The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:22, “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” Like it or not once you have identified yourself as a Christian to people, they begin watching you, especially those who are against Christianity. It is very easy for us to assume they are watching to see if we are going to slip up and fall into sin, thereby giving them an excuse to avoid becoming a Christian and labeling you as a hypocrite. However, I think that most people just want to see a genuine person, especially those who claim to be Christians. We can all think of countless of examples of people who say they are Christian but then make no attempt at following Christ’s example. I truly believe the unsaved are not rooting for Christians to fail, I believe they just want to see something genuine. And that is why as a Christian we must be careful in how we live our life.
The context of 1 Thessalonians 5:22 is Paul telling Christians in Thessalonica to live a godly life because the return of Christ could be at any moment. The word “abstain” means to refrain from or to completely avoid. The key word to this verse however is the word “appearance.” Paul was instructing the Christians in Thessalonica as well as us to not only avoid evil itself, but anything that could be construed or misconstrued as evil as well. Sometimes what you do is not necessarily wrong, but it doesn’t look good to those watching you or it causes another Christian to stumble in their walk with Christ. If it doesn’t pass the “eye” test or it causes a brother or a sister to stumble then even if it is not forbidden in Scripture, we as Christians have no business doing it. A simple rule of thumb is, if I have to ask should I, then I shouldn’t. That is not another burden or unnecessary restriction for a Christian. Rather because we love God and we love others and want to see as many as possible come to faith in Christ, we willingly give up the right to do certain things if there is a chance it could keep others from coming to faith in Christ. We must realize as Christians that the devil desires us to sin, not so that he can laugh at us, but so that he can try and keep others from coming to Christ. Therefore, be careful in how you live, because even if you don’t see them, they are watching!
By His grace and through His strength may we live for Him!
It seems living a Christian life in front of others is a whole lot easier if we first in private with God humble our selves realize if we’re not part of the solution we may be part of the problem……..This takes a lot of self searching ……I fear some of us think ourselves above searching our own hearts, I pray the log be taken out of our own eyes first that we may see clearly, and then start with forgiveness to ALL those we feel wronged us next come along side our brothers and sisters IN LOVE. This action will speak volumes to those watching US.
Barbara,
Thank you for your comment. If we are honest, we are more the problem more times than we are the solution.