Appearance of evil?

Have you ever looked at what 1 Thessalonians 5:22 says? Have you ever actually studied what that means? Yeah we know that we shouldn't look like we are doing the wrong thing, but how far should this go? And what about us as Christians? What should we point out when we see other people doing stuff?

I know that my parents were always telling me to be careful who I hang around with and who I was associated with. That made sense. But what about when I invited people home or was over at their house? How far does appearance of evil go?

First I think it is important to define what evil is. We now view that word as such a bad word reserved for only the worse offenses but what did God mean by evil when he put it in the Bible. James 2:10 talks about how if you keep the whole law but mess up on one point you are guilty of all. So if you lied, you were also as guilty as one who murders. That definitely puts evil in a whole new light doesn't it?

Jesus says in Matthew 12:35 "A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. God doesn't put a line on what is kinda bad, bad, really bad, semi-evil, evil, and really evil. That would be us humans trying to make our sin not look as bad as the next person's. So I go back to my original question...What does appearance of evil mean?

Out of my experience I can tell you that you have to be careful what you do. People will view you according to your actions. So if I was hanging with people who drank, I was considered a drinker. If I hung out with people who smoked or did drugs, I was someone who did that too. If someone hangs out with the goodie-goodies or the smart kids then they are associated with them even if they aren't one.

So what about between guys and girls? Let's take a trip back to high school for a minute. Trust me I don't want to go back either, but hey there is a reason. Think about the kids in your school who were dating. Which ones were labeled the good kids, the bad kids, the sluts, the "man-whores" (for lack of a better term)? Why were they labeled this way? Because they had the appearance of those names. A girl was labeled a slut if she had a different boyfriend on a regular basis, was found kissing her boyfriends in the hall, went to parties and was seen going upstairs, dressed provocatively, or was dating a guy known to take advantage of his girlfriends. If you were a guy in my high school, you more than likely bragged about how many girls you had sex with to your buddies. That was a sign of social status.

Things aren't so different today. Kids are dressing skimpier, they are bombarded by more sexual influences and they have lower moral standards overall. So how does a person who is a Christian abstain from the appearance of evil in today's society. I think we have to head back to the old fashioned values of what a man and a woman should do.

Proverbs 31:30 puts it clearly for a woman. "Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised." It says in verse 31 that "her own works praise her in the gate." This means that all her actions are known by everyone and they are worthy of praise on their own merit. She wasn't trying to fit in. She followed God and was known for it.

I Corinthians 8:3 says "But if any man love God, the same is known of him." Just like the woman, a man is to put God first and not look to impress his friends. This means following God's laws and wanting to stay pure in all aspects of his life so that he can be well known for being a Godly man.

1 Timothy 4:12 "Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in spirit, in faith, and in purity. I love this verse because it states clearly where we need to be from day one. As children, teenagers, on so forth. I wish I could say that no one could despise my youth, but let me honest, I despise my youth because I lived my life and not God's life through me. I did things that will haunt me the rest of my life. The biggest regret I have is not abstaining from the appearance of evil because had I of abstained (not hung out with the kids that slept around, not dated guys who were known for sleeping around, not putting myself in positions where sex was so easily accessible, or giving the guy signals so that he would be impressed with me) from the appearance of sin, I would not have ended up in the positions I was in and I would have been more content with my life because I wouldn't have skeletons in my closet.

As a Christian now and knowing what God's Word say, I have no problem letting it be known when I am not happy with something going on. Not because I am not happy about it, but because God's Word says it is wrong.

Parents, letting your daughter/son go into parts of the house where they can not be monitored is setting them up for failure. You think they won't do something, but they will. Letting your child go to friend's houses that you don't know their parents or where you know they don't believe in the same things you do, your setting your child up for failure. Letting your child watch shows that don't hold up to God's standards or watching them yourselves, appearance of evil. The big question is "What kind of an example are you to your child?"

Teenager/Young person, do you go to the parties where you know God wouldn't approve. What about how you behave with your boyfriend/girlfriend? Do you find yourself in positions where you are alone together for long periods of time? What about the things you watch? Are they violent, sexual, have a ton of language? What kind of influence are you to your friends? Your siblings?

