by: Jonathan Painter
“Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.” Proverbs 4:14-15
I am afraid that in the life of our Christian young people one of the most deteriorating arts of defense is the art of avoidance. You may question why I call this an art. I call it an art because it indeed is a matter that is difficult and takes skill. In our churches we have been teaching our young people to accept and tolerate, when we should be teaching them how to avoid. We do not want others to dislike us, as we try to live a godly teenage life, so instead of breaking off relationships and avoiding them, we tolerate them and very shortly begin to adopt them into our own lives. This is very dangerous ground to tread upon as a young person. Please remember that there is power in avoiding.
Now, as I proceed, do not misunderstand me. I am not saying that a lamb that has wondered from the fold cannot be let back into the fold with warm welcome; however, don’t go run in the wilderness with the wondering lamb. We ought to welcome lost sheep back into the fold, but it is not our obligation to go find the sheep, God gave the sheep a shepherd, and it is the shepherd’s job to go find the lost sheep. Why don’t the sheep go look for the sheep? The sheep do not go look for the sheep because the sheep would get lost themselves while looking for the lost sheep. God has given every teenager a group of AUTHORITIES to be shepherds over them; therefore, when one of our friends has gone astray, it is up to the authority to bring them back.
God’s Word is very clear that when we come across the path of the wicked we are supposed to “avoid it, pass not by it, and turn from it.” I have no doubt that so many Christian young people have the sincerest intentions when they make statements like, “I am trying to salvage them!” or “I am trying to show them that I care!” and they are completely sincere in every way. So they begin to act upon these statements by building a close relationship with the wayward young person, while they are violating the plan God has set regarding the matter. Think about it, are you avoiding the way of the wicked when you sit in your friend’s bedroom who has rock music posters all over the walls? This does not seem to be avoiding the way of the wicked, but placing yourself in the midst of it. Although we have the sincerest intents to begin with, and we do it because we are sure we are spiritual enough to handle it. Yet, before we know it we have tripped over our own prideful spirit and fallen right into the mucky waters from which we were trying to pull them, all because we were trying to fill a role we had no place filling.
Undoubtedly there is someone reading this who thinks I am just a mean, hateful person who doesn’t care about people who fall. I plead for myself to the contrary. In fact, I recently penned a whole entire article on how to welcome people back into the fold who have fallen. My friend, what you don’t realize is that the authorities around you are trying to salvage your friend, but you keep getting in their way because you will not let God’s shepherds do their work unhindered. The end result often is that the shepherd who was trying to pull them out now has to work on pulling two of you out because you refused to avoid when you needed to avoid. This is the power of avoiding.
Jonathan Painter
Youth Pastor
Lincoln Baptist Church
Lincoln, NE