Child of God, follower of Christ, let me tell you what I wish they would tell all of us a whole lot more. "Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?" This scripture rings so true, and yes, this is definitely one of those scriptures that's politically incorrect and totally disrupts the popular doctrine of "love and be friends with everybody."
Now, "love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you"—yes. Love everyone with the love of Christ and treat them the way Christ would treat them. But can you be friends with everybody, child of God? I'm just going to say no. And I'm about to tell you why.
The Boundaries God Has Set
First, let's get into some examples of where you absolutely cannot compromise: ancestral worship—no. Voodoo—no. Santería—no. Tarot readings—no. Psychics—no. False religions—no. Sorcerers—no. Alchemists—no. These are just some examples, but here's the point I'm getting at. "You shall have no other gods before Me," and "there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" except Jesus Christ.
I believe in associateships. You can have associates and distant friends—that's fine. But your close friends have got to be believers in Christ. I don't care how nobody takes this; I'm telling you right now: if you have people close to you—people who you are intimate with, vulnerable with, transparent with, weak around, people you share your heart with—and they don't believe in Christ, you are in for the ride of your life in that relationship.
The Spiritual War You Cannot Avoid
The spirit in them will always be at war with the Holy Spirit in you. "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another." You will go through so much unnecessary warfare because anytime you speak the word of God to them, remember that "the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." That Word slices and dices them like deli meat and cheese. You will go through unnecessary conflicts.
The only way you can maintain friendships with those who don't believe—especially if they're close to you—is if anytime you interact with them, you water down the word of God. You water down the gospel. You grieve the Holy Spirit by intentionally not saying the word of God around them. You literally have to suppress the mind of Christ that's in you while you're around them.
Because if you act like Christ and talk like Christ at any given time, the spirit in them is going to be offended. "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." And the only reason why you're not experiencing this is because you are not exhibiting the behavior of Christ for this to be a problem.
The Cost of Compromise
Listen. Listen. You will suffer in silence in these friendships. Every time they minister by way of the doctrine of demons that they operate in, the Holy Spirit in you will be grieved. "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." He will vex your spirit. You will be so uncomfortable, but you will suffer in silence through that discomfort, all in the name of "that's my friend, and I don't want to offend them." No. That's absolutely not worth it.
Every time they are thriving within their carnality while you are simultaneously thriving in your walk with the Holy Spirit, there will be awkwardness, and you will struggle to be in step with them. Why? Because "those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be."
You will literally dumb down the wisdom of God within you, all in the name of not being offensive. You will literally and willfully go into spiritual blindness and deafness, all in the name of "that's my friend—I don't want to offend them with the discernment of the Holy Spirit." You will literally wind up championing and cosigning demonic acts, all in the name of "that's my friend."
The Unequal Exchange
Here's what I know: they are not going to sacrifice in the same way for you, child of God. They're not going to calm down that demonic activity to be more holy when you're present. They are not going to be less demonic so your spirit isn't as vexed. They are not going to endure your evangelism of the gospel of Jesus Christ the way you have to endure their evangelism of the doctrines of demons. "Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons."
You will be the one scapegoated into sacrificing everything that makes you a child of God, to the point where you will find yourself lukewarm. And remember what the Lord says: "So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth."
When Fasting Reveals Truth
Hold on. We haven't even got to the climax of it all. They're not going to fast with you, child of God. If you fast while in these friendships, what the Lord will reveal to you will show you how ridiculous and foolish you are for thinking you should be unequally yoked with unbelievers. "However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting." When you fast, you will see spiritually what has been hidden from you in your compromise.
And let me tell you what I know you don't know: this is a form of idolatry. Because idolatry—an idol—is anything you put before your obedience to God. "You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve." When you rebel against the word of God that says "do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers" and you do it anyway because you're so obsessed with proving to everyone that you are a nice person, you're making their approval an idol.
Here's the plot twist: the spirit within them wouldn't even allow them to see you as a nice person anyway. Because every time you speak the word of God and it cuts and convicts them, they're thinking that you're not a nice person. "If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also." They will villainize you the same way they villainize Christ.
The Prayer Life You Cannot Share
They can't truly pray with you, child of God. And if they pray with you, it won't be the fullness of prayer that you need because they'll be halfway in agreement. "Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven." But their heart won't be with you in prayer—they're just wanting it to hurry up and be over with.
You can forget about binding and loosing any demons around them. "Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." You can forget about engaging in any spiritual warfare around them because you'll wind up having to go to war with them. The spirit within them will influence them to manipulate you into believing that spiritual warfare is unnecessary, uncalled for, mean and cruel.
The Holy Spirit's Grieved Heart
Child of God, I'm telling you, in these types of friendships, the Holy Spirit will always feel like you're choosing them over Him. "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad." It will be a repeated feeling of betrayal that you will feel every time they reject the word of God when you speak it. Every time you all pray together and their heart is not with you. Every time you have to turn a blind eye to what the Lord is showing you spiritually about them.
"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success." Scripture should be flowing out of your mouth without you even realizing it. When scripture is your vocabulary, when your vernacular is the holy, living, active word of God, you are literally declaring war on every spirit around you that's not the Holy Spirit—every time you speak.
A Personal Testimony
Now, again, associates? Yes. You can be that for them. Distant friends? Ask the Lord. Close friends? Absolutely not.
Spare yourself the unnecessary warfare, confusion, and grief that you will encounter by being unequally yoked with non-believers and just don't do it. Take it from someone who has literally done everything I'm telling you not to do. It's one of the worst things I could have ever done because it was something I never had to do.
"Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?" The answer is no, child of God. And neither do you have to learn this the hard way.
"Therefore, 'Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.'"
And neither do you.