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Appearance of evil


Alex Summers

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In an effort not to totally derail the yoga thread I thought it would be best to start a new thread.

A lot was said about avoiding the appearance of evil. How far should this go into the daily decisions we make?

If having dinner with a person other than your spouse is wrong, what wouldn't be?

Should I have Dish Network? That dish on my roof lets everyone know I have it and there are some raunchy shows I might be watching, i wouldn't want to give the neighbors an appearance of evil.

Can a person have a glass of wine or a beer with dinner at a restaurant? Who knows what people might think.

Does having a nice house and nice car give the appearance of greed? What will those who are less fortunate than myself think?

If we are going to base our actions on what others might think, where does it end?

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Guest shiloh357

To clarify, the issue isn't having dinner with someone who isn't your spouse...   It  is having dinner alone with a married member of the opposite sex that is the problem.  That doesn't compare with owning dish.  That is a completely fallacious comparison.

 

We are to avoid the appearance of evil, having the appearance if impropriety.   We are not talking about cars our or houses.   Avoid the very appearance of evil means that there should be nothing in our lifestyle that appears to compromise our faith, like going to bars, or browsing the porn section of the movie rental place, even you have no intention of buying anything, or laughing at dirty jokes or being willing to stand and listen to a dirty or ethnic joke.

 

Supporting sinful causes would be another area, as well such as, abortion, gay marriage, etc. 

 

It is not about basing our actions merely on what others think, that is part of it.  It is more about preserving our witness with a view toward our accountability before God.  None of us are perfect, but  even so, we should not view our liberty in Christ  as an opportunity to compromise our faith by engaging in questionable behavior especially when those around us know we are believers and sinful activities reflect on our faith and our God.

 

What others think to some degree is important particularly when our sinful enterprises provide them with enablers to re-enforce their reasons for rejecting Christ.

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Who gets to decide what "compromises my faith"?

Why does having dinner with a married member of the opposite sex do it but having Dish with shows filled with sex and violence does not?

Why does walking into a bar do it but driving a Lexis or Porsche does not?

It seems it comes down to personal likes and dislikes.

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Guest shiloh357

Alex, those questions are just silly.   Having a TV period, by the logic of your questions would be immoral.   Having Dish does not compromise your faith.  Subscribing to porn on TV or the Internet does. 

 

The Bible should be the plumline on what compromises our faith, but you have thrown that standard out the window.

 

How does having  Porsche mean one has compromised your faith?   Wealth doesn't indicate greed.   There are poor people who are greedy and materialistic too.  Greed is a matter of the heart and the degree of importance you place on yourself at someone else's expense.    If I drive a Porsche and I earned the money in an honest way to be able to afford a Porsche, there is nothing about that says I am greedy.

 

It doesn't come down to likes and dislikes.   It comes down to common sense and intellectual honesty.  

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I think it comes down to asking yourself would I be happy to see or let Jesus hear what we are doing at that moment. If not then what you are doing is wrong.

It is not what we do but how others who are not Christians see us and think, "Why do I need Jesus, they are no better than I am." and our walk as Christians suffers. It is not the car we drive...it's where we go. It's not the satellite we have but what we watch. It's not the yoga exercises it's the yoga meditation that leads to trouble, it's not clothes but the kind you choose and it's not friends but the kind of friends and where they go that taints you.

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I agree the questions are silly, but I also think the things you point to as giving the appearance of evil are silly.

Somehow in your mind having dinner with a married spouse of the opposite sex is bad and should be avoided. I find that to be just as silly as the Dish example I gave. Which has the greatest potential to lead you to sin...a friendly dinner or a TV with 100 channels of sex and nudity?

To you just the act of walking into a bar is bad becaue of the appearance, yet an expensive car gives no bad appearance, seems like a double standard to me.

If the chance for sin or the appearance of sin is your driving force it seems to me that you pick and choose, again based upon personal preference.

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Guest shiloh357

Having Dish and eating dinner with member of the opposite sex are not comparable.  Eating dinner alone with a member of the opposite raises moral questions that having Dish doesn't.   Subscribing to porn on Dish WOULD be more comparable.

 

When you are out with a member of the opposite sex eating dinner alone together it will raise question marks and suspicions and it doesn't matter what your intentions are.  It is about the appearance.    No one readily assumes that anyone has Dish, or the Internet, because they want to watch XXX movies or websites.   So your comparison simply doesn't hold water.

 

Owning an expensive car and frequenting a bar are not also not comparable.  Those are two completely dissimilar things.   Any thinking person can see that.   You are trying trump up things because you don't really have a case to make.  There is no doublestandard.   You ought to look that word up, 'cause you obviously don't now what it means.

 

Actually it all depends on how important your relationship with God is to you.   If God is just a footnote in your life, if he is just someone you tip your hat to on Sunday, then you probably would not be able to see why  giving the appearance of evil isn't very important to you.    You will protect the relationships you value.

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Blessings Alex

    WE must also remember that we are seeking Gods approval ,not mans

 

 

King James Bible
For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.          Galatians 1:10

So,it is not that we are hoping that others approve of what we do but through their eyes ,what do they see? What can they fault you with ,honestly? Is it wrong to have satellite TV,of course not,,,,,,they cannot know what we are watching.Can anyone really fault you for driving a Mazzerati,of course not.....they do not know by what means it was acquired.When considering "the appearances of evil"it is not a matter of likes & dislikes,it is a matter of having some common sense,,,,,,,,,,,,,All one has to do is ask oneself"Does this in any way tarnish the Name of Jesus?" ,"Is my behavior fitting for a child of the Most High God?", 

      I always try to remember that I would hope others would look at me & say" Why does she always look so happy?" ....."Why does she not repay evil with evil?",  "I wish I was always smiling?'           It is more about those "good fruits"  and people should see someone different than "the world",,,,,be Godly person,,,,,,if someone is going to judge me by the car I drive or the clothes I wear then that is their own foolish thinking & has nothing to do with me,,,,,,,,,,,,,I am accountable for my words & my actions,,,,,,,that should reflect who I am in Christ & give Glory to God,,,,,,,,,,                                                        With love-in Christ,Kwik

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Alex in your walk with the Lord ,He will show you what He wants you to do...when I became a born again Christian God changed me slowly little by little  and convicted me of certain things I never thought could be wrong.

If you are in doubt just ask God and He will give you the answer..

I don't as a rule go by people's opinion but by the word of God,if He convicts you then it's wrong and what's wrong for you might not be for somebody else or the other way around...God will let you know.

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Shiloh: In trying to determine on what basis you base the concept that eating out with a married member of the opposite sex would raise issues while Dish would not and all I can come to is it must be a generational thing. Until I read this here it never entered my mind. Talking with my friends they didn't understanding it either, but my parents think like you do. All of my friends agreed that they would assume the worst about TV before the dinner thing.

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