Why Cant We Be Friends - Pastor Jonathan Shelley | Stedfast Baptist Church

then Jesus' name, Amen.

Amen.

The time I sermon this evening is,

why can't we be friends?

And you know, I mean, it's just,

to me it's a simple idea,

but I think it's kind of an embodiment

of what Christianity should be,

is that in Christianity, by and large,

we should strive to be friendly towards other people

and we should try to be as friends

as many people as we can,

and try to have a loving attitude towards people

and you know, it's kind of frustrating

is to see people not being friends

or not being a fan of someone

or not being kind to someone

that seems like in an un-Christian way

and so I just kind of want to address this topic here.

Now, the Bible says in Romans chapter 12, look at verse 16,

Romans 12 · chapter mention

be of the same mind one toward another,

mind not high things,

but condescend to men of low estate,

be not wise in your own conceits.

One of the ideas that the Bible teaches

is that not everybody's gonna be on your level

and what we should do is instead of talking down to people

or looking down on people,

is that rather we should condescend two men of low estate

and we should meet them at their level.

Now, this often happens from a carnal's perspective,

you know, people looking down on others

because of their economic status

or basically the rich looking down on the poor.

You could have this, you know,

obviously there's a lot of racism in the world

so people looking down on different groups of people

based on their nationality,

where they're from a richer country versus a poorer country.

There's a lot of this prejudice

that exists in the world.

People look down on people physically,

they just or the young look down on the old

or the old look down on the young

or you have men pitted against women

or women pitted against men

or you just have like an infinite number of scenarios here

where people just look down on other people.

They essentially have one group of the haves

and the have nots and you have the haves

who are looking down on the have nots.

That's why we kinda have this idea of the low estate,

the person that's in a lower class,

a lower classification, having less, looking down on them

but the Bible says that we should condescend to them

in the sense that we should meet them on their level

and we shouldn't always be looking down at people

or treating them negatively

and I think it also overlaps into a spiritual context

that there could be someone that's not as spiritually

on the same level as you

and so we don't wanna have this same attitude

where we look down on people

that are spiritually of a lower estate.

Now what could that mean?

That could mean specifically,

we talk about someone that's maybe a newer believer

or someone who is not as spiritual,

maybe someone who's not as knowledgeable

or having as much wisdom as you

so this could be someone that doesn't have the same doctrine.

This could be someone that doesn't know how to go soul-warning

or doesn't do as much evangelism

or care about the evangelism

but maybe they're a little bit more backslidden

or maybe whatever it is,

they're just not on your same level spiritually

and instead of looking down on them

or being negative towards them,

we should condescend to them in a sense.

Now, we don't want to ruin our own zeal,

we don't wanna necessarily allow bad habits to corrupt,

we don't want bad communications

to corrupt good manners of course as the Bible says

but the same way we shouldn't necessarily treat people

as second-class citizens and look down on them

and be negative towards them

and not wanna be friendly towards them, okay?

And so we wanna have the right kind of attitude

in this subject matter

but I wanna go to Matthew five for a moment

and I'm really trying to look at this

as different groups of people

that we should think about this scenario here

of being friendly towards other individuals

and one group in particular

that I think it's really important to look at

is those in our church.

So people in our church, here's my question,

why can't we be friends, okay?

Now, here's the thing, I wanna be careful

because obviously I don't wanna,

I'm not contradicting anything I've said in the past

and I wanna use the word friends in a different sense

but obviously I've said before

you don't have to be friends with anybody in this church

and I believe that and I agree with that

but what I mean by that when I say that

is I'm saying they don't have to be the person

that comes to your house all the time

and you're hanging out with all the time

and you're on the phone calling with them

and you're just doing everything buddy buddy,

you don't have to do that with anybody in church

but you should be friendly

with every single person in church

and you should be for everybody in church

and you should wish good for everyone in church.

So regardless of how close of a relationship

you're gonna have with everyone

and regardless of how much you're gonna actually hang out

outside of a church setting,

you should still be friendly towards

every single person in your church

and that should be our general disposition

towards those in church

but unfortunately you'll see sometimes

people not being that way in an actual church setting.

They're not friendly towards people in their church

and they're exhibiting a lot of carnal attributes.

Now the Bible brings up a subject

and it is not talking about church specifically

but I'm gonna apply this to church

because I think this is where this really comes into play

but Matthew 5, look at verse 43.

"'You have heard that have been said

"'thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thy enemy.'"

Now why I'm bringing this in is

because in verse 43 it says love thy neighbor.

Like this is talking about people in close proximity

to you and you know church is a setting

where we're in close proximity to a lot of people

and it's like hey you've heard you should love

your neighbor and hate thy enemy

meaning the people that are close to you

that don't like you or whatever

but I say and you love your enemies

bless them that curse you do good to them

that hate you and pray for them

which despitefully use you and persecute you

that you may be the children of your father

which is in heaven for he maketh his son to rise

on the evil and on the good

and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

For if you love them which love you

what reward have you?

Do not even the publicans the same

and if you salute your brethren only

what do you more than others?

Do not even the publicans so be there for perfect

even if your father which is in heaven is perfect.

So if we unpack a little bit of this

notice it says that the publicans love them

which what?

Love you which meaning like hey

no matter who it is people tend to just reciprocate love.

So if someone's really kind to you

really generous to you really nice to you

often it's easy to be nice to that person

but if someone's not treating you this way

well it's harder to love or be friendly

towards that particular individual

and he's saying specifically also

how God behaves that God makes his son to rise

on the evil and on the good

and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

So what does God want us to do?

God wants us to send out friend vibes

even the people that aren't sending them our way.

So basically we have to be the first actor.

So if someone in church kind of gives you

the cold shoulder if someone is not necessarily

being friendly towards you maybe even

they said something bad about you.

Okay now what typically happens?

Someone says something bad about someone

so then what do they do?

They say something bad about them back.

That's just the typical thing

but what would be a better way to handle this

if someone says something bad about you

is you be friendly towards that individual

to overcome evil with good

and to love your enemies and to bless them

and even if they're not treating you very well

just be kind to them do good to them

and if someone asks you about them in church

instead of being like oh this person's a bad person

why don't you say something positive about them?

Now that's really challenging.

It'd be really challenging

if someone's not treating you well in a church setting

is not really your friend

has done things that are not very nice to you

but you defend them, you're kind towards them

and you speak well of them when other people ask

and you know what'll typically happen

is it'll probably stop them treating you poorly.

