First Corinthians 15:33 says, “Do not be deceived: Evil companionships corrupt good morals.” Having evil companionships means to have improper friends. It is better to translate “evil companionships” as “improper fellowship” or “improper communication.” The result of such evil companionship is the corruption of good morals. Corrupt means “decay,” as the decay of wood by worms. Evil companionship decays good morals.
The expression good morals in a milder sense can be rendered “good manners.” Good morals is a stronger expression. The original meaning of the word lies somewhere between these two words. The word moral is too strong, while the word manner is too light. It is probably somewhere in between. I think it is better to translate the word as “appearance.” This is milder than the word moral but stronger than the word manner. We can say that improper communication corrupts good appearance. You may be very godly before God, but after you meet an unbeliever who jokes, you begin to laugh. There are some jokes we should not laugh at. But many times we feel that we do not need to be so stifled when we are among them; we feel that if we loosen up a little, they will welcome us more. But this is improper communication, and it corrupts good appearance.
Improper communication and good appearance are opposites. One is good, while the other is bad. The bad will corrupt the good. We must avoid this corruption. Since the Lord’s life is within us, we should spend time to cultivate good habits and learn to be restricted in the Lord. We must learn day by day to be godly, careful, regimented, and restricted persons.
Please remember that one contact with unbelievers and one improper communication with them will waste much time. This is a great loss. Each time you communicate with unbelievers, you may need three or five days before you will be recovered to your proper standing, because unbelievers can affect your appearance, habits, and moral conduct before men. This is surely not profitable.
Psalm 1:1-2 says, “Blessed is the man / Who does not walk / In the counsel of the wicked, / Nor stand on the path of sinners, / Nor sit in the company of mockers. / Rather his delight is in the law of Jehovah, / And in His law he meditates by day and by night.”
Unbelievers have much counsel to offer. It is most pitiful for God’s children to seek counsel from unbelievers when they have problems. Many children of God ask unbelievers what they should do when they encounter problems. Even when they give you counsel, you cannot do what they counsel you to do. I have many unbelieving friends who offer me advice concerning many things even though I have not asked for it. If you listen to them, you will realize that all their thoughts concern how they may profit themselves. They do not ask whether a matter is right or wrong or whether it is God’s will. They have only one motive—personal profit. Can we do something that is purely for our own profit? Some of their counsel not only is for their own profit but even causes loss to others. Some profit does not come at the expense of others, and some does. How can a believer walk in the counsel of an unbeliever?
If you become too intimate with an unbeliever, it will be hard for you to turn his counsel down. As a result, you will be carried away. If you seek counsel from five friends together, it will be hard to reject their suggestion and say no to them, because they are your friends. They have a unified, a unanimous, proposal, and it is good for you. If you talk with them, it means that you are seeking counsel from them. But their advice only comes from their mind. You should not follow this advice.
Moreover, there are many places where you cannot go. Sinners have their own path and their own places. They do not come to church if they want to gamble. They have their own places and their own path. Today, if you communicate with unbelievers, you are taking their path even if you say you are not one of them. This is hard. An unbeliever may want to go to a place that you should not go to. Even if you say that you will not go inside, you are still on the same path. Although you may say good-by and part with them at the door, you have already gone the same way. “Blessed is the man / Who does not walk / In the counsel of the wicked, / Nor stand on the path of sinners.” God does not want us to be in their places, and He does not want us to even stand on their path. God wants us to be fully separated from them. We cannot befriend them. Once we befriend them, we will stand on their path or at least touch their places.
“Nor sit in the company of mockers.” Almost all unbelievers are mockers. I have seldom found a brother whose friends did not joke with him or make fun of the Lord’s name. I met many unbelievers during the first few years of my Christian life who joked about the Lord’s name whenever I saw them. They blasphemed the name of the Lord. If you sit among unbelievers, they will ridicule you, and the Lord’s name will be blasphemed. They may not mention the Lord’s name before you join them; they may not have the intention to blaspheme the Lord’s name. But your presence gives them the opportunity to talk about Jesus and Christianity. They will carry on with their jokes. If you do not want to sit in the company of mockers or listen to their mocking, you must not communicate or fellowship with them or befriend them in any way.