Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. – Proverbs 4:14
“At fourteen, I started hanging out with a gang around my corner. It felt like a badge of honor to be seen with them. Then I started seeing guys disappear—either killed by rivals or sent to prison—but despite the warnings of my parents, I kept going back. It took one of the guys I idolized getting shot and none of the crew coming to visit him while he lay dying in the hospital to shake some sense into me. At that moment, I knew the gang didn’t have my back, nor were they the powerful family I thought they were. Now twenty-three and no longer affiliated with the street life, I speak at community outreaches under the canopy of ‘Cutting Ties’ to encourage young people to resist the allure of gangs—because when the chips are down, they won’t be around.”
The opening narrative, though created for today’s conversation, describes gang life and its false impression of power and stability. The same desire for security from external forces is found in 2 Chronicles 25:14, which describes Amaziah’s allure and downfall when he took objects from the defeated Edomites and began worshipping them. Amaziah’s actions angered God, and a prophet was sent to Amaziah to reveal his disobediently impaired judgment: “Why hast thou sought after the gods of the people, which could not deliver their own people out of thine hand?” (vs. 15).
While it is wise to implement protective measures and forge relationships that add value, nothing or no one will ever offer the security that only God can guarantee. Cutting ties with what isn’t good for you is the best way to hold onto what’s right for you.