DIGGING DEEP NO. 1019 January 16, 2024 PEOPLE DON’T SEE YOUR HEART- THEY SEE YOUR ACTIONS. ABSTAIN FROM ALL APPEARANCE OF EVIL 1 Thessalonians 5:22

A senior pastor of a Baptist church was nicknamed ‘hard and furious’ by his congregation. He didn’t make light of his teachings when he taught them the rules of holy living. He insisted every member lived by those rules and one of those rules was the importance of abstaining from all appearances of evil. 1 Thess. 5:22. He often said “People don’t see your heart – they see your actions….

One of the newly ordained deacons said pastor’s rules, are a little overboard. For instance, men on the pastoral staff could not meet alone with members of the opposite sex, counsel a woman alone behind closed doors, or ride alone in a car with a woman other than one’s wife. He said these types of rules made life very inconvenient. But the pastor was very strong on never doing anything that gave a wrong impression or that opened a door for criticism or accusation.

Many pastors and clergy have come under serious accusations of inappropriate behavior. The behavior was sometimes real and at other times imagined, but the opportunity for accusation was almost always the result of carelessness in keeping certain boundaries. We all agree wholeheartedly that there is great wisdom in adhering to restrictions like the ones the senior pastor required for his church. By taking this cautious approach, men and women of God can steer clear of insinuations and accusations. This, however, should apply not only to ministers of the Gospel but to every believer who cares about the integrity of his or her witness.

1Thessalonians 5:22 is the basis for this rule. In this verse, the apostle Paul wrote, “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” Today I would like for us to take a deeper look to see what we can learn from this key verse in the Word of God.

Paul began by saying, “Abstain.…” The word “abstain” in other translations could also mean to deliberately withdraw from; to stay away from; to put distance between oneself and something else; or to intentionally abstain. The word is also used in First Peter 2:11, where Peter wrote, “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.” In this case, the word “abstain” means to deliberately refrain from something; hence, it could be translated, as “…I urge you to refrain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.” The implication is that believers should put distance between themselves and the temptations of the flesh and soul.

There are other examples of the word in the New Testament that also demonstrate how this word depicts some type of distance between objects. For example:

• In Luke 7:6, the word is used to describe the physical distance between Jesus and the house of the centurion.
• In Matthew 15:8 and Mark 7:6, the word is used to describe human hearts that are hardened and therefore distant and far from God.
• In Acts 15:20, the word is used when James, the leader of the Jerusalem church, gave instructions that the new Gentile believers should abstain from food offered to idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals, and from the consumption of raw blood. In that verse, is so strong that it makes a demand on the new Gentile believers to withdraw from and permanently terminate their contact with these things. It is a command to refrain, desist, discontinue, and terminate any further contact with them, and it calls for a permanent halt to the practice of allowing such contact.

Keeping this in mind, we know that when Paul told us, “Abstain from all appearance of evil,” he was strongly urging you and me to put distance between ourselves and any appearance of evil. This word demands that we do not allow even the smallest hint of inappropriate behavior or any act that could be misinterpreted or viewed as being immoral or unethical. There is no doubt about it — the word calls for extreme caution and vigilance.

Paul intended to place a very strong emphasis on this point. By adding the word appearance, it makes the point abundantly clear that believers should not only put distance between themselves and what is obviously evil, but they must also put a great deal of distance between themselves and whatever fits this description, even in appearance.

Paul was telling us, “It doesn’t matter what you think or what you know to be true; what matters is what appears to be true in the eyes of others.” Even if there is a small chance that someone may mistake your actions as evil or if what you do even resembles something evil or wrong, you need to stay as far away from it as you possibly can.

What makes this even more serious is the fact that the word “evil, is often used to describe actions that are ultimately damaging to a person’s testimony and reputation  Deuteronomy 22:14. There is no doubt that Paul was telling us that we must do everything in our ability to put a lot of distance between ourselves and anything that would bring harm or injury to our reputation or to our godly witness in front of other people.

Think about it! How many people do you know who did something that they “thought” was all right to do — but other people saw their action and misinterpreted it, and as a result, it stained their reputation?

This principle of refraining from every appearance of evil isn’t pertinent only to leaders in the church. It applies to every believer who wants to maintain a godly reputation. The fact is, if your testimony in the eyes of others is important to you, you must decide to withdraw from, refrain from, desist from, discontinue, and permanently terminate any action that gives the appearance of evil. Although this may require a new set of rules for your life, you will be taking vital steps toward preserving your testimony and godly reputation.

How much is your reputation — and the reputation of the Holy One you represent — worth to you? If you want to maintain a good name and testimony in front of others, you must refrain from any action, language, or contact that gives the appearance of evil. And this is not just what we think, or suggest, — it is the commandment of God found in First Thessalonians 5:22.

Now that we understand this verse, we can interpret First Thessalonians 5:22 to read:

“You need to terminate contact with any place, action, language, or relationship that gives people the impression that you are doing something wrong. It doesn’t matter what you think is acceptable; what matters is what other people perceive. So put a great deal of distance between yourself and anything you are doing that people could misinterpret and that could thereby stain your reputation.”

So many people have forfeited their testimony because they didn’t use their heads and think about how their actions might be perceived by others! Perception is often reality in the eye of the beholder.

Even if you know that you’re doing nothing wrong at all, the fact remains that people don’t see your heart — they see your actions. If they see you do something that appears immoral or unethical, you will likely be judged by what they perceive.

If our highest desire is to glorify Jesus in this life in all we say and do, then our hearts will agree with what Paul says in this verse — that it’s always best to “abstain from all appearance of evil” because we are His representatives on this earth!