But what about our Christian faith in the midst of our friends? I find that with some people I can easily delve into spiritual matters and with others not so much. Some times its because they aren't inclined to the spiritual walk we as Christians have with God, others it is because they are shallow, and some others it seems we just don't feel close enough to in order to discuss these things. Is this wrong?
Let's take a closer look at this. First off, what about those friends who aren't professing Christians, or perhaps are not living a Christian life? How should we deal with that? Most important in this situation is prayer. Not with them in the moment so much as for them, before and after we interact. With these people, the straying or lost, we must spend time in prayer for them and do as the Lord leads us. No two examples are the same, however I can assure you that without proper prayer the whole situation will come crashing down around our ears.
The second type of interaction that we don't spend much time in spiritual matters is often with those who are shallow in their faith. This doesn't mean that they are ignorant of Scripture or other knowledge. Indeed, those from this group that trouble the church most are quite learned. So what do I mean by this? By shallow Christians I mean the ones Paul referred to in the first letter to the Corinthian Church - the carnal Christian. These are those who do not take their Christian walk to heart, and that can take many forms. Some are those who are obsessed with the liberty to do whatever they want, some are legalists who try to get everyone to do as they do, and yet others try their best to ignore all the problems and just smooth them away without dealing with them.
So why do we not discuss spiritual matters with these people? To answer this let me quote Charles Spurgeon. 'Holy things are for holy men.' Now this does not mean that we are condemning these people, far from it. What we mean is that we do not discuss these things with them because they cannot understand them. It would be just as pointless to discuss the slope intercepts with the 3rd grade class. Its far above them. Instead, I teach slope intercepts in 8th Grade Math and let the 3rd grade class struggle with their new concept of division for now. One day, I do expect to be able to teach them algebraic graphing, but that will be once they are in 8th grade. They must reach the level of the material, the material cannot be reduced to their level.
In the same way we must allow some people to first develop their basic faith' as Paul also tells us in the same epistle' before we can introduce some more complex concepts to them. Instead of trying to teach them spiritual truths as we see them, we should instead try to help them where they are in their current state. In this case, we must be patient and prayerful while the person matures in Christ.
So where do we draw the line between the mature and the immature? The danger in this question is the fact that most of the time when we ask it we are still on the side of the immature. So often in life, we assume that the only reason other people don't agree with our side of the issue is because they are the immature one. We need to take a different approach. Instead of assuming all the world is incompetent, we should assume that people have good reasons for their beliefs and that we may also be in error. In answer to the question however, we must be cautious about assuming people are less spiritual or knowledgable than we are. Ironically, usually if we must ask if a person is less mature than we are, the answer is no.
Conclusion
In the end, we need to be ready to give an account of what we believe at all times. (II TIM. 4:2) Our faith should not have an off button, or a mute button, but a volume control. Not because we are ashamed of what we believe, but because we are to handle holy things carefully. (MATT. 7:16) However, we are not to force ideas and theology on those who are not ready or not dedicated enough to handle them. In order to accurately do so we must do as Paul told Timothy. (II TIM. 2:14)
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