Srila Prabhupäda explains in the Seventh Canto of the Bhagavatam that one should not take shelter of a person who cannot control the senses. Such persons who are still bound by the ropes of fruitive labor, which are made of very strong cords, still have to undergo repeated birth and death in the material world. They are compared to the blind leading the blind. How can somebody who is blind lead somebody else who is blind? One has to take shelter of somebody who has proper vision of how to take shelter of the Supreme Lord. It is our natural state of life to be sheltered. However, we have to take shelter in that which is sat—eternal. We must therefore take shelter of the association of devotees—those who help us to take shelter of the Supreme Lord. When devotees pray for benedictions, they pray to live in the association of devotees, as that is where there are always discussions about the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In this Age of Kali, the most powerful method to obtain shelter of the Lord is through the association of devotees.
(Lectures from a disciple, Vol 3, Receiving and Giving Shelter)