Appearances and Impressions

Abstain from all appearance of evil. 1 Thessalonians 5:22

We don’t do very well with abstinence, do we? We much prefer to dabble a bit in some things we know we shouldn’t have anything to do with, but we’re only human after all, right? The other thing we’re not good at is appearances. We’re not sure what to do with our thoughts and feelings when something appears to be wrong, and while part of us knows to avoid it, the other part suggests that it isn’t so bad, after all lots of people do it and some claim to be Christians.

I think it comes down to our definition of sin, and where we draw the line. Although we might have difficulty in pinning it down, the mother of the great Charles and John Wesley didn’t. Susanna Wesley guided her children with these words: “Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, takes off your relish for spiritual things, whatever increases the authority of the body over the mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may seem in itself.” Could we handle that?

Whatever we do, by the very nature of our humanity, we always leave an example, either good or bad. However, one thing is certain, we do leave an impression on other lives as they watch how we live and handle life. That includes the things we don’t do. In recent years we have turned away from sounding legalistic by saying there are things we shouldn’t do, but here is a verse telling us clearly to avoid not just obvious sin, but the very appearance of evil. So, I must ask again. Will be dabble or abstain?

So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. James 4:17

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Matthew 18:6