Does being born again mean that people must abandon their non-Christian friends? Are people of faith to separate from those who ‘don’t believe’? Is this What God Wants?
The other day I received a sad note from someone posting in the Comments Section of this blog. Some of you may have read it, but I would like to respond to it, so will re-publish portions of it here, that you may all understand the context of my reply…

Dearest Wonderful Neale…I’ve read your books over and over and I have experienced GOD in some of the most amazing, surrendering, loving, distinct aspects that I could ever imagine. I never thought I would be best friends with God.
I used to be a Christian…I was saved, baptized, and a member of City of Refuge Christian Church from 13-18 yrs old. I was always at church. I used to be afraid of the benevolent force, I have now come to know and love, as God and I always think, “What was I thinking?” lol 10 years later after reading CWG for the first time, I haven’t looked back.
Until recently. I recently had a very close, dear friend of mine, become born again. I’ve been to church with him a few times and I have done a number of bible studies with him. This has been the biggest shock of my life. I cannot feel God there. I cannot feel the God I know there at all.
Every time I read the Bible I just feel like it was written from people trying to keep everyone fear-based and controlled, and I wonder how much of the translations were lost and things that were left out on purpose. I feel like its the biggest deception ever…because the God I know, would not be like that.
I have been told over the last few weeks that I am a false witness, and Satan has taken control of me. I have been told the most horrific things about myself, that I cannot and ever will see, feel, hear, taste and touch as truth. It saddens me and I see why Jesus wept for humanity.
This is the direct reason why wars are started. This is the direct reason why we can’t all get along, because of the separation the Bible and Church have been teaching us for the last 1500 years…How Neale, do we deal with these people and this belief system? I have lost one of my dearest friends over this, a friend I was there for through every self-created hell and self-realized heaven, and now that he has found Jesus, and supposedly I haven’t, we are no longer friends. He tells me when I find Christ, he will be there for me. I tell him I will always be here for him, no matter what. And I always will be.

My dear friend…I am saddened to hear that you have apparently lost the closeness of someone who meant so much to you — all over their decision to seek God in a particular way. There is one faction of Christianity that reads the injunction “Do not cast pearls before swine” to mean that Christians should separate themselves from non-Christians in their social and love lives. I am so sorry that some people believe this, because it seems to be just the opposite of what Christ would have us do…and of what Jesus himself did.
How in the world does anyone have any effect of people from whom they separate themselves? How in heaven’s name do we help anyone by walking away from them? Did not Jesus say to those who would rebuke and harm Mary Magdalene, “Let he who is without sin among you cast the first stone…” ? What am I missing here?
You are not a ‘false witness,’ my friend. Yet those who rebuke you and tell you that you have fallen prey to Satan may be. For they have neither lived nor understood the teaching of Jesus, which is to love thy neighbor as thyself — and to love, love, love even your enemies.
Now there are those who say, “I am loving you by separating myself from you. I am saying to you that if you choose rightly, I will be there for you, and my separating myself FROM you is my loving incentive for you to come back to the right path. My love for you is shown in my encouragement to choose that path. I will not support your choosing the ‘wrong’ path with my friendship, because friendshop suggests my approval of your actions, and I, in fact, do not approve.”
Yet this is not love, this is righteousness.
And what does Barack Obama think about a punishing God who sends all non-Christians to endless and unspeakable torture in the everlasting fires of hell?
We’ll find out about that tomorrow…