One of Jesus’ last commands was to go and make disciples, which of necessity requires evangelism and preaching the gospel.
And that does honor Jesus as it obeying Him.
However, avoiding people who claim to be Christians who show no fruit of the Spirit seems to be what is being commanded here.
Yeah, I get that.
Then, we are left to discernment as to which is which. And that is not always readily apparent.
Recall the verse about casting your pearls before swine?
This does set up a tension in some believers, myself included.
I'm trying to square that thinking with Christ purposefully eating, drinking and sharing the company of lepers, sinners and tax collectors...
And how does avoiding sinners achieve what Christ told us about his mission?:
31 And Jesus answered them,
“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick;
32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”+++