Wayne Weekly:”Birds of a Feather…Be sure You Flock Together”
Written by Teddy on May 29, 2015
When Evie and I were first married in 1982 BC (before children), we got into casual birdwatching. Since we lived in the city, we would occasionally venture out to mainly state parks and look for birds. It was fun. We became familiar with a good variety of species that are native to New York. We were familiar with the more common back yard birds, like Robins and Cardinals, Blue Jays, Sparrows and perhaps American Goldfinches among others, but what became a thrill was spying Nuthatches, Orioles, Bluebirds, Scarlet Tanagers, Cedar Waxwings, and Indigo Buntings. The list goes on.
Many of us have heard the old adage, “Birds of a feather flock together.” In today’s jargon, “people who are into the same things hang out together”.
That’s true, and in many cases is not a bad thing at all. If you like sports, your buds are sport’s people. If you enjoy camping or hiking, maybe you merge with that group. Are you a gardener, you’ll like being in like company.
Now, even though as Christians we are to be in the world (not of it) and touch the lives of those who don’t personally know the Lord…doing “the work of an evangelist”, we really should be hanging out with other believers. Actually we should greatly prefer to be with others who love God. We’re not to “forsake the assembling of saints”, and that goes way beyond church attendance.
Birds of a feather should naturally flock together. God’s Word tells us that “Bad company corrupts good morals.” Sometimes we think that unbelievers can’t affect our spiritual walk, but that can be deception, or even and excuse to justify a pretty steady diet of flocking with those who, by their actions and attitudes, hinder an upright lifestyle. Compromise is easy when the “standard” disappears.
Christian, let’s regularly ask ourselves, “What flock do we perch with?” We might just have to spread our wings…and fly away.