They'll probably pick a new victim

or maybe you could actually even

become friends

because believe it or not

there are people in this world that did not like each other

and spoke evil of each other at one point in time

and then they ended up becoming friends

and you know how you do that

you overcome evil with good

and so what we should do

is we should have an attitude of

hey even if someone's not talking nicely about me

or saying evil about me

I can still be friendly towards this person

I can still love them, I can still do good to them

and I can even quote turn the other cheek in a sense

and you know we read these passages

this is not talking about like a national security policy

okay this is not the biblical text

on how to handle foreign enemies invading your country

this is not talking about people doing home invasion

at night this is talking about people

in close proximity to you

not treating you nice maybe duty dirty

isn't doing things that are right

and instead of reciprocating evil for evil

you reciprocate good for evil

and you try to win them over with kindness

and that's we're trying to be like God

which is what perfect

hey be there for perfect

oh I don't want to do that that's not fair

well I'm not asking you to be fair

I'm asking you to be perfect

and I'm not even asking you

God's asking you to do that

you know God doesn't expect us to be just

he expects us to go beyond just justice

and extending mercy

okay some people want justice every single time

and you know what justice is not always the best move

the best move in many cases is extend charity

grace

belong suffering

and be perfect like our father

which in heaven is perfect

where he even loves his enemies

as illustrated by the fact that he reigns

on the just and on the unjust

by the fact that the sun rises on

the good and the evil

and that he does good unto people that don't deserve it

all of us

but in general even just

if we classified humanity in categories of good and bad

even the bad God is still nice to

and kind to and does good to

and so why would we want to have this attitude

a reputation of anyone that does evil to us

or bad to us

we trash them

and we do evil back to them

we wanna be like God

where we just generally do good to most people

and again we have exceptions

and I'm gonna talk about that in a minute

but for the most part

we should love our enemies

and do good to them

wish them well

and hope that

you know positive things happen for them

this is not saying we excuse sin

this is not saying we don't address sin

it's just saying in general

that we try our best to be kind to them

and we don't reciprocate

railing for railing

or evil surmising for evil surmising

but rather blessing

okay

let's go to another group

how about people in your denomination

go to 1st Corinthians chapter 16

we should just be friends with people in our church

like that should just be of no brainer

but I have to say it because it's real

and anytime you get enough people together

people won't like each other

and people irritate each other

it's called a family number one

but number two it's even a spiritual family

and you know

the best thing to do is just to be kind

even when they don't deserve it

even when they're not treating you well

and a lot of times you win people over

a lot of times time itself can heal a lot of wounds

and when you just do good to people

a lot of times they overlook

whatever issues they've had in the past

maybe they might even ask for forgiveness

and it would surprise you

but you can't overcome evil with good

that's what the Bible teaches

now

I had to turn to 1st Corinthians chapter 16

because I wanted to illustrate that

the church at Corinth

was offering to participate in a ministry

of giving money to the saints in Jerusalem

it says in verse one now

concerning the collection for the saints

as I give an order to the churches of Galatia

even so do ye

upon the first day of the week

let every one of you lay by him in store

as God has prospered him

that there be no gatherings when I come

and when I come whomsoever you shall approve

by your letters

them will I send to bring your liberality

unto Jerusalem

now from context in other passages

the Bible is crystal clear

that the apostle Paul is not demanding them

give money to anybody

this is something that the Corinth church

wanted to participate in

and was willing to offer a free will offering

of themselves money to the poor saints in Jerusalem

and so what we see is we see love

between other churches in their denomination

I mean hey this is a church in Corinth

there's a church in Jerusalem

and you know what we shouldn't have this rivalry

against churches where we don't like

other Baptist churches or something like that

like we should have

we should have a love for other Baptist churches

especially independent Baptist churches

like people that are King James only

that have the right gospel

I mean that's pretty much usually my test of fellowship

like on that liberal

it's just like King James only

you got the right gospel

you're I'm capable of being your friend

and being not only just being your friend

being in fellowship with you

meaning that I would potentially allow you to preach for us

I'd preach for y'all without hesitation

now look I get that I would preach virtually anywhere

but I'm just saying like in general

I wouldn't be ashamed or embarrassed to be friends

with someone that has the right Bible

and has the right gospel

and look there's a lot of other areas

that I think are important

don't hear me wrong

that I think are super necessary in the Christian faith

but I'm not gonna be so hardcore

that they have to have exact form of communion as we do

in order for us to be friends

and look there are fellowships like that

there are churches like that

there's all kinds of reasons

why people have fellowships and groups and whatever

but you know we should be having this attitude

of hey we would like to bless other churches

and help other churches

and we wouldn't even mind giving money to other churches

that are not necessarily exactly like us

or have problems

and think I mean the New Testament churches

a lot of them have some serious problems

like they have some serious issues

there's doctrinal differences

there's a lot I mean he's talking about the churches

in Galatia, Galatia gets screwed up

on the gospel at one point

you know and I think that there's probably churches

in the world today

that they're an independent fundamental Baptist church

and they have the right Bible

and they have the right gospel

but there's an element in their church

or there's some impact of like a repenting of your sins

like influence that's corrupting them

and causing them problems or whatever

and we should rebuke that and correct that

and want nothing to do with that doctrine

but it doesn't mean that the whole church

is damned necessarily

and you know just like the churches in Galatia

they needed strong rebuke

they needed correction

but they were still part of the group

and hey they're even participating in the ministry

to the saints of Jerusalem

and so we should have a general camaraderie

and a general love and fellowship

towards other Baptists

and other people in our denomination

it only makes sense

go to 1st John chapter four

we should just love the IFB

we should just love the IFB

and I even just love Baptists in general

now there's look

there's a lot of bad Baptist churches out there okay

there's a lot of people that are trying

to take a good name Baptist and make it bad okay

but I think there's a lot of good Baptists

in this world and I like them now

I love my family and growing up with my family

I would argue with them all night though

and I would tell them that they're wrong

it doesn't mean that I wasn't still their brother

and doesn't mean I didn't still love them

so you know hey I'm gonna still point out

all my Baptist brother and their's

and I'm gonna still call them out

on the issues that they have

but it doesn't mean I don't love them

it doesn't mean I wouldn't support them

it doesn't mean I don't have positive feelings

towards them

and so we don't wanna get those mixed up

and you know while I may correct them

