It’s good to have close family and friends, but they should never be closer than our Lord.
In our previous study, we considered God’s warning against false prophets. But Deuteronomy 13 adds two other subtle dangers, where we can be influenced away from the Lord. What happens if “your brother, the son of your mother, your son or your daughter, the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods…’”? (v 6). Sometimes we go along to get along. We want to pursue peace with family and friends, don’t we? Ah, but in this case, God always has a prior claim to our loyalty. He created us, sustains us, redeemed us, and deserves the first place in our hearts. This is no time for maudlin sentimentality. “You shall not consent to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him or conceal him” (v 8). The seriousness of this cannot be overstated. Generations yet to be born could be brought into the slavery of a false religion right from birth, and in the end it could damn their souls! Thus the warning against being unequally yoked with unbelievers (2 Cor 6:14). But there is another danger! What if the culture around us has given way to idolatry and is pressuring us to go along? God warns His people against whole cities becoming worshipers of false gods (see Deut 13:12-18). This is the very situation in which we find ourselves today. The West worships God’s blessings as if they were their gods, but they ignore the God who has been so good to them. Believers must beware! “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (Jas 4:4). Christians must be friends with sinners for the gospel’s sake, but never be friendly with their sin.