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We've all been hurt.

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We all carry scars.

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We can all overcome these things and be healed through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

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Let's build that relationship together right here.

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Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton.

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Hey everybody, welcome back to the sanctuary.

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It's great to have you with us as always.

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We're taking a break from Ruth this week, but rest assured we're going to be getting

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back into it next week.

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This week we're going to talk about something a little different.

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Before I tell you what it is, I'd like to clarify something first.

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I've been asked why I spend the majority of my sermons, my teaching, reading through

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the books of the Bible verse by verse as opposed to doing just a topic.

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The answer is, it's really something you've heard me say before.

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Context.

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Context is king.

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There's a ton of people out there, a lot of teachers out there that strictly preach on

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topics.

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As you know, I do go into topics from time to time.

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I do like talking about topics just as much as the next guy.

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However, in order to fully understand and appreciate what the scripture is telling us,

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we need to make sure that we have the full picture.

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We need to understand everything that's going on.

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There's no better way to do that than to go into the word itself.

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There's so many people that get led astray and it's because they don't read the word

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for themselves.

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It's what I've referred to in the past as spectator Christians.

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They just sit there and get preached at.

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Unfortunately, you get poor teaching out there where scripture just gets pulled apart like

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a fortune cookie.

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The text is twisted to mean something that it wasn't intended to.

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Not only that, but it lacks depth and information, which in turn, leads people without an appropriate

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understanding or interpretation, which is really what brings us to today's topic.

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You see, recently I had a conversation with a brother.

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I love him dearly.

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However, he had looked at a verse without context.

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What he took away because of that ended up being very twisted.

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The meaning wasn't fully there.

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We discussed it and brought context to light, which resulted in one of those aha moments.

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The light bulb just went off.

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He's not the first and nor will he be the last who went through this.

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We've all been there.

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I've been there myself, especially early in my walk.

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A lot of us do because we see so much out there.

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It just saturates the media, especially social media and all that kind of stuff.

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The scripture without the right framework, it basically ended up like this.

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The old proverb says, don't have anything to do with bad people.

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Don't even talk to them.

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Just stay as far away from them as possible.

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Now, before I read to you the verse in question, ask yourself, does that sound very Christianly?

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Is that very Christ-like?

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Now, the verse is this Proverbs chapter four, verses 14 through 15.

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The word says, do not enter the path of the wicked and do not walk in the way of evil.

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Avoid it.

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Do not travel on it.

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Turn away from it and pass on.

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Now, at first glance, it would seem that the takeaway from this is to just walk away from

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bad people and leave it at that.

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Just don't even have anything to do with it.

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Just cut them off.

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Bye-bye.

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Let's dial this in.

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Proverbs chapter four, verses 13 through 17.

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The word says, take firm hold of instruction.

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Do not let go.

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Keep her, for she is your life.

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Do not enter the path of the wicked and do not walk in the way of evil.

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Avoid it.

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Do not travel on it.

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Turn away from it and pass on, for they do not sleep unless they have done evil.

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And their sleep is, as some translations say, robbed or, in this case, taken away unless

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they make someone fall, for they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.

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And what's actually happening here is a father's passing along some advice.

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And this becomes even more apparent when we read the full chapter.

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So in answering, if this sounds very Christian-ly, if it sounds very Christ-like, the answer

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is an obvious no.

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What's actually being spoken about here is that there are those people that you need

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to be on your guard for.

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Those people who you know, who enter your life, and can be bad influences.

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These can be close friends and colleagues, even family members.

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Now if we're honest about it, most of us can name some of those loved ones rather quickly.

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Some of them might even be that friend that you have to warn others about before you introduce

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them.

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The fact that they are friends, that these are loved ones, it makes it hard for us to

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say no to the things that we know we should be saying no to.

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We're more likely to just kind of follow along and to tell us all the things, as opposed

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to standing that ground.

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And let's face it, it's hard.

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It's very hard to tell people we care about that, you know, hey, you're messing up, you're

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doing this all wrong, this isn't right.

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And it could be painful and it could cause some resentment.

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However, the fact is, truth hurts sometimes.

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Nobody enjoys criticizing their friends or their family.

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And this has made worse when we're not exactly sure how they'll react either.

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You know, like that friend who likes to stir the pot and talk trash, you know, but they

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get highly offended rather quickly when someone just starts to call them out.

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Right?

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You know, we need to be open.

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We need to be accepting of people.

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However, we also need to keep our guard up, you know, and know that we can't just always

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accept things at face value, no matter how much we want to.

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You know, we need to be able to take that high ground and stand up for what's right

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until people know, you know, we need to set those boundaries.

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And we all know right from wrong.

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You know, as Christians, we need to ensure that that line is drawn in the sand for all

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to see, you know, even at that cost of upsetting people, because you know what, you're not

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going to make everyone happy all the time.

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Sometimes you're going to upset people.

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That's just the way it is.

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And you see where we find ourselves being influenced to do the things that we know are

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questionable at best, or at the very least, you know, have us questioning things.

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We need to stop.

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We need to pray, you know, and we need to evaluate or, you know, in church lingo, discern

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what's going on.

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You know, part of this may involve speaking to someone else who can help you to keep things

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in focus or, you know, put things into perspective, you know, or, you know, talking to someone

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who can break things down, you know, as to, you know, what's going on and look at things

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objectively.

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You know, don't let people drag you down, no matter how much you love them and care

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about them.

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You know, don't let people encourage you to do things that you know you shouldn't just

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because they're friends or family.

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It's no exception.

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There's no exception to this rule, right?

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We're not to sin, you know, as a Christian, you and I have an obligation to show, you

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know, others, you know, that example that we should all be following.

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You know, we need to be that voice of reason or as my grandpa would tell us, you know,

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all the time as kids, do the right thing for the right reason.

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Even when nobody else is looking and, you know, and I love the last part of that because,

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you know, who is always looking?

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Jesus.

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Even though you might think somebody, you know, other people are going to see, you know,

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we all have a reckoning, we're all going to have to answer, you know, and Jesus is always

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there.

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He knows what you're doing.

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He knows what you're thinking.

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He knows what your intent is.

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So just don't get, you know, pulled into this trap, you know, now go, you know, be the example

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and remember, don't just take a verse or two and expect to have a full understanding.

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Read what's around it and look for the context of what's truly being said.

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And this is why I encourage everybody, you know, don't even take my word for it.

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Don't take anyone's word for it.

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You know, read the Bible for yourself and find out what it actually says, what the context

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is, you know, and what's right and what's wrong.

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Now remember you're loved and you are blessed.

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Now go and be the church.

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Thank you for joining me today here at Healing Scars with Pastor Burton.

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If you'd like to know more about our ministry or how you can support us, you can do so by

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going to our website at BeTheLightSanctuary.org or you can visit us on Facebook at BeTheLightSanctuary.

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We'll catch you next time.

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God bless.