Today's Passage: “They (mankind) have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.” Romans 1:20-32
This has always been a passage that unsettles me when I read it because it convicts me every time. There are many sins we may not commit, but are we still guilty if we ignore them? According to Paul’s letter to the Romans, we are. By being too afraid to stand up for the Lord and disapprove of open sinfulness, are we not in effect approving it?
Many of us can probably remember a time when we were influenced as kids to ignore a less popular child or perhaps we simply failed to defend her when she was shunned. I can remember two occasions when this happened even after all of these years. Because I did not speak up, I did not stand up against wrong and therefore I was guilty of failing to reach out to someone less fortunate. The same is true of us as adults if we keep silent when given an opportunity to speak out against sin. Certainly, we aren’t told to walk around pointing fingers at everyone, declaring their sins publicly. Jesus did this on occasion to the Pharisees because of the public nature of their sins and their cruelty to the people, but Jesus as Deity knew their hearts. We do not know a person’s heart; however, we are charged with teaching the truth and exposing sin nonetheless as Paul wrote to the Ephesians: “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” Ephesians 5:11
We must be careful that we do so in a loving manner while giving the other party a chance to repent without public humiliation. When Joseph suspected Mary of having had sexual relations with another man, he was determined to put her away quietly so that she would not be humiliated by others (Matthew 1:19). What a loving thing to do for a man who surely must have felt the deepest pain of betrayal. I have the utmost respect for Joseph and the manner in which he planned to handle things before he was told by an angel that Mary was indeed a virgin. In his mind, he did not approve of her seemingly obvious sin and sought to remove himself from it; however, he did so with respect and love.
After hearing Apollos teach error, Aquila and Priscilla privately took him aside to teach him the truth about Christ (Acts 18:24). Because of this, they allowed Apollos to learn the complete truth and also spared him from being called out in the public assembly. This could have affected his use in the kingdom by causing some to lose trust in Apollos although he learned the truth more fully by Aquila and Priscilla’s teaching. Paul would later be able to work with Apollos side by side as they traveled to various locations to preach the gospel.
In these two cases, we see that sin or perceived sin was acknowledged and exposed, but the person was given a chance to repent if necessary and save face, as it were. The outcome in both cases could have been much different as Mary would have been exposed to public humiliation for a sin she did not commit, and Apollos might have lost credibility with the crowds and perhaps even missed a great opportunity to teach the gospel with Paul. On the other hand, had Apollos’ error been ignored, many might have failed to be saved because they did not learn the truth of Christ.
As we read today’s passage, we can easily think, “I’m not guilty of those things… envy, murder, deceit…” But then we read about gossip, disobedience to parents, strife (not getting along with others) and it may hit closer to home. Then we read the portion that not only do some do this, but some approve of others who commit them. Do we ever turn a blind eye to a friend’s sin because we don’t want to hurt them or a family member’s disobedience because we don’t want to stir things up? What happens if these sins take hold of their lives to cause an eternal loss of their souls and we could have helped them overcome the sins before they forever seared their consciences?
I pray that others have the courage to tell me if I say or do something wrong because it may be something I have not considered to be wrong. Perhaps I am in error about a portion of the Truth or maybe I am just oblivious to the fact that I said something hurtful to someone else, but regardless, I need to know about it. I pray also that I have the same courage to warn others out of love for their souls.
Let us consider how we can help one another become better Christian women by encouraging one another, but may God also strengthen us with the courage to tell others of a sin problem in their lives. Additionally, when we are given the chance to speak out against sin whether in our homes, in the church, in our society or in the world, let us do so without shame but with love in our hearts for one another. As King Solomon said, “Open rebuke is better than love carefully concealed. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” Proverbs 27:5-6