pretty sharply from the pulpit

if I were to run into these people in person

I would be very kind, very gentle, very meek

and not necessarily even offering unsolicited advice

in those areas

and so we wanna be careful that

hey when we're here in our church setting

and we're preaching the Bible

this is for our congregation and our people

and it's not necessarily how I would

directly interact with every single one of these

individuals you know we should approach these people

with grace, with love

I mean think about it every single epistle

in the New Testament written by the apostle Paul

it basically starts out with like grace, peace

and love from the Lord Jesus Christ

and from God the Father

and he's like wishing them well

and then he's like oh by the way

I'm afraid you're not even saved

oh by the way this guy that's sleeping

with his father's wife

you need to throw him out of the church

by the way you have people in your church

that don't even believe the resurrection

they're not even saved what the heck are you doing

you know like hey you guys are eating meat sacrifice

and idols you're actually fellowshiping with devils

and I wouldn't have that you'd fellowship with devils right

I mean it's not like he's not addressing

some serious issues

but what was his first statement

grace, peace and love and you know

and look that's we need to have a balance in our life

we don't wanna only we don't wanna be a Christian

where we're just only in the middle of the epistles

where we're just like alright I'm ready to just

you know crack some skulls okay

we also need to start with some grace

and some peace and some love

and in with some grace and some peace and love

and hey we can have a spicy sandwich here

I'm not saying it's not gonna be spicy

but what I'm saying is our general disposition should be

hey we should be friendly towards these people

and want them to have a good taste in their mouth

as far as you know their experience with us

first John chapter four look at verse 20

if a man say I love God

and hate it this brother he is a liar

for he that loveeth not his brother whom he hath seen

how can he love God whom he hath not seen

and this commandment have we from him

that he who loveeth God love his brother also

so the Bible makes it clear

we demonstrate our love for God

by how we treat our brothers and sisters in Christ

and so those who do not like very many Christians

and are very negative towards lots of Christians

show that they don't really love God very much

and show a lack of the love for the Lord

so the more love we have for the brethren

the more love we have forgotten

I would argue that those who are serving God the most

those who are our brothers and sisters in Christ

who are serving God the most

we should have the most love towards

and that that's gonna show and embody

our love for God even the most

so obviously if you give a cup of cold water

only the name of a disciple

you shall know wise lose your reward

there's an emphasis on disciples

and doing good unto disciples

and so those who are the Christians of the faith

that are disciples and doing the work of the Lord

if you can't love those people you don't love God

like whoever is the greatest Christians on this earth

we should have the most love for

you know if we were in the first century

we should be loving Paul the most

we should be loving John the most

we should be loving like it would be weird to say

hey I love the brethren but I hate Paul

and I hate John and I hate Stephen

and I hate you know just every one of these

pesky little disciples or whatever

it's just like well that's weird

because if you actually love God

you would really love those guys

like it's kind of incompatible

to say you love God

and hate the best disciples of Christ

you know if you really love God

you would really love the greatest disciples of Christ

and that's why you kind of notice a pattern

you'll notice this pattern

that the same people that hate Jack Hiles

end up kind of hating all the other good people too

and you kind of notice all the people

that hate the good people hate Jack Hiles

and it's like and other people that are like him

or whatever and so you just kind of notice

this attitude, this behavior

and you know I don't want to be around people

that are just hating some of the greatest Christians

and some of the greatest disciples

like that's a bad attitude, it's a bad spirit

and look if you just personally say like

I don't like one of these individuals

and you have your reasons go for it

you can do and believe whatever you want

but I'm just saying if you kind of just dislike

every one of the best disciples on the earth right now

you have a problem, you have a serious issue

you're the one at fault here

because if you say that you love God

you're gonna love his children

and you're gonna love your brothers and sisters in Christ

and it's impossible to love God

without loving your brothers and sisters in Christ

it's just fact it's just what the Bible says

so you know those that hate the new IFB

they have a problem with their love for God

and then you know what I've noticed

in the independent Baptist world

and the independent fundamentalist world

the churches that are the most influenced by Jack Hiles

and love soul winning the most

seem to be the most gracious towards us

and the most loving towards us

that can't be a coincidence

it's not a coincidence because let's just be honest

they love God more than the others

the people that are going soul winning the most

and preaching the gospel the most

they love God the most

and then they're the most charitable and kind

of those who love God the most the same

and again we don't wanna then be accused though

of being really zealous soul winners

that look down on other people and hate other people

and oh you're not of us

like the wrong spirit

we wanna reciprocate and love the brethren

and love those that love the Lord

and are doing great works for God

and we don't wanna turn away from those who love Jesus

even if they're not like us

even if they don't like us

you know we should still like them

hey if there's a guy out there

that's doing a lot of soul winning

and reaching a lot of people

and he's like well I don't like you know Jonathan Shelley

it's like well you know what God bless you anyways

you know can I buy you a sandwich or whatever

you know it's like hey who cares

like it's not about people liking you

it's about the work of God

and at the end of the day we should just love our

brothers and sisters in Christ

and we should overcome evil with good

we don't want them to think of us

as just being so mean spirited

and hateful towards the brethren

we want to love them

that doesn't mean we don't correct them

that doesn't mean we don't point out

what the Bible teaches

but we can still do it

we can still speak the truth and love

is what the Bible says

and what does the love mean

it means when you're making statements

is because you care about the person

you actually want them to change

you're not trying to tear them down

and there's a very evident difference

between someone that's just trying to trash someone

and someone that's trying to correct

and lovingly help someone change

and we should have the second

we should be more in the latter

go to Galatians chapter 6

Galatians 6 · chapter mention

go to Galatians chapter number 6

and I want to look at verse number 10

but we've talked about a couple groups

we've talked about people in our church

we should love them

we should love people just in the broader scope

of the independent fundamental Baptist world

but I'm going to go even broader now

and say that we should just love people

in our faith

so just any Christian

I don't really care what church they go to

or if they don't even go to church

we should just kind of love Christians

anybody that's saved

we knock on a door we get someone saved

and they're not Christian at all

as far as their lifestyle

we should still love that person

we run into someone that's saved

but they're not serving God

they're not really doing the right thing

we should still have love towards that person

and we should still be friendly towards that person

I'm not saying make this guy your number one friend

