It really irks me when people use “abstain from all appearance of evil” as a reason to prohibit people from doing something that might appear to be sin.Interestingly, I stumbled across an article on this subject right when I was thinking about it personally.1. Using the verse in that manner takes it out of context. The subject at hand was abstaining from the appearance of false teaching, which has nothing to do with the way it is usually used.2. The verse is actually referring to staying away from false teaching that is a form of evil, not something that appears to be evil but is not.
Thank you. It was a little disillusioning, but mostly liberating and joyous, when I discovered the true meaning of this passage after a lifetime of hearing it wrongfully (and forcefully) interpreted and applied. Let us learn from this example to be very careful in our understanding of God’s word. It is no light thing to proclaim as the word of God that which the word of God is not truly proclaiming.
Hear, hear! When so much of what the Bible teaches is objective obedience, I always wondered why there was a command to succumb to the subjective perspectives of our fellow man. When I realized that the popular anti-movie, anti-music, anti-television, etc, etc. teaching was based on bad translation, it was freeing. Now, instead of worrying if other people think I might be sinning by being seen in the parking lot of a movie store or going to a restaurant that has a bar, I simply make sure that my conduct itself is glorifying to God—not others. If I am abstaining from every kind of evil, I am glorifying God and obeying that verse.
Personally, I found the standard IFBx interpretation of 1 Thess. 5:22 difficult to apply. Almost anything can be seen by someone to “appear evil”. In a desire to obey the Scripture, this verse (and other misapplied passages) led to my personal condemnation of numerous activities as being worldly. “Boy, she wears a coat with a Nike swoosh on it! She must be worldly!” I would think. This contributed, sadly, to deep impressions about the importance of externals to the neglect of a proper focus on the heart. Far easier to shun Nike, or similar faddish styles than to cultivate a heart for God through time in the Word and prayer.<br><br>Eventually, I came to understand that “appearance of evil” did not mean something which appears to be evil yet is not, but rather any manifestation or form of evil. I later came to understand that contextually verses 20 and 21 of 1 Thess. 5 go hand in hand. Prophesyings (or proclamation of the word) must be both welcomed and judged. But I had not fully come to see verses 19-22 as one complete unit, until I read the article you mentioned. That understanding of the passage really has the “ring of truth” and explains what is meant by “quenching the Spirit”. It also makes the case against the IFB interpretation of vs. 22 that much stronger.<br><br>Thanks alot, for pointing out that article.
