Bad Company (Not the Band)

Growing up I heard this verse over and over again. "Bad company corrupts good morals" (1 Cor 15:33). Most reasonable people will nod and agree, even if they aren't Christians. You tend to be like those you tend to be around. All well and good. However, if you look at the verse, there's something odd.

Paul throws this admonition in the middle of chapter 15 of his first letter to the church at Corinth. Chapter 15 is discussing the reality and importance of the Resurrection. So why does Paul stick a warning regarding who you hang with in the middle of all this? The sentence makes sense on its own, but it doesn't seem to relate at all to the topic at hand. Did Paul just make his own rabbit trail or something? Let's take a look.

First, the word there for "company" isn't clearly "company" in Greek. The word is ὁμιλία -- homilia -- and can mean company or conversation. (You can see the connection to our "homily.") So some translators prefer "Bad communication corrupts good morals." The King James goes with "evil communications," for instance. All of the older translations I found agree. So to be most correct, it would seem, the idea is "The evil that your associations communicate to you will corrupt good morals."

So how does this relate to the topic he was in? Well, Paul started with "We all know and believe in Christ's Resurrection" (1 Cor 15:1-11) and went on to "So how is it that some of you say there is no resurrection?" (1 Cor 15:12) and follows their own logic to its absurd and unacceptable conclusions (1 Cor 15:12-19). In verse 33, then, he offers some advice -- "Be not deceived ..." and that phrase we've been looking at. That is, "Don't be deceived by those people who are telling you there is no resurrection." Or any other false doctrines. You can see this because his very next statement is "Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame" (1 Cor 15:34). In other words, "Think it through, brothers and sisters. Use the minds God has given you. Follow the truth and you won't be sinning. You know better than this."

It's very relevant today. We have people all around us spouting "truths" -- people we trust. Only the "truths" they spout are contradictory, especially to Scripture. In the world you have people saying things like, "We won't accept your kind around here because we're very inclusive." Use your head. That's just foolish. (Paul's term was ἄφρων -- aphrōn -- meaning "mindless." See 1 Cor 15:36.) And we do it regularly. We listen to people without engaging our brains and end up following falsehoods. We listen, according to Paul, to people who "have no knowledge of God" telling us about God. Stop it! It is all around us, within and without. So guard yourselves in those to whom you listen. If they are irrational and inconsistent with Scripture, you should see that and move on. Like "There is no resurrection." See the contradiction, reject it, and move on.