I'm not saying he has to come over to your house

and hang out with you

I'm not saying let him borrow your car

but what I am saying

is you should be friendly towards that person

we should just be friendly towards other Christians

and it's like why can't I be friends

with other Christians

okay

Galatians chapter six look at verse number 10

as we have therefore opportunity

let us do good unto all men

especially unto them who are the household of faith

now according to the Bible

if I can do good unto someone that's not even saved

then why would I not be able to do good to someone

that is saved even if

God forbid

he was a Calvinist

I know I was really silent

okay you know

the silence in church for about half an hour

and I'm just kidding

it's just like

look I mean some people they lose their mind

that it's like oh man you are nice to a Calvinist

outside of a church setting

don't you know he's a Calvinist

it's like sure but you know what

there could be a Calvinist out there that's saved

and look even if he wasn't

the Bible says I could do good to people that are not saved

but then how much more the household of faith

and look I don't think that it's bad

that we as Christians can reach across the aisle

and be nice to people that are saved

even though they're in screwed up denominations

they're backslidden and they have issues

there's in my opinion there's nothing wrong

of being friendly towards those people

okay

now am I saying

that I can always have fellowship with them

no it could be a first Corinthians five issue

I get that I'm not trying to

I'm not trying to disregard that part of the Bible

I'm not trying to say there couldn't be Christians

that are involved in grievous sin

and we need to separate from them

because of the grievous sin that they're involved in

I'm not saying that we won't point out their sin

but what I am saying is why wouldn't I just be friendly

and do good to them

especially the household of faith

you know we should just have an attitude of like

I just like Christians in general

and I love Christians

whether they be of a different flavor

a different denomination

or if they're screwed up

but hey if they're saved

you know we can have

we should have some love for these people

we should have some desire

and we should try to win them over

you know with meekness

and with love

and with compassion

because you know there's been a lot of us

that were in a different denomination for this church

who in this church has been any denomination

other than Baptist in their in their past

yeah look around

isn't it nice that

you know we have an opportunity to change

and become a Baptist

you know I wasn't born a Baptist

but I'll die a Baptist all right

but you know my wife was Baptist born Baptist bred

and she'll be Baptist dead when she dies all right

and praise God for that testimony

I love that

I love that my children are raised Baptist

and are going to be Baptist their whole life

but you know

for those of us that are not

we realize hey

I'm glad that someone was able to reach me

and welcome me in

and teach me where I was wrong

and show me the errors that I had in my church

you know I came from a charismatic

non-denominational background

and yeah they did this speaking in tongues

but you know

no one in my church was running around

barking like a dog

okay

no one was doing fire tunnels

okay

now some of you have that testimony

I don't know

but I'm just saying like

you know so it's like

oh you're you're from a non-denominational church

so you're demon possessed

and it's just like well no

I'm not demon possessed

like we don't have this attitude

that everybody that goes to a Pentecostal church

is now a demon possessed

dog barking freak

or something like that okay

but some people have that attitude

some people think like

oh you know

because you're from this group

you have this attitude

or this belief

and you know we don't want

we want to have a love towards the brethren

and a love towards the saved

even if they're screwed up on doctrine

even if they're screwed up

going to a bad church

even if they have the wrong Bible

we want to try and win them over

and why can't we be friends

you know God willing

they'll change

and they'll become a Baptist

they'll be like hey you're right

hey that is what the bible says

hey and you know what

if they if they don't get one over

and they don't become your best friend

what was the harm

and you're just being friendly

towards them anyways

I don't really see how it harms anything

Galatians chapter 6 verse 1

Galatians 6:1

Brethren if a man be overtaken in a fault

ye which are spiritual

restore such a one

in the spirit of meekness

considering thyself

lest thou also be tempted

bear ye one another's burdens

and so fulfill the law of Christ

notice it doesn't say when a man's overtaken in a fault

treat him like trash

trash him burn him

it's it's kind of similar what we started with

condescending him in a little state

it's like hey

try to restore him in the spirit of meekness

not looking down upon him

not trashing him

but rather

hey buddy

I get it

we all sin

hey I understand where you're coming from

I felt that way before

I've thought that before

I've struggled with that before

hey but I want you to change

hey this is why you should change

hey why don't you help me

hey why don't you call me

hey trying to reach that person

and try to restore them

and try to help them

hey I was Pentecostal

it was stupid

let me help

let me show you how it's right

hey I had an NIV

let me show you where it's screwed up

hey I made this mistake

let me show you why I don't want to make that mistake anymore

hey I used to get drunk or whatever

I used to do this

it's like hey

you know whatever it is

just in the spirit of meekness

instructing those that oppose themselves

not sitting here and

looking down on people

and oh you've got

you're an idiot for having the wrong bible

and oh you're such

you're such a fool

and you know the bible says that

you know drunkards are fools

you know it's just like

we don't have to necessarily be like that

in our daily experiences

now again if you're saying what the bible says

I'm not gonna

I'm not gonna throw stones at you

but it doesn't mean that you can't still try

your best to approach people love

and kindness and meekness

because that's what the bible's saying

just as much as the bible tells us to rebuke our neighbor

and not suffer sent upon him

it also says to instruct them in meekness doesn't it

so you can't just like

I really like that rebuke part of the bible

now you got to love the meekness part too

okay

obviously some churches they only emphasize the meekness

and they don't care about the correction

they don't care about the rebuke

we want both

but we want to make sure that we're doing it

in a loving kind gracious attitude

and we should be friends

towards these people

go if you would to Luke chapter

or go to Matthew 11 first actually

go to Matthew chapter 11

Matthew 11 · chapter mention

so you know why can't we be friends

with people in our church

I think we should be friends with people in our church

I think we should be for everyone in our church

we should be wishing good for the people in our church

we should be wishing good for the people in our denomination

other Baptist other fundamental Baptist

hey I'm just wishing good for a lot of Christians

I hope a lot of Christians in our nation

a lot of good things happen for them

and they become King James only

and they become a Baptist

and they become like-minded

they become a soul winner

and even if they never become like me

I just hope they become evangelistic

and start preaching the gospel at least

you know

not everybody's gonna be exactly like us

not everybody's gonna always be persuaded

to come all our way

but if they could just be persuaded

to present the gospel a little bit more in their life

wouldn't that be a win

wouldn't that be a positive thing

even if they could maybe clean up

some areas of their life

or make some positive changes

you know

it's not always about people becoming exactly like us

sometimes it's just about helping people

take a couple good steps in the right direction

