Jesus Didn't "Hang Out With Sinners" and Neither Should You

Your inner circle shapes your future — tolerating worldliness in the name of love will starve your soul.

Fr. Joseph Gleason | June 28, 2025

You’ve heard it before. The moment you gently suggest someone reconsider their weekend crowd of worldly buddies or their midday gossip crew, out comes the smug, sanctimonious defense: “Well, Jesus liked to hang out with sinners.”

No, He didn’t.

Jesus didn’t “hang out” with sinners. He openly called them to repentance. He called Himself a physician — not a drinking buddy, not a tagalong — but a healer. (Mark 2:17) When He was in the presence of sinners, it wasn’t to vibe, relax, and blend in. It was to shake souls awake.

If your idea of Christlikeness is swapping memes with scoffers, binge-watching Netflix filth with “open-minded” agnostics, or tolerating sin under the plastic smile of “acceptance,” I have news for you: you’re not walking like Jesus — you’re walking off a cliff.

Scripture says:

“Do not be deceived: Bad company corrupts good morals.” (1 Corinthians 15:33)

And yet, some of us are sprinting toward moral collapse, hand-in-hand with people who couldn’t care less about the Cross — all while justifying it with the thinnest veneer of “friendship evangelism.” You know what’s more powerful than evangelizing over beer and blasphemy? Holiness. Conviction. Courage. Repentance. Things that start to die the minute you lower your guard in the name of “relating.”

Who You Walk With Is Who You Become

“He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.” (Proverbs 13:20)

This isn’t just a proverb. It’s prophecy.

Show me your five closest friends, and I’ll show you your spiritual future. Are they chasing Christ or numbing themselves? Are they worshiping the Lamb or scrolling mindlessly through spiritual junk food? You think you’re going to lift them up — but chances are, they’re dragging you down.

Let’s be honest: when’s the last time your lukewarm friend challenged you to fast and pray? To read Scripture? To go to church? To go to confession? To give alms? To pray a full Psalm in the middle of a crisis instead of just sending “positive vibes”?

“But they’re not evil!” you protest.

No, they’re not overtly evil. They’re worse — comfortably dead inside. Morally “neutral”. Spiritually beige. The kind of person who makes fun of those who “take religion too seriously.” The kind of person who quietly shrugs while souls around them collapse into pornography, apathy, abortion, or apostasy. And you’re letting them shape you.

We all love to think of ourselves as thermostats — changing the temperature of the room. But most people? They’re thermometers. They match whatever’s around them. You marinate long enough in mediocrity, and you’ll stink of it too.

Reprove Sin. Don’t Sip Tea With It.

“Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.” (Ephesians 5:11)

God doesn’t ask you to affirm darkness. Or tolerate it. Or network with it. He says expose it.

If your inner circle rolls their eyes at repentance, scoffs at the saints, treats the Church as optional, and sees modesty as “old-fashioned,” then you are the mission field — not the missionary.

If you really love your friends, you won’t keep silently sipping lattes while they slide into hell. You’ll speak. You’ll weep. You’ll call them to the only One who can save them — and if they reject it, you’ll walk away with your soul intact.

You don’t need 100 godless acquaintances to feel less lonely. You need two or three friends who fear God and make you crave Heaven. Friends who text you reminders to pray. Who drag you to liturgy. Who don’t laugh at sin. Who treat repentance as the miracle it is. Friends who aren’t cool — but holy.

So ditch the drinking buddies. Leave the chat room. Block the bad influences. Love people enough to stop pretending that sin is harmless when it’s actually fatal.

Because in the end, your crowd matters more than your comfort.

The path is narrow. Don’t try to widen it with dead weight.

Source: https://movingtorussia.substack.com/p/jesus-didnt-hang-out-with-sinners