I'm of the opinion that it's a good idea not to do unto others what I don't like being done unto me. Revolutionary, I know, but it's my opinion and I'm welcome to it. You know that guy who sits in every meeting drumming his fingers on the table? Or that coworker who whistles tunelessly and drives you up a wall? Or the kid who sits behind you in church kicking the back of your seat? Or the aunt who cannot seem to tell a story without loading it with mindless and quite useless details? You know, all those people who don't seem to mind at all how irritating they can be. Well, I try not to do that. This creates some difficulties, however. Over the years, I've had people comment to me about this or that and I've tried to change what I do because this or that irritates them ... until I end up being completely unable to do almost anything at all because everything seems to irritate someone at some time.
Enter this famous verse from Paul's first epistle to the church of Thessalonica: "Abstain from all appearance of evil" (1 Thess 5:22). I grew up with that verse. I knew people, friends and relatives, who made it their life's goal. They didn't go to movies not because all movies were bad, but because it was possible that you could be coming out of a theater that was playing Bambi and someone driving by may not have realized that last week's R-rated movie had changed and they would think you were doing something wrong. You don't play cards because, even though you were just playing "Go Fish", someone looking on could easily conclude that you were gambling. As a kid I once took a game for a rainy day to school. This game had dice in it that had numbers on them. You rolled these numbered dice and then tried to fit the numbers into math squares -- "__ + __ = __; __ - __ = __", and so on. An educational game. No, no! The game had dice, and even though you knew they weren't gambling dice, onlookers might not know and you could have the appearance of evil.
This whole thing bothered me for years. You see, it's not very likely that you can find anything you can do that will not appear evil to someone. You may join the military to serve your country and be "evil" because you're joining the military or refuse to join the military because joining the military is wrong and be "evil" for refusing to serve your country. You can shop at Macy's and be "evil" for your extravagance or shop at WalMart and be "evil" for supporting an evil way of doing business. You can stand for the truth and be "evil" for being argumentative or keep quiet and be "evil" for not standing. It is very unlikely that you can find anything that someone won't find "evil".
So ... Paul, what are we to do? We can continue to try to meet its requirement but that's impossible. We could throw out the verse, but that's certainly not a good choice. Or, maybe, just maybe, we can figure out what it means.
As it turns out, this isn't as hard as it seems. The Greek word translated "appearance" is eidos. It is, most literally, "form". It references the appearance or shape of something. So what is actually being said here is "Avoid the form of evil." Of course, newer translations have figured this out (so it's not like I thought this up myself). Green's Literal Translation says, "Keep back from every form of evil." The ESV says, "Abstain from every form of evil." The NAS agrees. So does the New King James. So maybe this wasn't such a hard saying after all. The real difficulty occurs when people don't think through what they're reading. "'Avoid all appearance of evil'? How do I do that?" Now if only someone can help me out with this whole avoiding whatever irritates someone because I'm running out of options.
16 comments:
So, if I might ask, what does "form of evil" mean? Is shopping at Walmart a form of evil, because of an unjust economic system it encourages? Is shopping at Macy's a form of evil because of the extravagance?
I went ahead and posted your comment, Dan, simply because it makes me laugh every time you make the suggestion that shopping at Walmart might be evil "because of the unjust economic system it encourages". How about the evils of driving a car because of the unjust economic system it encourages (think about the billions of dollars made by oil companies while everyone else is struggling) and the damage it causes to the environment? I'm pretty sure you've stopped driving, right? In fact, given Capitalism, predicated somewhat on the principle of greed and self-centeredness, I would guess that you might want to avoid that as well for the same reason. I know people that argue that going to the doctor is a "form of evil" because of the lack of faith ("Whatever is not of faith is sin") it requires. And -- viola! -- we're right back to the very thing I was denying. "You must avoid doing whatever anyone at all thinks might possibly be sin ... which turns out to be anything at all."
Or, here, let's turn it around. If denying that the Bible clearly teaches (as we so often claim) that homosexuality is a sin is "a form of evil", wouldn't it be incumbent on you to stop it?
