Abstain from all appearance of evil. 1 Thessalonians 5:22
My uncle and I had feasted on big ears of corn for supper, and had cleaned up the dishes. My uncle went into the living room, stretched out on a couch, and immersed himself in an interesting book. Left to myself, I, as a 13-year-old youngster, decided to make something out of one of the corn cobs. I cut a sizable chunk of the cob, hollowed out part of it, bored a hole into the side of it, and inserted a piece of goldenrod stem. So, I took my new corn cob pipe, and, pretending I was puffing on it, took it in to show my uncle. He gave me a baleful look over the top of his glasses, and with a sly grin, quoted Proverbs 14:9: Fools make a mock at sin. And he returned to his book, while I stood there feeling foolish. And well I should have. There is nothing funny about pretending to do things that are wrong. And, as our text declares, there is nothing funny about doing anything that gives anybody the idea that we are involved in evil deeds.
A favourite quotation of former prime minister John Diefenbaker was, ‘I have sometimes been wrong, but I have never been on the side of wrong’. As Christians, we are very aware that we often make mistakes. And we sometimes make mistakes that are enbarrassing and awkward. Sometimes we look bad, through no fault of our own. That is not what our text is referring to. Like Mr. Diefenbaker, we would never take sides with anything illegal or immoral. But are we so careful to avoid things that, while neither illegal nor immoral, are not appropriate for people who name the name of Christ? Don’t be too sure that you are innocent in this department.
I remember speaking with a man who lived next door to a Christian. As he spoke of his neighbour, the man remarked, ‘He’s a real Christian, alright. He won’t even mow his lawn on Sunday’. We might argue whether it is appropriate to do such chores as mowing a lawn on the Lord’s Day. But the world notices those things, even as it sets a higher standard for professing Christians than it does for others. And honouring the Lord’s Day might open a door for witnessing to others. There are other things that we can do in our lives to show the world that we do not run with them to the same excess of riot. Obvious things such as not smoking or drinking, not partying into the wee hours, are seen by others as abstaining from all appearance of evil.
We need to be careful that we are not seen in inappropriate places, such as in establishments whose primary business is the sale of alcohol. We need to be careful of our language, that we don’t use the gutter talk of the world, or even the minced oaths that slip so easily from our lips if we are not careful. We need to be honest to a fault in all of our business transactions. We need to be kind and fair to everybody we encounter in every area of our life. We needs to dress in a way that does not give anyone the wrong idea about our morals.
We don’t need to be involved in evil to appear evil. Let us be careful not to give anybody any excuse to criticize us or our Lord because of our appearance. -Jim MacIntosh