and so that's why I also think

why can't I be friends with someone

that is headed in the right direction

okay so not only we're talking about people in our church

we're talking about people in our denomination

we're talking about people in our faith

as Christians

how about just people headed in the right direction

and you know I've noticed there's been

since COVID and other events in our world

people they kind of get woken up

they start realizing like

man I feel like I've been lied to

and they start seeking truth

and they're not even saved necessarily

but they're just taking steps down a pathway of like

I'm just trying to figure out what the truth is

and I'm just discovering truth in the areas that they are

maybe they're Catholic still

maybe they're Lutheran

maybe they maybe they're not even really a Christian

but you know what they're trying to go down a pathway

towards truth

it's like why can't I be friendly towards that person

and try to help that person

and get them to the real truth

which is the gospel

and I think that we should have this attitude

of being friendly towards people

who are heading in the right direction

now Jesus often got accused of

I would argue something similar

where the Pharisees and the Sadducees

would look down upon him

and criticize him

for being friends with people from rough backgrounds

people are obviously not saved

at a time in their past

and definitely not even serving God at all

very rough individuals

but look what it says in Matthew 11 verse 19

Matthew 11:19

it says the son of man came eating and drinking

and they say behold a man gluttonous

and a wine beaver

a friend of publicans and sinners

but wisdom is justified to our children

now here's the thing

this is a careful

we have to carefully unpack this passage

because you got some people out there

being like yeah Jesus was hanging out of the bar

false

okay if we back up

just just let's just back up a hair

all right look at verse 18

for John came neither eating or drinking

and they say he had the devil

now is that statement true

is it even kind of true

is it even a little bit true

it's a hundred percent false

okay

so then why would I then take

the next statement out of their mouth

in verse 19

and be like this is true

it's obviously not true

okay

there's something wrong with what they're saying

but there's an element of truth

obviously mixed in with some of these things

what is the element of truth in this

the element of truth is that

there are people that are sinful

that were very bad people

like public and sinners

but they started walking in the right direction

and then Jesus ended up ministering to them

and giving them the gospel

okay

but Jesus is not hanging out with

the tax collectors

he's not hanging out with

he's not best friends with

the prostitutes and all

he's not going to a house of prostitution

but yeah

did prostitutes come to him

seeking the truth

and seeking grace and mercy

and he was friendly towards them

absolutely

now let's get a clear example

let's go to Luke chapter number 19

go to Luke chapter number 19

and so sometimes people what they'll do

they'll criticize you

for being friendly

or nice to someone

that has some screwed up stuff in their past

that has some serious major issues

or they have a rough upbringing

or they don't look right

but you know what

if they're headed in the right direction

why can't I be friendly towards them

and that's not that he's quote friends with them

and they're the besties

they're hanging out

in these sinful places

but he is friendly towards them

and he's seeking for them to be saved

look at Luke chapter 19

Luke 19 · chapter mention

look at verse 5

and when Jesus came to the place

he looked up and saw

and said to them

Zacchaeus make haste and come down for today

I must abide at thy house

and he made haste and came down

and received him joyfully

and when they saw it

they all murmured

saying that he was going to be guessed

with a man that is a sinner

and Zacchaeus stood and said

unto the Lord

behold Lord

the half of my goods I give to the poor

and if I have taken anything from any man

by false accusation

I restored him fourfold

and Jesus said in him

this day his salvation come to this house

for as much as he also

is a son of Abraham

for the son of man has come to seek and to save

that which was lost

notice Zacchaeus

came to seek Jesus

that's why he went in the tree

he wanted to see him

secondly

when approached by Jesus

we have an attitude

in a heart of someone

that's trying to go in the right direction

saying look

I'm going to give money back

I'm going to try and do right now

I want to make some positive steps in my life

I want to head in the right direction here

and then Jesus saying

hey today salvation is coming to your house

it's not that he quote

repent of his sins and be saved

but what the bible is teaching

is that look

this guy was headed in the right direction

and that's when the gospel hit him

it's just like John 3

that tells us

that's the guy that's seeking the truth

seeking the light

he's going to be the one that's coming to the light

but the person that hates the light

you know

because he doesn't want his deeds to be reproved

he doesn't end up finding it

it's not the actor of repent of your sins

to be saved

at all

but often people that are seeking

to be corrected by the Lord

or seeking the Lord

will end up finding the gospel

and finding out salvation is a free gift

okay

so I think because of things like this

this is why it's so easy for people

to conflate these issues

and why it's so easy for people that are even saved

to get screwed up on some of these issues

even though the bible is crystal clear

you don't have to repent of any sins to be saved

but we see people doing it

I mean can't we see that there were some people

that the moment they got saved

they changed their life

and can't we see that there's some people right here

like Zacchaeus

that are determined to try and give up some of their sins

while seeking the right gospel and the right salvation

so it's not that there isn't people

who don't simultaneously get saved

and repent of their sins

in the same moments in the same time frame

the problem is

teaching that that's a requirement for salvation

that's the problem

and of course there's a lot of people

they have a testimony

where they were living a very sinful life

and then they started seeking the Lord

and they got saved

and so in their mind

they think you have to seek the Lord

and you have to turn over new leaf to get saved

but you don't have to do that to get saved

it's just often that leads you to the gospel

so they're conflating those two issues

and missing the whole point

but why are we you know talking about Zacchaeus

we're talking about Zacchaeus

because notice the Pharisees were murmuring it

Jesus hanging out with them

they're like oh how dare you hang out with the sinner

with this with this guy

you know you look at a church like ours

and you'll find a lot of people that have a have a rough past

you have people that didn't weren't necessarily Christian

they weren't a fundamental Baptist their whole life

their whole family didn't serve at Hiles Anderson

or something like that

you know they actually had some rough upbringing

but you know what

hey we can still bring them into church

and be friendly towards them

and we can be friends towards individuals

that are headed in the right direction

and you know I have no problem being friendly

towards Catholics who are headed in the right direction

no does that mean I'm friends with the Catholic priest

who's preaching a false gospel no

am I going to be friendly towards people like Nick Fuentes

who are preaching actively a false gospel on a regular basis

no

but you know if someone was a Catholic

and they're not evangelistic about their false religion

and they're seeming to head in the right direction

I don't see why I would be wrong

for me to be friendly towards that person

and trying to help them convert

and help them see the light

and help them come to the Lord

just like Jesus was friendly towards these people

but then it would be a false accusation of

oh you're friends with Catholics

you're friends with these

