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Evil Comes With Little Steps
by Aubrey Belue
To "sin a little" is not so bad, they say. "Oh, it is just a little matter," we hear. There are so many among us who are ready to exercise tolerance, even condoning errors so long as they seem "minor" to us. Just a "little mistake" can't hurt, they say. Sounds good?
Such thinking, a complacency about such things, totally ignores one of the most insidious and deadly aspects of the doing of wrong. That is, no one ever stops with just one sin, or one doctrinal departure! This is the message of both experience and scripture. What is seen as just one small step at first will eventually develop into an obvious and uncheckable decline into the depths of sin. King Saul is an illustration of this. His first departure from the true path came when he faced the possibility of discouragement among his troops, which led him to get out of his place in personally offering a sacrifice to invoke God's help in a coming battle. As he said, "..I FORCED myself"...to assume the role of priest (1 Sam 13:12). Before long, he is willing to more openly go against God in refusing to kill the king of the Amalekites and in deciding to save the best of the animals to offer as sacrifice unto God (1 Sam 15:22-23). That first small presumption left him with his guard down against an even greater act of self - will.
David found himself in a situation in which he was tempted to commit sin with Bathsheba. No doubt he had no thought of what was to come--how his initial sin of adultery led to the further sin of lying, and wound up with murder (2 Sam 11). Just this one sin (he might have said), and I will make it right with God.
Historically, this is best illustrated by the growth of the papacy. The accomplished departure in organization which culminated in the Roman hierarchy (Pope, cardinal, archbishop, bishop, priest, etc.) is a glaring contrast to the pure new Testament order, with each congregation having equal status with each other, and no centralized overseers. No doubt those second century disciples would have hotly denied the idea that they would ever countenance the idea of one man over the whole church, but they were willing gradually to select a "presiding" elder from among those formerly equal, and then to accept an area wide "committee" of these "presiding elders" to oversee a given area; then to condone the selection of a sort of "district overseer" to preside over these "presiding elders", and so on it went, til finally the complete package from the pope on down was swallowed down without significant objection.
It is that way regarding the decline of individual religion. One who was once a faithful servant of God does not immediately become a reprobate--his fall may begin with an occasional missing of services, a visit to a questionable place of recreation, a vocal slip in using profanity at some real or imagined hurt, etc. His initial sense of enthusiastic participation may slip into an attitude of "duty", going through the motions and seeking any imagined justification for omitting some duty or service.
And what is the remedy? Never to take the first step! This is why we must be careful to do ALL God says, in JUST the way He says it. The slightest departure, if left unnoticed or unrebuked, can swiftly lead to a condition impossible to reverse. Let us be careful to do all the Bible says, and nothing else!
Other Articles by Aubrey Belue
Teaching in the Moment
Get Thee Behind Me Satan
Two Visions of the Church
The Exculpatory Rule
You are invited to The Annual Auburn Weekend Study - January 16-17, 2015
