[Drake]

-1

Thanks Trapped for sharing your sincere and heartfelt experience. My kids, and all the ones of the parents I know, had friends outside the church life. Of course, there were some bad influences from those friends that resulted in permanent damage, yet I don’t blame the friends but rather the ruler of the age. I figured I’d rather deal with the influence while they were still with me rather than have them deal with it after they left on their own. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t. In the end I decided a parent must make decisions in the best interest of their munchkins but how they fare later as an adult is mostly in their own hands.

Friendship in the church life will happen spontaneously. It’s not a negative thing unless or until it interferes with the relationship between members in the Body of Christ which is fellowship. Fellowship means each member gives and receives the same care toward one another. When friendships have a higher priority in the church life than fellowship then there will be problems. In the Body, Christ is every member so there is no higher relationship between members than fellowship.

Thx again,
Drake