Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
"Abstain from all appearance of evil."
- Paul, in 1Thess.
5:22
Paul was right, of course, when he warned the children of God to avoid the appearance of evil. If we appear to be evil, men will not receive our testimonies of the grace of God. This is the reason Paul cautioned the saints to avoid being seen as companions of other children of God who have fallen away from righteousness. If the upright keep company with those who live ungodly lives, then people looking on will assume that we are living the same kind of ungodly lives as our backslidden companions. So, one way we can avoid "the appearance of evil" is to avoid keeping company with brothers who are doing evil.
I occasionally caution believers to avoid the mere "appearance of good." There are certain religious acts that people can perform and certain holy-sounding phrases that they can say that make them seem devoted to Christ but actually mean nothing. The ceremonies and cliches of Christianity are prime examples. It is a temptation for the children of God to partake in Christianity's religious activities as a substitute for being sincerely devoted to the Lord. Christianity offers men an appearance of good instead of the very goodness of God, and this is the principal "appearance of good" that I warn the saints to avoid. Men will congratulate you for being a "good Christian", but they will despise you for being good in God's sight. They will praise you for playing a role in their religion, but they will curse you if you are full of the power and light of the Lord. They will engrave your name in stone if you give them enough money for their false doctrines and empty rituals, but they will blot your name from their membership rolls if you do the will of God instead of merely talking about it.
Jesus said, "Seek, and ye shall find; ask, and it shall be given; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." If you only seek God, men will honor you, but if you find Him, they will avoid your company. If you merely ask, they will respect you, but if you receive what God gives in response to prayer, they will treat you with contempt. If you spend all your time knocking, men will offer you exalted titles and positions, but if you enter through the door that Jesus opens, they will say you are a member of a cult and do everything in their power to make you look like a fool. Carnal men revere the appearance of good, not the substance of it, and the only people who do not understand what I am saying are people who love the appearance of good.
We are all weak and in need of the power of God. The flesh loves the appearance of good more than it loves God, and unless the desires of our flesh are brought under subjection to Christ, every one of us will be content to maintain a mere appearance of good. Pray, my friends, not to fall into the trap of judging ourselves by what we seem to be to others, but to love God sincerely from a pure heart, no matter what others think we are.
In the matter of the appearance of evil, our choice is this: it is either "the pleasures of sin for a season" or the way of holiness. In the matter of the appearance of good, our choice is this: it is either Christianity or Christ.