It boils down to the actions you do are what you are about. If you follow God's laws in private, you will follow them in public. If you do your own thing in private, you will do the same in public and visa versa. What is in the heart will come out. Evil is plain and simple sin of any kind. Sin is plain and simple anything that God doesn't approve of whether it is in your heart, mind, or out in the open for everyone to see.

So parent the next time you let your child's "significant other" sleep at your house or allow them to be back in their room by themselves know that you are contributing to the appearance of evil by allowing them to appear to be having sex or in a sexual position. You are telling your child that you are okay with them having sex. The next time you are watching that movie that has nude scenes or is extremely violent know that you are appearing to sin. If you are talking to that coworker of the opposite sex about things you should be talking to your spouse about, you are appearing to sin.

Teenager/Young person the next time you are cuddled up with your "significant other" in the bedroom, couch, movie theater, etc you are appearing to sin. When you are at the parties with drinking, smoking, drugs, sex, etc. you are appearing to sin. When you watch that movie with nudity, violence, language, etc you are appearing to sin.

And when you appear to sin, you are only a step away from actually sinning. The appearance of evil is the step before actually doing it if you don't do something to stop the appearance.

Superstitions aren't Christian

So with the the start of the New Year many people believe you can't clean or cook on New Years Day or that's what you will be doing the rest of the year. Or that if you eat black-eyed peas and greens you will have money and health for the New Year. But do these really happen and are we to even believe in superstitions?

How many people do you know that carry around a rabbits foot or get nervous when a black cat runs across their path? What about walking under ladders or breaking mirrors? What about unlucky 13 or the dreaded 666? Do any of these have power in our lives as Christians or are we focusing on the wrong thing?

Believe it or not superstitions are a tool of the devil. He tries to get us to allow other things in our lives to have power over us. We think they are all in fun, but what happens when we start truly believing these things? I am just as guilty as the next person to say good luck or to be a little nervous when a mirror breaks, but I have to remember where my strength and good fortune come from. It isn't from anything I do, but what Christ does for me and in my life.

Did you know that superstitions are a form of idolatry? Did I get your attention? It is. Idolatry is simply allowing anything other than the one true God to have control over you. And needless to say the Bible speaks extensively against idolatry. The Bible also speaks against giving an ear to people who speak of these superstitions. They are instruments of the devil to get your focus on something other than God.

I know your sitting there saying "I am not being used by the devil!" Have you stopped to think about the people you have influenced with that rabbits foot or because you wouldn't let them walk under a ladder. It's the same as if you shared a drink with them and they became alcoholics. It all ties together as becoming a stumbling block for someone else. Deuteronomy 13:1-4 talks about not following people who tell you one thing even if it comes true if it isn't of the word of God. We are to worship God with our whole hearts and minds and follow His law and teaching.

So should we really give 666 as much power as people do? Should we buy something else if the register rings up that number? The answer is simply no! That number has no power over us unless we give it power over us. We as Christians have no need of fearing that number or anything other number. If something good happens it isn't because of luck it is because of God's graciousness. If something bad happens it isn't because of bad luck or because we walked under a ladder or broke a mirror or because a cat walked across our path. It is simply because bad things happen because there is sin in this world or God is testing our faith to show us where our hearts really are.

Now let's be honest some things are just common sense. You don't walk under ladders because you never know when something might fall off the ladder and you don't break a mirror simply because you shouldn't break anything made of glass considering we all know what it is like to try to clean up broken glass!

The reason superstitions exist is simply because Satan wants our focus on something other than the one true living God. He wants us to give power to other things so that when good things happen we think of what good luck we have and not the great things God has done for us in this life. And when bad happens its because God wants to mend the broken pieces of our lives and not because we broke a mirror or walked under a ladder or heaven forbid a black cat should walk across our path.

So collards don't give you more money, nor black-eyed peas give more health. Ladders can't cause bad things to happen nor broken mirrors or black cats. 666 and 13 are completely harmless because these are powerless. They are inanimate objects. It can't have power over you or anything else!