There was a time when I knew nothing of victorious living! There was a time when others' misinterpretations of Scripture, adopted as my own, defeated me!
Late evening, October 29, 1999, alone in the observation cell of the Parke County Jail, watched by the officer at the desk and by other strangers on surveillance TV, I am seeking God for an explanation! I have done no wrong! Why am I in jail? Why are people accusing me of despicable acts! And why are they permitted to twist my truthful explanations to fit their sick accusations! Why can't they, or why won't they hear the truth!
I pray Psalm 51, over and over. Surely I must have committed some terrible sin since God is allowing this to happen to me. I am very willing to confess and repent of it, Lord, if you will just let me understand what it is! I want to continue as your faithful servant.
A verse of scripture comes into my mind: "Abstain from every appearance of evil." Suddenly I am plunged into defeat and despair! Have I prided myself in worshipping the Lord, not with public displays of piety but rather with practical, everyday Christian service, "caring for the fatherless?"
Lord, have I sinned against You by disregarding what other people chose to suspect, chose to imagine, chose to believe and then to say about my ministry with foster children and children with special needs?
This question motivated my actions over the next several months. I then believed -- and still do believe -- that God spoke to me, instructing me then to "submit to the governing authorities." I entered a guilty plea agreement rather than to argue my innocence before a jury of my neighbors. And I was sentenced to prison for a crime I did not commit.
But God did not leave me in ignorance for very long. As I used all my "free" time in jail and prison praying, studying and sharing God's Word, He began to shed His light on scripture after scripture after scripture, and filled my soul with understanding! As free access to Bible College courses, materials and textbooks became more and more my reality, even in the noisy madness of jail and prison, I realized God was answering my prayers for His very best education to make me His more useful servant!
There I learned what I want to say now, very clearly:
God's Word does not tell us to abstain from every appearance of evil! That is, unfortunately, the very poor translation we find in the King James Version of the Bible. But a better translation of the original, Greek language is: "Abstain from every known form, kind, or fashion of evil!" (1st Thessalonians 5:22 ) (See almost any better English translation.)
James 1:27 not only commands us to care for those who are not being cared for but also to "keep ourselves unspotted and uncontaminated by the self-centered and selfish world of unbelievers!" Hey, those folks -- whether they claim to be Christians or not -- will always see evil where there is none. We have only to look at the actions of Christ, which almost never lined up with the expectations and traditions of the "religious" crowd, but without fail demonstrated God's genuine love and concern for those who needed it. 2nd Timothy 3:12 says that "anyone who desires to live a godly life will be persecuted." Certainly Jesus was. And James 4: 17 says: "Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is a sin." Isn't it true that very often the crowd will pressure us to not do the good we know in our hearts we should do? Shall we be crowd pleaser's, or God pleaser's? Are we willing to pay the price -- Oh, Yes! There is always a price! -- for doing good which may appear evil to someone?
Hi, Jerry. I like the subject matter of your recent post concerning "the apperance of evil," which is very timely, for me. I recently had a series of small chats going on in my church that I know I did not just imagine, but that I actually overheard. The condemning persons were concerned with my "appearance of evil" as to how I wore my hair(my grey chair was blonde before I changed it to its original color, being with not much difference) or how I dressed in church: "...The appearance of evil is now dressed in pink: with the appearance of evil."
I was waiting for my final decision of leaving the LDS Church, what with the talk, which was working to make me feel as if they were booting me out of their church, with the general consensus of their opinions that they were releasing for me to have me feel I needed to be corrected by them--thinking rather seriously about it.
I went to another branch in a nearby town, when I moved temporarily to a different ward in our church. There I met an old school girlfriend who, with her mother, talked with me after service. She remembered me first, a friend who I had made from the ninth grade. We both laughed at how, not only was her mother a natural Platinum Blonde, but that we too had turned grey, and looked as if we had bleached our hair, and had consequently acquired "the appearance of evil!" By the way, I am a typical "Dumb Blonde"--actually! I admit it. ...Love, Maren
Stopping by to say hello! Hops you are well...... miss seeing you around but then again, I haven't been around much either!
Comments (2)
Hi, Jerry. I like the subject matter of your recent post concerning "the apperance of evil," which is very timely, for me. I recently had a series of small chats going on in my church that I know I did not just imagine, but that I actually overheard. The condemning persons were concerned with my "appearance of evil" as to how I wore my hair(my grey chair was blonde before I changed it to its original color, being with not much difference) or how I dressed in church: "...The appearance of evil is now dressed in pink: with the appearance of evil."
I was waiting for my final decision of leaving the LDS Church, what with the talk, which was working to make me feel as if they were booting me out of their church, with the general consensus of their opinions that they were releasing for me to have me feel I needed to be corrected by them--thinking rather seriously about it.
I went to another branch in a nearby town, when I moved temporarily to a different ward in our church. There I met an old school girlfriend who, with her mother, talked with me after service. She remembered me first, a friend who I had made from the ninth grade. We both laughed at how, not only was her mother a natural Platinum Blonde, but that we too had turned grey, and looked as if we had bleached our hair, and had consequently acquired "the appearance of evil!" By the way, I am a typical "Dumb Blonde"--actually! I admit it. ...Love, Maren
Stopping by to say hello! Hops you are well...... miss seeing you around but then again, I haven't been around much either!
SMILE....
Your Southern BELLE~