Avoiding All Appearances of Evil......

We all know this scripture. every time we do something some one disagrees with someone pulls it out. Yet, it is a reality in our walk that we are responsible for how we represent Christ to the world and to those weaker in the faith but, what WE as modern english beleivers think ti says and what was being said are two entirely different things

Recently I was involved in an online discussion as to whether something was permissable or not as a Christian. Now Paul tells us ALL things are permissable but not all things are beneficial. yet, that is another discussion in itself because it seems contradictory to the other scripture and we know God has given us clear guidelines in some areas of our life.

However, I digress, the point is this was one of the best explanations of that scripture avoiding all appearances of evil I had ever read and I am sharing it with permission from the author.


1Th 5:22 Abstain from all appearance of evil


How do you do this by working in a bar? (THIS IS THE SUBJECT THE DISCUSSION WAS ON...PLEASE DO NOT GET SIDETRACKED ON THIS...IT IS SIMPLY WHAT WE WERE DISCUSSING AT THE TIME)

RESPONSE: May I ask you to take a second look at the Scripture you quoted above. (Boy, I sure hope I am not being offensive. Sometimes, I am not sure if I should say anything, but I am trusting that you will understand that I do not intend to be ugly about this.) Try reading it in other versions. The KJV does not express the intent of the verse as well as some others. The original idea, when it was written in Greek, was to advise that we stay away from things that appear to us to be evil or sinful or ungodly, not that we avoid things that appear evil to others, nor that we judge others regarding what appears to us to be evil.For example, these are the days of unleavened bread. My boss took me out for lunch today for Administrative Assistants Day. I made sure that there was nothing on my plate that even looked like it could have leaven in it, and I ate foods that are biblically kosher, because I will not eat leaven this week. However, my boss sat right across from me and ate salad with croutons as well as clam chowder -- leaven and non-kosher sea food. He looked at his food and saw is as fine food; I looked at it and saw food I would not eat. Yet he, a pastor, is a believer. I did not tell him not to eat his choices, even though to put the same foos in front of me would have appeared to me to be evil. You wrote that "I do believe it is a dangerous situation, but I would never judge anyone who has sought the Lord and came to a decision. Gotcha!