“If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.” (Romans 12:18)
I have little problem adhering to this verse, those that I have difficulty getting along with I simply avoid, if they happen to cross my path and desire to have a conversation with me, I simply begin speaking about the Scriptures and the condition of their soul and they will leave on their own accord. And then, as time passes by, they will avoid me at all costs.
This is how you can accomplish three Scripture verses at one time, our opening verse, Mark 16:15, “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” and John 15:18, “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.”
People that hate you do not generally strike up a conversation with you, once they find out the context of your responses will in a very short time go to the Word of God, one of two things will happen, they will either leave or begin to be convicted by the Scripture verses that you have offered. This can be quite discerning if you work around or see the same people every day, for you know their end if they do not repent, but they do not like you because you are a born-again believer whose life is dedicated to the glory of God. So, you do as you are commanded to in Matthew 18:17, you treat them as a gentile, yet you pray for them.
When to stop casting pearls before these swine can only be shown to you by the Almighty. Paul went so far as “To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” (1st Cor. 5:5) Whether or not you can, or should do that, I cannot say, but I can say this, or rather the Word of God does, you are to pray for them.
For how long I do not know. They are His enemies, the wicked, and so they are your enemies also, for we are hid in Christ, they hate God and so by default they hate those who serve Him, His ambassadors. Now, the pertinent question, those in your family, those you work with daily; do they hate you, or are you accepted by them because you are one of those Christians that doesn’t “shove Jesus down their throat?”
We are to speak the truth in love, but far too many people think that means with polite words. My friends, if you do not use the word “repent,” if you do not warn them of the judgment to come upon their eternal soul, if you do not tell them that the Almighty has called them wicked, how else are you planning to tell them they are lost and on their way to hell?
Is there a polite way to tell someone that they are the enemy of God?
“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Heb. 4:12)
We are to warn them, but for how long, when are we to stop trying? Most of the time you will not need to answer that question, if they are being called by the Most High, they will return to you, if not, they will avoid you like the plague, making our opening verse that much easier.
Searching for wheat amongst the chaff, looking for the lilies of the field amongst the thorns. The purpose of our lives is to glorify God, not make close personal friends with the lost.
