For several years now
I've enjoyed following bluetick hounds in pursuit of the wily raccoon. For
me, there's something very exhilarating about the full-throated bawl of a
flop‑eared hound beneath a big Texas moon. There's an old saying among hound
men that's always intrigued me. Veteran handlers are fond of saying, "You'll have whatever kind of dog you'll put up with."
In dog talk that means
if you'll put up with a hound that runs deer, guess what you'll have before
long? That's right—a deer running hound. If you'll tolerate a dog that
fights at the tree, that's what you'll eventually own—a growly,
tree‑fighting dog. Whatever you'll tolerate is what you'll eventually have.
I've seen too many examples which prove this saying to doubt its
truthfulness.
The same principle
applies to the religious realm as well. Stated simply, whatever sin we
tolerate becomes a part of us. Sin has a powerful, corrupting influence.
Give it time and opportunity, and sin will invade every part of a
Christian's life. The ultimate consequence of sin is spiritual death
(Ezek. 18:20, I Cor. 15:56).
Sin separates us from God; sin brings us under bondage to Satan. The
Christian must war against sin at every turn!
Clearly, those
first‑century preachers did everything within their power to root out sin.
For example, when the Judaizing teachers crept in among the Galatian
brethren and attempted to bind circumcision as a religious requirement, Paul
wrote, ". . . we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so
that the truth of the gospel might remain with you" (Gal. 2:5,
NASB).
Paul realized the danger of false teachers and the sin they bring with them!
Furthermore, he admonished the Corinthian brethren to be on guard against
sin: "Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong"
(I Cor. 16: 13).
From a congregational
standpoint, this means that we must ever be vigilant against the pervasive
nature of sin. Remember, whatever sin we tolerate becomes a part of us.
Paul warns the brethren about this very danger in I Cor. 5. As he
addresses the problem of the man who had his father's wife, he writes in v.
6: "Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump
of dough?" Don't you realize, Paul is
saying, that once the yeast of sin infiltrates the congregation that it
will spread throughout? Don't you realize that sin which is tolerated has a
corrupting influence on all the members?
Those who have been
members of the Lord's body for any length of time have seen the truth of
Paul's inspired warning. Once a congregation begins to care more for
tolerance than it does for truth, it has taken the first step down the
slippery slope of apostasy.
Usually sin creeps into
a congregation gradually, almost imperceptibly. Perhaps it starts with a
preacher who decides to ignore Paul's example in Acts
20:27
of preaching "all the counsel of God" and decides to steer clear of the
"touchy subjects." Or maybe it begins by looking the other way when a couple
we're fond of continues to live in a clearly unscriptural marriage. Or
perhaps it starts when a false teacher first spreads his doctrine among
members, and we fail to correct him because we don't want to "create a
confrontation." Or maybe there's a brother or sister who's clearly walking
disorderly and we fail to heed God's commandment in II Thess. 3:6 to
withdraw ourselves from that person.
I'm not talking about
going on a witch‑hunt or playing house detective among the brethren. There's
no excuse for plain old nosiness. I'm simply encouraging all of us to
recognize a fundamental Bible principle: Christians by their lives and
by their actions cannot condone or encourage sin. In fact, we are to
do the exact opposite. Eph.
5:11
tells us to . . . have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness,
but rather reprove them" (KJV).
Sin, by its very nature,
tends to grow and spread. The best way I know to illustrate the point is to
think of Bermuda grass. I like to garden, but I don't like Bermuda grass.
Unfortunately, I'm not as diligent as I should be about rooting it out. Ill
see a little sprout of it in one corner of the garden, and Ill think, "I can
always grub that out tomorrow; after all, it's just one little sprout." Of
course, tomorrow never comes, and I fail to reckon with the tough, invasive
roots beneath the soil's surface. And, because Bermuda is a perennial,
creeping grass, it returns stronger year after year.
So it is with sin.
Develop an attitude of tolerance, and it will never leave. In fact, it will
grow stronger over time. The devil guarantees it. Like leaven in that lump
of dough, it spreads throughout. If it had been dealt with decisively, when
it first invaded the local church, it could have been eliminated. Allow it
to grow, as I've done my Bermuda grass, and the task becomes nearly
impossible.
The same is also true
for the individual. We are deluding ourselves if we think one "pet sin" is
all right. "Every man has his vice" is the motto of the worldly individual.
Instead, the Christian remembers I Thess. 5:22: "Abstain from every
form of evil" (NASB). No man can sin with impunity. Sin always bears
consequences. Yes, we can be forgiven of sin when we repent and turn to God.
But sin exacts a price. It scars the soul. It may ruin our chance to
influence others. It may harden our hearts to the next sin. It causes us to
set a bad example for others. It hurts friends and family. It weakens the
congregation because it turns our minds away from God. It grieves our Father
in heaven.
Dan Shipley puts it this
way: ". . . The individual who thinks he can hold on to that one 'little'
sin and be spiritually healthy, is deceiving himself. It will permeate the
soul, separate from God, kill spiritual appetite and interest and encourage
other sins. One sin retained is ten sins gained."
Instead, let us get as
close to Jesus and as far away from sin as we possibly can. Rom.
13:14
speaks volumes: "But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision
for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof."
Like the wise old hound
man who knows to cull the errant dog from his hunting pack, let us drive sin
from our lives.
