My three best friends are all agnostics or atheists or something like that. They don\u012bt seem to care about my faith. One of them swears very often, and we tell many kinds of perverted jokes or innuendo-jokes and things like that when I see them. I don’t know if they are a very good influence on me. But they care for their friends, me too, are friendly, don’t bully anyone and so on. Actually, one of them has been bullied. Of course, I care for them too and love them as friends.<\/p>\n
I read an answer to a question on this site, and you said something like “you should be friendly with non-Christians, but not friends” because they are a bad influence. But if I would leave them, I would have no friends. One of my friends, who has been bullied, has been depressed, has been cutting and thinking of suicide and things like that, but now she seems to be doing a bit better. But if I would leave her, I don’t know, what she would do. It was this year when she was really depressed, and there are times when she still has suicidal thoughts.<\/p>\n
What should I do? Should I talk to them about this or just let them believe in what they want to believe in?<\/p>\n\t
Notice that they are influencing you. You tell sexual jokes, but Paul said, “But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them<\/em>” (Ephesians 5:3-7).<\/p>\n The problem when you have close worldly friends is that you start compromising your standards to be accepted by them. I’m not saying that you must leave them. “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<\/em>” (I Corinthians 5:9-10). But I am saying that you can’t let your guard against sin down when you are around them.<\/p>\n What a Christian is required to do is spread their faith to others by both talking to others about God’s teachings and by showing others what a real Christian’s life should be like. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven<\/em>” (Matthew 5:16). Some people won’t like it because it is different. “For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles — when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you<\/em>” (I Peter 4:3-4).<\/p>\n What you should do is add more friends, especially Christian friends since you seem to be lacking in them.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: My three best friends are all agnostics or atheists or something like that. They don\u012bt seem to care about my faith. One of them swears very often, and we tell many kinds of perverted jokes or innuendo-jokes and things like that when I see them. I don’t know if they are a very good…<\/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_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[233],"class_list":["post-36203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-friends"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9687,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-you-make-friends\/","url_meta":{"origin":36203,"position":0},"title":"How do you make friends?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 8, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I wanted to ask you a question. I am kind of maybe what you call shy. Maybe because of the ten schools I have been through in my school life. Every year it has been a new school, but that stopped last year. Students in my class talk to\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":9834,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-be-friends-with-an-annoying-person\/","url_meta":{"origin":36203,"position":1},"title":"Should I be friends with an annoying person?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 17, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In math class, there is a student who is kind of annoying, but very social and has other friends. He wants to be friends with me, but he annoys me, or maybe it's just his way of being a friend. For example, the last time I saw him he\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":43674,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-deal-with-my-friends-poor-conversations\/","url_meta":{"origin":36203,"position":2},"title":"How do I deal with my friends’ poor conversations?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 18, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have two friends who I talk to regularly. I associate with them on a weekly basis more or less. One of them believes in God though he is not \"devoted\" as one would say and the other is an atheist. Both of them know clearly that I am\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":36569,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-christian-be-friends-with-an-atheist\/","url_meta":{"origin":36203,"position":3},"title":"Can a Christian be friends with an atheist?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 19, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day sir, I am a woman. I have a friend who has morals and beliefs similar to mine. She is a focused, good person. I have known her for about six months now and, though it's not long, I feel she is someone I would want to remain\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":21612,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-i-teach-my-roman-catholic-friends\/","url_meta":{"origin":36203,"position":4},"title":"How can I teach my Roman Catholic friends?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 8, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a couple of Catholic friends that I have tried for some time now to convert to Christianity. They have refused to be my friends and shunned the truth of the Word of God. I am 14 years of age but have been a Christian for three years.\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":33629,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-find-friends-when-im-a-christian\/","url_meta":{"origin":36203,"position":5},"title":"How do I find friends when I’m a Christian?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 3, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello! I'm a Christian. \u00a0I'm very conservative, and I act differently from other people my age. \u00a0I'm in college right now and most girls my age like going drinking, partying, or having sex before marriage. \u00a0I'm waiting for marriage. 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