Social Distancing

The new trend of many cities around the country and other countries around the world is social distancing which is the process of distancing yourself from people in a social setting. This has really changed the lives for most people in this country as sporting leagues have cancelled events, concerts and tours have been delayed or postponed until further notice, nursing homes and hospitals are enforcing different rules and regulations about visiting patients, and even restaurants and schools have changed how they operate.

Personally, this is the craziest thing that I have ever heard of as we are shutting down much of the country over the flu virus. When you conduct research and distance yourself from the bias media, you realize that this virus is no different than the others in the last twenty years but there are many factors why this particular virus is so popular and no, I will not discuss them for this article. However, the idea of social distancing is one that many Christians need to practice more of because we do have to distance ourselves from people and things that are toxic.

Recently, the ministry had to part ways with a talented and energetic writer who has been a big part of the ministry for well over a year but their behavior had become representative of something the ministry does not stand for. This behavior went against what scripture teaches and what our ministry stands for and while it was difficult to do so, we had to socially distance ourselves from this person. There will be times when people try to convince you that it’s not Christ like to distance from people but Christ Himself warned us about who we are around and/or embrace (entertain): “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners” (1 Corinthians 15:33).

This is something that I am guilty of and that I have to do a better job at because the things that we are exposed to regularly and are a part of do have a way of becoming a part of what we do. There is a reason why scripture does not recommend us to become friends with those who are always angry and mad: “Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go:” (Proverbs 22:24). There are people in my life who seem to always be angry with the world and the people in it and they curse them and everyone in it and sadly, God. This is not a good thing to do and while we must learn who to be around, we need to learn to be kind with those who we distance ourselves from: “And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all [men], apt to teach, patient,” (2 Timothy 2:24).

There are people that we associate not because they are our friends but to keep things civilized and this is something that we are all guilty of. This seems to be a part of being an adult but even then, we must be careful about doing so because these people can invite in demons to our lives, as well: “A froward man soweth strife: and a whisperer separateth chief friends” (Proverbs 16:28). When we do entertain such people, we are not only battling against their bad ways but the demons that they entertain which is why we must walk be extremely careful with whom we allow in our lives and homes: “He that walketh with wise [men] shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed” (Proverbs 13:20). Furthermore, we must distance ourselves from the words of such people: “Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not [in him] the lips of knowledge” (Proverbs 14:7).