it's like really

like show me the Catholic in my friends list

show me the Catholic on my speed dial

show me the Catholic

it's like I don't have these people

but you know I can be friendly towards them

I can interact with them in a social setting

and be friendly and kind

and I'm not rebuking them

and I'm not being mean towards them

and I'm not trashing them

and whenever I'm approaching them

I can be kind and do good

why because that's how Jesus was

and a lot of to a lot of people

and so we should have the same type of attitude

towards the Zacchaeuses of this world

the sinners the publicans

even the prostitutes and the harlots

gov would a second Timothy chapter two

so we talked about four groups

here's a fifth group that I want to talk about

is people that are just lost in general

maybe they're not even

they're not even

going in the right direction

they're just straight lost

well

how do we approach those individuals

the same we should be friendly

I mean think about this

we if we should be friendly to people that are just lost

friendly to people that are just headed in the right direction

people just just Christian in general

people that are in our denomination

how much more should it be

to people in our own church

you know

like it starts getting silly

when you can't even be friendly

towards people in your own church

and people that you're around on a regular basis

and you know what those are the people

you should try your best to be the most friendly to

because you're going to be around them the most

it makes the most sense

to be the friendliest of the people

that you're going to be around the most

second Timothy chapter two look at verse 25

in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves

if God peradventure will give them repentance

to the acknowledging of the truth

and that they may recover themselves

of the snare of the devil

for taking captive by him at his will

you know we should be gentle and kind

towards the lost and hoping that they'll be saved

your co-workers

people you meet out in the public

hey we should be kind to the muslim and the hindu

and just the random person in this

in this cafe and the catholic and whatever

we should try to win them over with meekness

and try to give them grace

and try to hope that they get saved

right you know i've knocked on a lot of doors

of muslims hindus whatever

even jews believe it or not

and you know what i was kind to that person

even all the things i know and believe about their religion

and i did offer them the gospel

and i have i've given the gospel to jews

i've tried to give them the gospel

and tried to get them saved

i don't believe i ever have

you know if i did i didn't know

i got a jew saved right

but i i'm not it's not because i won't try

it's not because i wouldn't be nice to them

i'll be nice to any of them

and i'll try to give them the gospel

and i want to try and get them saved

you know go to 1 Corinthians chapter nine

i think that i'm proving my points

sufficiently in the text

but you know so you search the scriptures

now again i get that there's boundaries

and and you know for me

boundaries i'm not going to be friendly

towards false prophets

i'm not going to be friendly

towards rep or bait sodomites

and i'm not going to be friendly

towards people who are attacking

the work of the lord

okay so i i i do have boundaries

and i do have groups that i would say

you know what i'm not going to be

friendly towards this group

and you know i think there's personal

enemies that are distinct from

enemies of the lord

and people attacking our church

and attacking soul winning okay

so don't conflate these obviously

they're also my enemy a lot of times

too but i'm just saying like

it's not because i'm just reciprocating

evil for my enemies

it's like man if you're trying to

destroy church and destroy the bible

and doctrine and soul winning

and what it's like

yeah i'm gonna fight you yeah i'm gonna

i'm gonna take you to task okay

so we have boundaries we have groups

that we need to not necessarily

be friendly towards you know someone

this is not just someone this is a

many people have asked me

and and asked about questions like

what about a first Corinthians five

issue you know

what if someone in our church is

actually excommunicated our church

discipline like how should i approach

that person

there's nothing wrong with being

friendly towards the person

but again there's a difference

between being friendly and being

friends with right

there's a difference between me

you know lovingly being nice to the

person and kind and hoping good for them

and telling them they need to change

and then hang out with them and acting

like everything's normal

okay so i can't hang out with you

and be normal because you have this

issue in your life and i need you to

change it

but that doesn't mean i can't text you

or call you when you reach out to

me like i don't have to ghost you

or something necessarily

but that doesn't mean i'm also i'm

not going to actively pursue

relationship with you

i'm not actively trying to engage and

have fellowship with you

because you're under church discipline

but you know i treat them like a heath

in the publican

you know i still file my taxes

i don't like the tax guy

you know i still

i you know if someone out at my

workplace says hi i say hi to them

you know i'm nice to my co-workers

i'm nice to the tax man

i'm nice to the police officers

it's not that i ignore them or

something like that

but you know what i'm not going to

invite the tax guy over for

Thanksgiving

you know

i'm not i'm not just welcoming in

everybody that i work with

to just hang out with me and watch my

kids and whatever it's like i'm not

i'm not we're not that close

you know what i mean

that doesn't mean i can't be friendly

and so someone kicked out a church

i'm not saying you can't be friendly

but don't be friends with and don't

just take

you know don't take the actual

discipline off the table from them

it's like oh well you know our kids

they're they're supposed to be disciplined

because they didn't eat their dinner

so they don't get dessert

so i bought them a candy bar instead

it's just like well what the heck you

know like now they're now they're not

going to learn their lesson right

if they didn't eat their dinner they

don't get any dessert it's not like

well they don't get the cake

they can have a candy bar instead

it's just like no no dessert

right because you're totally

undermining it i mean think about it

if you're trying to discipline your

kids and grandma and grandpa are over

and you're like all right they didn't

eat their dinner so no cake

and they're like okay well i'll give

them a Snickers instead

and it's just like no grandma

no grandma you're totally undermining

the discipline here

they need to just not have any candy

we need to all say no no desserts

because they need to be punished

that's the whole point

okay but that doesn't mean you can't

be kind to them

that doesn't mean as grandma grandpa

you can't be like all right honey

please eat your dinner

so then you can have some cake

we want you to have cake

we're on your team

we're a team have cake

but if you won't eat your dinner

no cake you know

it this is the attitude

but you know what grandma and grandpa

don't need to take the cake

and shove it in their face

and be like ha ha you're an idiot or

something you know

it's just like hey we can be nice

we can be kind

it's not like oh now we can't even

talk to you because you can't have

cake

it's just like hey we want to make

sure that we're keeping the

discipline enforced

but we can still be friendly

we can still be kind

we're still on your team

we're still for you

we just want you to change

we just want you to get it right

we just want you to do the good thing

okay

first Corinthians chapter nine

we have the Apostle Paul

he says in verse 20

and unto the Jews I became as a Jew

that's hard for some of you

okay

would you be willing to become a Jew

to get a Jew saved

you know that's a tough

question

that I might gain the Jews

to them that are under the law

as under the law

that I might gain them that are under the law

to them that are without law

