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Let us look into the Bible and see what bad company is.
1 Corinthians 15:33
Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character."
Q: Why did Paul say we should not have bad company?
C: Because of bad company we will be corrupted, which can lead us to worldly pleasures, drinking, boy friends or girl friends, taking drugs, falling into sexual immorality, impurity, lust, greed for money, lack of obedience to God’s people etc.
And also it will put us into confusion and doubt.
In Corinthian Church people were involved in prostitution, there was no love, people were independent, did not obey the scriptures etc.
Let us look at 2 examples where we understand the difference between what bad and good company can do to us.
Lets look at a typical example for bad company in 1 Kings 12:7-15
1 Kings 12:7-15
7 They replied, "If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants."
8 But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him.
9 He asked them, "What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, 'Lighten the yoke your father put on us'?"
10 The young men who had grown up with him replied, "Tell these people who have said to you, 'Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter'--tell them, 'My little finger is thicker than my father's waist.
11 My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.'"
12 Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, "Come back to me in three days."
13 The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders,
14 he followed the advice of the young men and said, "My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions."
15 So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the LORD, to fulfill the word the LORD had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.
After Solomon’s death Rehoboam took over the kingdom. Rehoboam was a very rebellious king. He genuinely wanted to keep these Israelites who are in hard labour. But instead of listening to the advice given by the elders, he listened to his friends who are of his age. I am sure these were the friends he grew up with, and messed up so much from young.
The advice given by his friends was so cruel (Vs 11-14) and he agreed to what his friends had said. As a result of which he was not able to be faithful to the people of Israel and God was not happy. At last he died. Today what are some ways that we are involved in bad company?
E.g.: -
a) When our leader asks us to come for the meetings and our friends want us to play cricket or go to a movie.
b) Going out of station not taking advice, but listening to advice from bad friends.
c) Bad Company makes us to lie, cheat people, they put lot of doubts in our mind and so we stop trusting people and not open about our sins.
Let us look at the spiritual part of it i.e.
An example of Good company is Jonathan and David.
1 Samuel 20:1-11
1 Then David fled from Naioth at Ramah and went to Jonathan and asked, "What have I done? What is my crime? How have I wronged your father, that he is trying to take my life?"
2 "Never!" Jonathan replied. "You are not going to die! Look, my father doesn't do anything, great or small, without confiding in me. Why would he hide this from me? It's not so!"
3 But David took an oath and said, "Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said to himself, 'Jonathan must not know this or he will be grieved.' Yet as surely as the LORD lives and as you live, there is only a step between me and death."
4 Jonathan said to David, "Whatever you want me to do, I'll do for you."
5 So David said, "Look, tomorrow is the New Moon festival, and I am supposed to dine with the king; but let me go and hide in the field until the evening of the day after tomorrow.
6 If your father misses me at all, tell him, 'David earnestly asked my permission to hurry to Bethlehem, his hometown, because an annual sacrifice is being made there for his whole clan.'
7 If he says, 'Very well,' then your servant is safe. But if he loses his temper, you can be sure that he is determined to harm me.
8 As for you, show kindness to your servant, for you have brought him into a covenant with you before the LORD. If I am guilty, then kill me yourself! Why hand me over to your father?"
9 "Never!" Jonathan said. "If I had the least inkling that my father was determined to harm you, wouldn't I tell you?"
10 David asked, "Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?"
11 "Come," Jonathan said, "let's go out into the field." So they went there together.
1 Samuel 20:34-41
34 Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger; on that second day of the month he did not eat, because he was grieved at his father's shameful treatment of David.
35 In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for his meeting with David. He had a small boy with him,
36 and he said to the boy, "Run and find the arrows I shoot." As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.
37 When the boy came to the place where Jonathan's arrow had fallen, Jonathan called out after him, "Isn't the arrow beyond you?"
38 Then he shouted, "Hurry! Go quickly! Don't stop!" The boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master.
39 (The boy knew nothing of all this; only Jonathan and David knew.)
40 Then Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and said, "Go, carry them back to town."
41 After the boy had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone and bowed down before Jonathan three times, with his face to the ground. Then they kissed each other and wept together--but David wept the most.
David and Jonathan’s relationship was very pure and godly. Even though (Vs 34-41) Saul wanted to kill David, Jonathan David’s friend wanted to protect him. Because both of them feared God. Inspite of Jonathan being the king’s son, he was very humble with David.
He always wanted to do what is right in God’s sight. Even when David messed up with Bethsheeba, he was humble to Nathan’s advice
and was willing to accept his sin Why? He learnt to be humble from Jonathan his friend with whom he grew up with. Many a times they listened to each other and their talks were spiritual and lifting each other in righteousness.
In Vs 42 we see how their friendship was.
Practical: -
(a) Good friendships always help us to fear God.
(b) Grow spiritually.
(c) Take advice at all situations.
(d) Build strong conviction.
(e) Not to give into sin easily.
(f) Confess our sins and not compromise to go to daily ministry etc
Conclusion
So let us have good company like Jonathan and David.
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