Bad Company Corrupts Good Character

Have you ever wanted to belong so bad, that you’d do anything to be a part – even things you wished you hadn’t?

Keith was an average kid from and average family who lived in an average town and went to an average school – in short, he lived an average life. Keith always had decent friends and did okay in school and athletics. But by the time Keith got to High School, he was convinced he wanted something more – to be noticed and to belong.

His first encounter with fitting in as a freshman came at the hands of the “moshers” - young people who listen to heavy metal music, dress in black and chains, and abuse marijuana. After dying his hair black (against his parents will), getting one ear pieced, and buying a whole new collection of music that he really didn’t enjoy listening to, he decided that belonging to the “mosher” clique wasn’t for him.

In his sophomore year, Keith found himself without identity and needing to connect. He began to gravitate to the “preps” and tried to imitate their behavior. After buying some designer shoes and shirts and making some key friends with financial clout (his family had none), he began to run with the “preps.” In time, however, he discovered that the kids in these circles had all kinds of family problems, and they spent much of their time on the weekends drinking too much alcohol and sleeping around with other “preps.” After not being able to fake being rich any longer, Keith realized he didn’t belong and would have to seek his fortunes somewhere else.

In his Junior year, Keith began to get active with the basketball team. Not good enough to play in games, he became the team’s head manager. He’d hoped that spending a lot of time with his basketball buddies would offer him a chance to fit in and be a part of a group; but, in the end, he found himself wrapped up in a culture of horrible language, drinking, and casual sex. The team played poorly that year, and being identified with the basketball program lost its allure. His “friends” left him, and he was once again without an identity.

In Keith’s Senior year, it seemed that all hope was lost, for in his first three years of High School, he failed every time to connect and belong. In that span of time, he found himself changing his appearance, his lifestyle, his vocabulary – all in the name of fitting in. It all seemed hopeless – until he met Jenn. Jenn was a Christian. She was beautiful, outgoing, popular, and self-confident. After meeting at a football game, Jenn invited Keith to a “fifth quarter” party their church hosted after home games. From the time he walked in the door of the youth annex that Fall night, he knew something was different. He felt loved and accepted; he felt like he belonged. In time, he came to more gatherings at the church and he and Jenn began dating. Upon graduation, she encouraged him to follow her to a Christian college. It was here that he became a Christian and gave his life to Jesus. He changed his major to Ministry, and he now serves as a Youth Minster in a small church with his wife, Jenn, and two small children.

Again, Keith’s story could have been one with a tragic ending, for all his life, he had surrounded himself with bad company that was destroying his character. Why had he put himself on such a destructive path? To belong. The powerful need to belong is one that will lead people to do most anything to fit in. The question we have to ask for ourselves (and we hope our Seniors are asking as well), what lengths will we go to belong to the Family of God?

In our worship this week, I want us to focus on the idea that God is the provider of identity – not the world. The world would have us appear as they want us to. God causes us to appear as He does: holy. For in God’s holiness and fullness of fellowship, we see the real meaning for our won lives and the need to belong to something much bigger than the world offers. Our worth is not connected to what we are but Whose we are.

Resounding Themes:
Finding Belonging In Jesus
Seeking More, Being More
Worth and Identity In Community
God’s Holiness and Fullness

Ready, Set, READ

1 Corinthians 1:10-17

1 Corinthians 5:1-7

1 Corinthians 6:9-11

1 Corinthians 15:33-34

Ready, Set, MEDITATE

- What is the Corinthian problem as Paul opens his letter to them? Why is there such confusion? Why would belonging to one person or party over another have such significance? In the end, what does Paul say about the matter?

- What level of sin does Paul uncover in Corinth? How is the man being treated? How does Paul command them concerning him? Why is allowing him to belong to the church more harmful than good? What does he compare the man’s sin to? What must been done in order to set things right?

- Why does Paul feel the need to give this “laundry list of sin” here? What is he trying to accomplish by saying it? Why is it important for us to remember our past?

- Does bad company indeed corrupt good character? As Keith from our story above, have you ever experienced this to be true? What lengths have you gone to before to belong to something/someone who was corruptive? Why should we bother with belonging to Jesus?

Ready, Set, PRAY

You alone are God! Unchangeable. Unshakeable. Unstoppable. For from the very aura of Your holiness, are we convinced of Your supremacy and our fallibility. You are the Creator God, giver of life and worth. Our identity, oh Father, is totally intertwined in the story of Your love for us. It is in your righteous presence that we confess our sinfulness. How many times, O God, have we sought our identity in other things and persons other than you? We are desperate to fit in. In many ways, we feel like outcasts standing at the gates of acceptance from our peers, our bosses, our spouses…our own pride. Our insatiable need to belong has led us into much sin and far away from your own heart. Draw us back to You once again, O Father. Remind us of the belonging we have in the fellowship of Your Spirit. Give us the memory of who we were before we fell in love with You and the reality of who we are now, in Jesus. Restore to us the joy that can only be enjoyed from finding a sense of belonging – belonging to You! You alone are God! In the transformative, accepting power of Jesus. AMEN.

Ready, Set, WORSHIP!