One trendy idol of our day that has beguiled many people is the idol of social fashion, as Scripture refers to it. It draws in hordes of people-pleasers who will do anything to appear "reasonable" to others, and "accepting" of everyone's beliefs. It tells us to accept whatever others believe as being as true and worthy of consideration as our own Christian Faith. This, says the current fashion of this world (I Cor. 7:31), is being courteous and "kind," respecting the beliefs of others, whatever they may be. But how kind is it to praise people, letting them think they're spiritually sound and headed in the right direction, when we see something that's going to bring them into trouble? If I see cyclists pedaling at breakneck speed toward a cliff they don't realize is there am I going to cheer them on so nobody will think I'm being critical?
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That's what we want to do among people who are into idolatry, with beliefs that are harmful to human nature and deprive it of the help of the true God. You don't want to praise them and stay socially aboard when they're racing blindly into spiritual danger. You want, lovingly, to jump off, so that maybe they'll wonder why and come around to ask you about it. Come out from among them, and be separate (II Cor. 7:17), Scripture says - for their sake as well as your own.
-God's Path to Sanity, Dee Pennock, p. 124
3 comments:
What a neat photo!
That's Proctor's Hall at Sewanee. And that's not me in the photo - that's a friend. And only three of the kids are mine. (:
So true...if we love and care about others we will let them know what they are doing is dangerous!!! ♥
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