A Pastor friend of mine made a great illustration. He held up a pan of homemade brownies, saying that his wife’s brownies were the best anybody made. But, he continued, “this particular pan is different.”
To check the brownies’ doneness, his wife had used a toothpick she’d pulled from on top of a napkin out of the trash by the door; in the trash had been doggie pooh from a puppy mishap. The pooh had been several inches away from the toothpick.
In a hurry, not able to find another “pokey thing” nearby and the dessert needing attention right away, she had grabbed the toothpick up and wiped it on a tissue. Knowing time was of the essence; she pulled the brownies out and stuck the toothpick in the edge of the brownies—perfectly done!
The toothpick had been several inches away from the puppy pooh and it was quickly inserted into the pan of brownies in only one little spot. So it would be ok, the toothpick itself wasn’t really dirty, and even if that was offensive to some, only one tiny spot in that BIG pan of brownies—who would even notice?
Besides, the pooh was not REAL close and well, quite frankly, every living creature poohs; pooh is part of being alive! Get over yourself, don’t be so—- prissy.
Oddly, nobody wanted a brownie from ANY part of the big pan; even though the questionable toothpick was just stuck in one small section of the dessert. Would YOU eat one of the brownies? Probably not!
Yet, we often choose to go to movies and read books that have dirty words and unGodly situations in them. We rationalize the same way; only one bad word—only one bad scene, maybe two, that’s all. The rest of the movie/book is good. Besides, those words and attitudes are all around us, everybody ‘does that’ these days; it’s part of today’s society!
As Christians, what we allow into our lives is important to our relationship with Christ and to our witness of Him to others. Sometimes, we have no choice but to be exposed to unChrist like words or attitudes; at work for instance, or while living in the world. We can’t control what others say or do. God is aware of those things we can’t change, He knew how vexed Lot was with the behavior of the people in Sodom and Gomorrah, and made a way out. (2 Peter 2:7)
But, Choosing to expose ourselves to unGodly things is not acceptable, by Biblical standards. How can we expect to embrace the blessings and direction that God’s word speaks of, while thinking the instructions for holy living do not apply to us? What we willingly submit to can affect our lifestyle and eventually, our Christ walk.
II Corinthians 7:1 Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.
Prayer: Father, help me to be sensitive to your Spirit, to be aware when what we are doing hurts your heart and our testimony. I love you and want to be totally yours. Show me how to remove the things from my life that destroy my integrity. Amen.
Scripture references
2 Peter 2:7 But God also rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a righteous man who was sick of the shameful immorality of the wicked people around him.