But, look, I don't intend to actually answer your question, nor do I actually expect you to answer mine. I ask them in fun. My point is exactly the opposite of what you're asking. It is not "Do I need to stop doing whatever anyone might think is sin?" but "I need to stop doing what I know to be sin in all the forms I know it to be." So if shopping at Walmart or Macys is sin for you, stop it. If driving a car is sin (and, based on the reasons you offer for Walmart and Macys, I can't imagine how it couldn't be), stop it. I wasn't offering a definition. I was offering a clarification of "appearance of evil".
Except that supporting homosexuality goes beyond the form of evil...so go ahead and stop that one. Shop at Walmart instead...
I'm often told mocking comments such as that which Dan has just posted is evil.
Marshall, I didn't detect any "mocking" in Dan's comment. I think he was serious.
The real question is, if a homosexual shops at walmart, is he absolved of the sin of shopping there becasue he is a homosexual?
I don't know. That would appear to be evil, so ...
Yes, Stan, I was serious.
YOU were the one who mentioned the Walmart/Macy ideas. I merely used your examples. (I'm not suggesting right now that shopping at Walmart or Macy's is a "form of evil," I was merely asking for clarification of your conclusion.)
Which you've provided. Your answer, as I understand it, is "Don't do those things that you know (think) to be evil."
I agree with your conclusion. I also agree with your conclusion that it is ridiculous to try to avoid "the appearance of evil" as that could be an endless job.
We agree. No big deal. As I have repeatedly noted, I expect we agree on far more things than we disagree upon.
Thanks.
Stan,
Unless you're just funnin' me, what I meant was that should I have mocked Dan's comment, THAT would be considered a great evil by some, especially for someone like myself who claims to be a Christian cuz ya know, we're supposed to be perfect and tolerate all manner of nonsense with love and good humor, which my mockery always is.
BTW, I meant to comment on this bit:
"...Capitalism, predicated somewhat on the principle of greed and self-centeredness..."
This sounds like something DT and his friends would say. Did you do that on purpose? The worst one could say is that it is predicated on the principle of self-advancement, which is distinctively different than being self-centered. But greed exists equally in every economic system, and one could easily make that case that it is more true of the socialists who are greedy for other people's money.
Just sayin'.
For the record, I don't think that shopping at WalMart (or Macy's) is evil. I don't think driving a car is sinful.
I think there is enough reason to consider such practices less than helpful and, indeed, physically and societally harmful (along with some positive effects) that we ought to be prudent about engaging such activity. In all things, moderation, as somebody once said.
As a rule, I STRIVE to walk/bike places. I STRIVE to avoid shopping at big companies and shop, instead, at local stores as I think these are the most healthy societally, economically and physically.
But shopping at WM sinful? No, I'm not prepared to say that. Again, I was just using your given examples.
Thanks for the clarification, Marshall. And, for the record, when you said that some consider it evil to make mocking comments, I fully agreed.
Oh, and on the thing about capitalism (in the comments) as well as shopping at Macy's or Walmart (in the post), these were both examples of how others think about these things ... not me.
Dan, my given examples were examples of how some might think of shopping at Macy's or Walmart. (The Walmart example actually came from you.) I chose Macy's and Walmart, however, because one is expensive and one is cheap, trying to demonstrate that "paying a lot or paying a little can both be considered an appearance of evil".
(By the way, if the concern is "extravagance" and it costs more to shop at local businesses than at Walmart, isn't that extravagant? Again, a rhetorical question, especially since you've already stated that shopping at Walmart (or Macy's) is not a sin in your book.)
(Oh, and I never suggested you thought driving a car was sinful. I suggested it might be based on a possible thinking pattern.)
Hey, Marshall, I just re-read your original comment and found my problem. You said, "I'm often told mocking comments such as that which Dan has just posted is evil." I read "mocking comments" as a descriptive of Dan's remark rather than a description of what you might do next. That is, I read it to say that Dan's was a "mocking comment" rather than what you intended ... that to mock his comment would be evil. I got it now. I'm clear. Thanks.
IS there any YES or NO answers here?
I have found some relief
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/whatever-is-not-from-faith-is-sin
The "appearance of evil" is not the problem. Evil in all its forms is. And Scripture says two (overarching) things on this.
1. Whatever is not of faith is sin.
2. Do all you do to the glory of God.
The question, "Does it look like evil?", then, is not the question. And there is a "yes" or "no" answer. It's just not always as plain as we'd like it to be.
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