Evil: Off-Limits

In 1 Thessalonians 5:22, the Apostle Paul warns believers: "Avoid every kind of evil." Note these alternate renderings: "Abstain from all appearance of evil" (KJV); "Abstain from every form of evil" (NASB); "Steer clear of evil in any form" (Phillips).

Obviously, there were some within the Thessalonian fellowship who either had not broken completely with sin since their conversion to Christ or, who had fallen back into some of their former evil habits. Their founding spiritual father admonishes them: “Don't tolerate any form of evil in your life!”

Too often forms of evil are present in the life of the believer. And sadly enough--we get comfortable with it; we get used to it. The late, inimitable Vance Havner used to tell the story about how he and a friend once entered a semi-dark Chicago restaurant. Havner says, "I stumbled into the dimly-lit cavern, fumbled for a chair, and mumbled that I needed a flashlight in order to read the menu. . . . Gradually, however, I began to make out objects a little more clearly. My host said, 'Funny, isn't it how we get used to the dark?'" Havner went on to observe that getting used to moral evil in one's life is not a "funny" matter to God, nor should it be to the Christian.

It is important to understand what this text does and does not say. D. Edmond Hiebert correctly observes: "the rendering 'all appearance of evil' (KJV) must not be interpreted to mean that they are to avoid that which looks wicked to those who see it, although it may not be so. The term does not denote a semblance as opposed to reality. . . . While believers should abstain from actions which will knowingly offend others, it is not always possible to abstain from everything which may appear evil to a narrow and foolish judgment. In contemporary Greek usage the term form was also used to mean 'sort, kind, species.' This gives the best meaning here."

The Lord is saying to every believer: Regardless of the form evil may take, you must avoid it at all cost! Whether the evil is popularly accepted, whether it is entertained in private or practiced in public--evil is off-limits to the believer.

We’re living in a morally twisted age; there’s a great deal of confusion as to what is evil. But earnest Christians who are accustomed to listen to the voice of the Shepherd, “have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil” (Heb. 5:14b). The Holy Spirit has written Psalm 97:10 upon their hearts: “Let those who love the Lord hate evil.”

And what about you, my fellow Christian? Is it your habit “to avoid every kind of evil”? Or are you allowing the world to sqeeze you into its own mold? Think about it.