Is it okay for me to talk with a married woman from work to try and encourage her to come to services or help in her become a Christian?<\/p>\n
The reason I ask is that I have been studying on and off with a lady from work. She is fairly young and has sinful problems she is going through (sex, lust and other things as well). She feels comfortable talking to me and I also feel the same. I am growing, I feel, by talking to her and giving her Scriptures to read.\u00a0 I am keeping it to email, text, and Facebook. We haven’t met alone and I don’t know that I will, but we have a gospel meeting coming up and I hope she comes.\u00a0 Am I in the wrong with this?<\/p>\n\t
It appears you have a fairly good idea of the potential pitfalls. Everyone ought to hear the gospel, but you don’t want to compromise the message by temptations to sin. Remember that it is false teachers who lure people through sensuality (II Peter 2:18-19). No Christian should want to give such an impression to another. When one or both people meeting have weaknesses, it is foolish to create situations where temptations in those weak areas can be acted upon. A person with an alcohol problem shouldn’t be arranging meetings at a bar. A person who recently overcame a drug problem shouldn’t be going to homeless shelters by himself. A person with poor sexual control shouldn’t be meeting people of the opposite sex in private settings.<\/p>\n
Solomon calls a young man he sees from a window naive because he walks through “the red-light district” in the evening (Proverbs 7:7-9). The young man was being stupid thinking he could come close to sin and not be lured in. In the same way, Christians need to treat sin as toxic waste. You never assume you are immune or that a moment’s carelessness won’t matter.<\/p>\n
I was just reading some rules George DeHoff had for his life and I think was particularly insightful: “I try never to say anything behind a man’s back that would give me the least embarrassment to say to his face.” That would be true for other situations as well. If your emails, texts, etc. with this woman were read by her husband, would it cause you any embarrassment or difficulties?<\/p>\n
If you do get to talk to this woman face-to-face about the gospel, make sure to insist that her husband be present as well. Or ask an older woman or man from the congregation to come with you. Do invite her to services because others are present. Be careful about offering rides; ask someone else to pick her up if she needs a way or have another person join you on the trip.<\/p>\n
This is not to say I think you or she would give in to sin. I pointing out it is more sensible to make Satan’s “job” as tough as you can possibly make it. Perhaps the easiest way to think about these things is always to be conscious of needing to protect her reputation (whether she wants it protected or not), and then usually your reputation will be covered as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Is it okay for me to talk with a married woman from work to try and encourage her to come to services or help in her become a Christian? The reason I ask is that I have been studying on and off with a lady from work. She is fairly young and has sinful…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[551,451,185],"class_list":["post-20168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-reputation","tag-teaching","tag-temptation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":33306,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-for-a-woman-to-talk-about-the-bible-on-facebook\/","url_meta":{"origin":20168,"position":0},"title":"Is it wrong for a woman to talk about the Bible on Facebook?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 20, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I was wondering, do you think it would be okay for me, a female, to talk about God on Facebook since there are men reading what I am saying and sometimes even asking me questions? I never answer a question without a Bible verse though, and if it's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6229,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-man-who-lived-for-many-years-with-a-woman-be-baptized\/","url_meta":{"origin":20168,"position":1},"title":"Can a man who lived for many years with a woman be baptized?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: This happened over 20 years ago. A husband and his wife, who were idol worshipers and uneducated day laborers, who lived in a slum with their little children. Suddenly the husband left his wife and married another girl. Seeing the state of the woman, a young man who was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50214,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-far-do-we-help-with-the-wedding-of-a-young-man-who-got-a-girl-pregnant\/","url_meta":{"origin":20168,"position":2},"title":"How far do we help with the wedding of a young man who got a girl pregnant?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 19, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello brother, how are you? I have a question for you, but first, let me give you some context.\u00a0I am a Spanish-speaking minister who works with an English-speaking church that meets in the same building. There is a sister in the church who has always come to church. She\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33804,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-was-having-an-affair-of-the-heart-with-a-married-woman-i-broke-it-off-but-later-heard-she-committed-adultery-with-another-man-am-i-guilty-for-causing-her-to-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":20168,"position":3},"title":"I was having an affair of the heart with a married woman. I broke it off, but later heard she committed adultery with another man. Am I guilty for causing her to sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 14, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I had an affair with a married woman. Our affair went on for about a year. I liked her a lot. I kissed her but never had sex with her. Later I understood that I was wrong and must not do this as I knew her husband very\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":87017,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-proper-for-a-woman-to-preach\/","url_meta":{"origin":20168,"position":4},"title":"Is it proper for a woman to preach?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day, Minister, I am reaching out because I was searching to see if it was okay for a woman to preach in a church. I read a lot, and your breakdown was more understandable and less depressing. I recently joined a church, but women run it. The church\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37720,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/am-i-sinning-by-seeing-a-woman-who-still-lives-with-her-husband-though-she-says-they-are-separated\/","url_meta":{"origin":20168,"position":5},"title":"Am I sinning by seeing a woman who still lives with her husband, though she says they are separated?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I'm seeing a woman who lives with her husband but is separating and has no relationship with him. She stays together with him for the kids' sake, but this has been going on for two years. Am I committing a sin? 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