pull them up the devil will be using them to try to drag us down. |
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---RitaH on 1/24/08 |
Oh definitely, but I wouldn't tell them they're a sinner at the lunch table lol! :D Seriously, though, the biggest turn-offs in the church are those whose hat size is a bit huge, and people that do that only push people away from Christianity. Jesus loves ALL of us and if He can treat us as equals, we certainly need to. :) |
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---Mary on 1/24/08 |
The answer, obviously, is in your question Mima. How can anyone call themself Christian & not be Christ-like? Unfortunately it happens all the time, doesn't it? |
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---Leon on 1/24/08 |
If we follow Jesus, we will.
And just like with Jesus, the super-spiritual people will criticize us. |
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---Jack on 1/24/08 |
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