as without law being not without

law to God

but under the law to Christ

that I might gain them that are

without law to the weak

became as weak

that I might gain the weak

I made all things to all men

that I might by all means save some

notice Paul's attitude

I'm going to be friendly to everyone

I'm going to condescend

to men of low estate

someone that's weak

I'll be weak

so what would that look like

and again this is just my personal application

you can take this however you want

you studied on your own

alright

but what if someone's not the strongest Christian

maybe I don't necessarily have to brag

about how awesome I am a Christian

when I'm around them

and again I'm not saying that

we don't try to encourage them

and give them zeal to serve God

but I'm just saying we don't look down on them

and rub their nose in it

you know we're trying to be helpful

we're trying to be kind

we're trying to encourage them

to the weak became I as weak

why because he wants to get people saved

he wants to get people in the right church

and again obviously this context could be

someone that's you know a Christian

but they're not saved yet

and you're just trying to help them

you're not just like oh you're

you have the wrong bible

and you're stupid

you don't go on missions trips

and you don't even dress right

you know it's it's like hey

oh you like the bible I like the bible

you know hey let me show you some verses

you know just being kind

just being nice

not necessarily trying to be over spiritual

being hyper spiritual a holier than now

look our closest friends should not be

unsaved people

it should not be false religion

we should never be ecumenical

okay pluralism is a false doctrine

okay but there's nothing in the bible

saying that you can't like other Christians

there's nothing in the bible

saying you can't be friendly

towards other Christians

in fact I would argue it's saying the exact opposite

we should be kind to these people

and you know what I hope that Calvinists

just change and become evangelistic

let's just destroy the doctrine of Calvinism

let's just destroy the doctrine of Zionism

let's just destroy the preacher of rapture

and I think we're doing it

okay I'm just gonna be honest with you

I think we're destroying let's destroy dispensationalism

but you know what I think you can be nice

to these people

obviously if they believe in multiple

gospels and oneness and whatever

yeah we get it there's heretics

don't be nice to them fine

but there's probably a lot of people

caught up in some of these false doctrines

that are still nice people

and we should be we should be kind to them

you know the bible says

faithful are the wounds of a friend

so I want to go to a few more places

and and look at a few more verses

but go to Titus chapter 3

Titus 3 · chapter mention

so let's let's just kind of

put it all together

and and talk about

what are some of these attitudes that people

will exhibit towards these individuals

because we're talking about being kind

being friendly

why can't we be friends with these groups

well a lot of times what people will do

is they will gossip

they will back talk other people

they have a negative attitude towards them

they use envy and pride and hatred

to attack them

and we should not employ these these elements

you know they they think that other denominations

are just quote bad people

instead of correcting them with a desire

to see them change

they'll trash people

and they will disrupt efforts to reach them

where you know it's kind of like the Pharisees

are trying to disrupt Jesus from

ministering to sinners and publicans

and these type of individuals

by criticizing his ministry

and we should rather be trying to welcome them

we should try to reach them

we should be kind to them

and you know it's it shouldn't be a shock

if Pastor Shelley is nice to people

in these categories

but there will be groups that I won't be nice to

right

Titus chapter number three

look at verse one

put them in mind to be subject to principalities

and powers to obey magistrates

to be ready to every good work

to speak evil of no man

to be no brawlers

but gentle

showing all meekness

unto all men

for we ourselves also are sometimes

foolish disobedient

deceived

serving divers lusts and pleasures

living in malice and envy

hateful and hating one another

but after that the kindness and love of God

our Savior toward man appeared

not by works of righteousness

which we have done

but according to his mercy

he saved us by the washing of regeneration

renewing of the Holy Ghost

which he shed on us abundantly

through Jesus Christ our Savior

that being justified by his grace

we should be made heirs

according to the hope of eternal life

so what I want to focus in on though

is in verse three

it's a laundry list of bad problems

but notice what it says in verse three

for we ourselves also were sometimes

say look

this isn't like oh these people act that way

we acted like that too

and so that's why we don't want to necessarily

look down on other individuals

and have such a negative attitude

towards other people

because we ourselves also were sometimes

foolish and hateful

and having malice

and having envy

and having bad attitudes

so we want to be friendly

we need to be friendly

towards our other brothers

and sisters in Christ in church

and you know

hey maybe at first when you came to church

or maybe newer in the Christian faith

you were kind of nasty to people

or you were a little envious of people

or you were hateful towards people

or you had a bad attitude towards people

well you need to change that

you need to be more gracious to people

you need more kind to people

oh well these people aren't nice to me

I don't care

you'd be nice to them anyways

why can't you just be

why can't we just be friends

there's so much screwed up in this world

why can't we be friends

we need to be friends in this room

we need to be friends in this church

we need to be friends

with hey other Christians

and other groups

and we need not have this attitude

where we're pitting each other

against each other

and and from envy's perspective

why why do a lot of people hate the new IMB

I'm just going to tell you it's envy

it's pride and envy in a lot of ways

and we don't want to then participate

in gossip and slandering

and railing against these people

go to Proverbs chapter 17

Proverbs 17 · chapter mention

Proverbs chapter 17

Proverbs 17 · chapter mention

I'm just going to look at a few more verses

but hey I can be friendly

towards people that are screwed up

or have problems or have issues

it's like I'm not threatened

by being friends with someone that's

that's pre-trib

you know it's like well why are they

threatened well because they're wrong

that's why they're threatened

you know but but in the day

that doesn't mean that they're

even though they're wrong

and even if they treat me poorly

I can't still be friendly to them

and you know I just what I don't want to do

and what I don't want to see

is that we necessarily are just always

trashing everybody that dislikes us

and trashing everybody that's not

in agreement with us

you know why don't we just be kind

and meek and loving towards them

anyways

and try to win them over

with goodness

and say hey you know

we're still kind to them

I mean I've had people tell me

or ask me they're like

do you even let divorce people come to

your church or whatever

and it's just like

yeah it's like half the congregation

bro I'm just gonna

I don't know if it's half

but I'm just joking

it's just like

it's it's it's like silly

you know I don't want to have this

attitude of like oh

just because you preach against divorce

not divorce people can't come

or oh you preach against tattoos

people with tattoos can't show up

or oh you preach against

you know whatever I mean

pretty soon it'll be no one here

okay

okay just like

say the

you know we can't be guilty of these

sins

but at the end of the day

I also don't want to say

well then we can't preach the

Bible now

you know let God be true

and every man a liar

all right

let us be ashamed of our sin

and not ashamed of the word of God

but that does not mean

