Where do you draw the line with sinful relatives?
Question:
My husband has a relative that is a practicing Wiccan doing witchcraft and 'spells' and always wears her 'Wiccan necklace' that she's proud of. She was raised to know about Jesus and God. But in her early teens, she got caught up in witchcraft. My husband's question is: is it wrong for all his Christian family members to continue accepting her into their home for family gatherings, etc? I know that they want to help her and are trying to set a good example of Christians in hopes that they can change her that way. But the problem is that she has made statements on her MySpace page that she hates Christians, Christians are stupid, Paganism was here first, and so on. We plan on moving back home one day and he wants to know where to draw the line. Is it okay to keep company with her if she is denying Christ? How long should his family try to reach her if she is not accepting of Jesus? When does that fall under 'do not cast pearl before swine' (Matthew 7:6)? What if she is just being invited over to hang out and no one is actually teaching her the Word? Would that fall under accepting her for 'who she is'?
Also, I have a cousin who is a practicing homosexual. She has stated that she does not believe in God at all. Doesn't think anything or anyone like that exists. She is an atheist. She was also raised to know God and Jesus but 'came out' a couple of years ago and now refuses to hear about them. I have told her that I still love her and care about her, and I would always pray for her, but I cannot accept her lifestyle, and my husband and I cannot 'hang out' with her any longer if she continues to live that life. But when my relatives get together for holidays, is it wrong for us to go to that family event if she is going to be there?
We know that we cannot put anyone before God. So when a family member will not listen to the Word of God and refuses to change, where do we draw the line? Or is there no line to be drawn?
Thank you for your time!
Answer:
"I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner--not even to eat with such a person" (I Corinthians 5:9-11).
Paul's statement is that we cannot treat a brother who is in sin as if that sin doesn't exist. Neither of your relatives is a Christian. Oh, they were taught in their past, but you made it very clear that they have rejected that teaching. Being taught is a step toward Christianity, but it doesn't make a person a Christian.
As a result, they would be treated just like any other worldly person. I know some homosexuals in my community, I've met a few Wiccans in my past, I know lots of atheists, and I doubt I can number how many fornicators I know. To each I only have limited social ties -- we just don't have that much in common because the differences in our beliefs will always be a barrier between us. I'm polite, but when opportunities arise I speak about my beliefs and my Lord. Some people tolerate that while others do not.
You have plenty of opportunities to make points about Christianity. If your Wiccan relative asks why she isn't invited to your house, you can always say "You said you hated Christians and think they are stupid. Since I am one, I wasn't going to ask you to be with Christians and ruin your day."
