Dear Jeff,<\/p>\n
Is it wrong for me to not attend a family dinner because the ones hosting it are living together unwed? They are not Christians, they are Baptist. I do not want to approve of sin be it through words or actions.<\/p>\n\t
“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<\/em>” (I Corinthians 5:11).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Though Baptists, they still consider themselves Christians; yet, they live in a manner that mocks the teachings of Christ. Decline politely. “I appreciate the invitation. After you get married I’ll come, but not now.” If possible, make other plans.<\/p>\n
You will probably be called something on the order of a self-righteous snob, but such comes when you are trying to follow the teachings of Christ. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you<\/em>” (Matthew 5:10-12).<\/p>\n\t
Question:<\/h2>\n
Thank you for the reply. I have been called a hypocrite and was told I have no right to judge. I informed them it’s God’s word and not mine. I offered to look at the Bible with them. They are so caught up in false doctrine. It saddens me so much to think there really are people out teaching “once saved always saved.” They have such a loose view of the Bible, “that’s\u00a0your<\/em>\u00a0interpretation of it,” is what they tell me. I will keep trying with them.<\/p>\n\t
Answer:<\/h2>\n
The answer to “that is your interpretation” is: “knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit<\/em>” (II Peter 1:20-21). There is no interpreting the Bible to suit someone’s personal beliefs. There is only the understanding of what God has said. “Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is<\/em>” (Ephesians 5:17).<\/p>\n
The reason for the mean words is that sinners don’t like being told they are in the wrong. They rather pretend that everything they are doing is fine with God. Evidence to the contrary is quickly rejected.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Dear Jeff, Is it wrong for me to not attend a family dinner because the ones hosting it are living together unwed? They are not Christians, they are Baptist. I do not want to approve of sin be it through words or actions. Answer: “But now I have written to you not to keep…<\/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,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[1711,173,1572,655],"class_list":["post-43928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-cohabitation","tag-family","tag-fornication","tag-living-together"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":43055,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-attend-weddings-of-those-who-have-been-living-together-or-had-been-divorced\/","url_meta":{"origin":43928,"position":0},"title":"Should I attend weddings of those who have been living together or had been divorced?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 28, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, My question is about weddings that take place after a couple has been living together for a year or two - sometimes longer. They have a child or maybe are expecting a child, then somewhere along the line decide to get married. They have a big wedding, white\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":17707,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-we-deal-with-homosexual-family-members\/","url_meta":{"origin":43928,"position":1},"title":"How do we deal with homosexual family members?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My husband's sister is homosexual and is living with a partner. My son's wife is best friends with a homosexual woman who is married to another woman. As a Christian who believes that everything Christ taught and everything the Bible says is true, I know this is wrong. My\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":13690,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-attend-a-birthday-party-where-people-involved-in-sin-will-be\/","url_meta":{"origin":43928,"position":2},"title":"Should I attend a birthday party where people involved in sin will be?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 21, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What would you do if going to a family birthday with people you love a lot meant you would be around a gay couple? Half of our family are not Christians and will say we are too judgmental. Answer: \"Then it happened that as Jesus was reclining at the\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":2875,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/gathering-together\/","url_meta":{"origin":43928,"position":3},"title":"Gathering Together","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 14, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When we talk of worshiping God, one aspect of that worship is our gathering together \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Psalm 122:1 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Is this your attitude, or do you feel dragged here? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0To worship God requires assembling with fellow Christians \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Hebrews 10:19-27 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The writer of Hebrews discusses the conversion of a man \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jesus consecrated a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92027,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-we-fix-our-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":43928,"position":4},"title":"How do we fix our sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 10, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day I strongly need advice. My boyfriend and I have been together for 9 years. We met in church, and we are Christians. We do everything together; we pray together, read verses together. We have a 2-year-old child, and now we are expecting again. We started living together\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":84914,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-we-deal-with-a-homosexual-child\/","url_meta":{"origin":43928,"position":5},"title":"How do we deal with a homosexual child?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 22, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Shalom brother Jeffrey, We have a dilemma. Two of our children are gay with a partner. There are some situations that I foresee in which I fear sinning, and they are the following: Can they visit us in our home with their partner? Can they sleep under our roof?\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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43928\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}