Column By: Tom Jordan

“Let us not therefore judge one another any more.  But judge this rather that no one put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in another’s way” (Romans 14:13). “Abstain from all appearance of evil” (I Thessalonians 5:22).

The passages above are fine pieces of spiritual advice for all but sometimes not always accomplished in life.  A person can be as innocent of wrong doing as a sleeping infant yet be accused and convicted of being an evildoer by an observer with no facts nor proof.  

A Christian needs to be very particular of their walk of life as a high wire walker.  A bad move in that walk not only disappoints the watchers but can damage the walker greatly.  Walking with the Lord trims the margin of error in our journey through life with the false accusations that can come our way.  Too often we are quick to assume the worst about others as we are to defend our own innocence in situations of life.  

Always be careful when we point a finger at others because three of those fingers are pointing back at us and the thumb raised towards God and His Heaven.  But by the grace of God we might be in the same situation.  Let us not put that stumbling block in the pathway of another and one of the best ways to accomplish that is to make sure we are abstaining from all appearances of evil in our own lives.  “Judge not lest we be judged…” (Matthew 7).

The Rev. Dr. Tom Jordan is the retired pastor of the First Baptist Church of Epworth.