that we can't be kind and nice to people

look at Proverbs 17 verse 9

Proverbs 17:9

he that cover the transgression

seeketh love

but he that repeated the matter

separated very friends

you know we shouldn't be going around

telling everybody's dirty secrets

and trying to trash people

you know we should

we should rather love people

and wish good for them

look at verse 17

a friend loveeth at all times

and a brother is born for adversity

you know we should just be kind

and you know it just

it just

it always puzzles me

when people just can't be friends with somebody

that it doesn't make sense

why they can't be friendly

you know and even if you don't like someone

even if you don't agree with someone

you know you could still be friendly

towards them

and you know it's not friendly to trash them

it's not friendly to talk down about them

and talk evil of them

and talk behind their back

and act like they're stupid

and a fool and idiot

that's not being friendly

that's not being kind

it's not being loving

you know it's like

and we just

we always just choose a group to demonize

and you know like

I'm going to use a specific example but

obviously I don't believe in racism

I don't think racism is good

but his thing is there really a problem

being me being friendly towards a racist

and look

before like X

before Twitter

I didn't even think racism really existed anymore

like I kind of thought

like most racism was just

us having prejudices

and stereotypes against different groups

but I was like

there's not really anybody

who actually believes

that one group of people

are genetically and physically superior

than other groups

and then X just shattered that belief okay

there really are

there really are people still today

that

advocate those of viewpoints

and look it is not

like just white people

or races against black people

that is a stupid narrative okay

there is plenty of black people

that are races against white people

look I was out door knocking today

today

and I was talking to this

this black guy

and I was being kind

I was trying to give him the gospel

and then he just kind of drops this

towards the end

he's just like

yeah well I'm one of the 12 tribes

and I'm just like

I'm like what do you mean by that

like physically

he's like yeah

and he's trying to tell me

how he's descended from Abraham

and we guys got dreads down to here

and he's like okay

and and I'm just like

he's like yeah the whole bible is in Africa

and I'm like what do you mean

he's like yeah everything is in Africa

and I was like well

I think it's like Middle East

is the most is the biggest setting

I know there's a portion about Africa

I get it you know there's

there's Egypt and stuff

I said what about

you know the New Testament

isn't it like mostly focused in

Greece and the Greek part of the world

and and he's just like no

and I'm like okay

how about like the first epistle

Romans

Romans

is Rome in Africa

and he's like I don't know

and I'm just like okay

what about what about Corinth

I'm like Corinth

Galatia

Ephesus

Thessalonica

how about how about this

where it says the seven churches

which are in Asia

and he's just like

yeah the whole bible's about Africa

and I'm just like okay wow

and he's just like yeah

because you know us people

we you know we're the chosen

and we were supposed to

you know be in slavery for 400 years

but now we've come out of it

and we're supposed to return back home

to Ethiopia

and I'm just like what in the world

this is it was like

this is a unique type of Zionism

I've never heard of this Zionism

where they're going back to Ethiopia

okay there's actually

I mean then I

then I was like okay

I got grok about this or whatever

okay

there is a belief out there

that the queen of Sheba is from Ethiopia

and that she she had a child with Solomon

and that there is a

the lineage of Solomon

like descendants in Ethiopia

and then there's groups of

Rastafarians

and Black Hebrew Israelites

and stuff that believe

that that Ethiopia is Zion

and that they all need to return to Zion

okay

some people might become a Zionist

after the sermon I'm just kidding

it was just like

what in the world

but it's like it's

I showed him I said

well what about

what about the bible

it says that Jesus's head is white

he said no it's his hairs

I was like no it's his head

then I showed him revelation

it says his head and his hair are white

and he's like oh that's like his threads

I was just like what

okay I'll give up

but I said I don't care what color he is

because it doesn't matter to me

but it's like funny it's like

this guy thinks that Black people

are better than everybody else

and they're the real chosen

and look you go to an Asian part of the world

they have Asian Jesus

you go to Mexican places

it's a Mexican Jesus

you go it's like

everybody has their flavor of racism

you go to some places in Asia

they hate other Asians

and we're like y'all look the same

you know that's our joke or whatever

it's just like hey

it's just silly

because look I'm not a racist

I don't care about that

but you know what if someone is a racist

I'm not gonna be like

why can't be friendly towards you

you know being a racist isn't the worst sin

in the bible

I don't know if you know that

okay

it's not the worst

and you know in a lot of cases

people are just racist

because of personal experiences they've had

right

I mean it's like oh why does North Korea

not like South Korea

probably because South Koreans

had a bad experience with North Koreans

I mean it's just probably what happened

does that mean that they should just

then demonize

that whole group of people

no that was probably an overreaction

just like hey are all Cretians liars

no that's probably an overreaction

but I bet there's probably

some bad Cretians out there

it's like hey is it is it right

to just demonize all Jews

because of what most of them are like

no that's not right

okay

that was not a lot of answers that

okay

it's like hey

obviously you have bad interactions

with certain groups

we I mean

you know obviously

there's probably a lot of black people

that were treated poorly by white people

and so they become races against them

or vice versa

they get their bikes stolen enough times

they get really mad about that

okay

and then look

I can make racist jokes

because I'm not racist

but at the end of the day

it's just like look

they're not the worst people

because often you

you know what they're doing

they're basing their belief system

on things they've seen

and to them it's kind of a pattern

of recognition

whereas it's like there's some things

in this world that are just bad

and I don't want any association with

you know if someone is

a heretic

if they're believing false doctrine

like that's scary to me

and I don't want to have anything to do that

when they're a denying reality

that is scary to me

yeah

you know reality denial

is way different

than going a little overboard

on your pattern recognition

yeah okay

that's a completely different

group of people

you know

flat earthers are not on the same level

in this in this category

because look they're denying reality

and they're often teaching

the bible teaches this kind of nonsense

okay and look I get it

there's races out there

that teach the bible teaches this

and they're wrong too

and both need to be corrected

but at the end of the day

I can still be friendly

to whoever I want to be friendly with

but reality deniers

that's another boundary for me

and that's scary for me

when every person I've ever been around

that's a flat earther

is like

super wicked

evil on drugs

stealing money from our church

like committing horrible crimes

sorry for me not wanting to be their best friend

whereas it's like

yeah there's probably some people

that I disagree with on race

and they're a little bit over the board on that

but I don't even have bad interactions with them

why can't I be nice to them

you know

it's like silly

to think this way

and why can't we just be friends anyways

if you want to be friends of flat earthers

go ahead

okay

you guys go and geek out

on being weird

all right

whatever you

you reach them

okay

but

but at the end of the day like

hey