Collusion

 

As we read the Bible it is clear that Christians are to be interacting with people in the world (Matthew 28:19-20), and not living in isolation (1 Corinthians 5:9-10).  We certainly do not want to walk in the steps of the Pharisees who looked with contempt on their fellow man (Luke 18:9; John 7:49 “This crowd which does not know the Law is accursed”), and who refused to reach out to the lost (Luke 15:1-2).  At the same time there is a danger of becoming too tame or too familiar with sin. 

 

“I do not sit with deceitful men, nor will I go with pretenders” (Psalm 26:4).  “Every attentive reader of the Psalms will have noticed that they speak to us severely not merely about doing evil ourselves but about something else.  In (the above verse) the good man is not only free from vanity (falsehood) but has not even ‘dwelled with’, been on intimate terms with, those who are ‘vain’. He has ‘hated’ them (26:5)” (The Inspirational Writings of C.S. Lewis, p. 165).

 

“But to the wicked God says…’When you see a thief, you are pleased with him, and you associate with adulterers’” (Psalms 50:16,18).  “God blames a man not for being a thief but for ‘consenting to’ (‘You are a friend to any thief you see’) (Moffat)”(Lewis p. 165).

 

Our Behavior in the Presence of the Lost

 

“If they are outcasts, poor and miserable, whose wickedness obviously has not ‘paid’, then every Christian knows the answer. Christ speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well, Christ with the woman taken in adultery, Christ dining with publicans, is our example” (Lewis p. 166).

 

Our Behavior in the Presence of the Powerful and Impenitent Lost

 

·        The temptation of the Bandwagon:

 

Not all publicans in Jesus’ day were evil men (Matthew 9:9), yet it is clear that a number of men became publicans in the hopes of fleecing their fellow countrymen to get money for the occupying power in return for a good percentage of the profits.  “One may guess that some consorted with them for very bad reasons—to get ‘pickings’, to be on good terms with such dangerous neighbors” (Lewis p. 166).  Compare with Luke 3:12-13. “There are subtler, more social or intellectual forms of band-wagoning which might deceive us.  Many people have a very strong desire to meet celebrated or ‘important’ people, including those of whom they disapprove, from curiosity or vanity.  It gives them something to talk or even to write about.  It is felt to confer distinction if the great, though odious, man recognizes you in the street” (Lewis p. 167). 

 

·        Proverbs 23:1-3:  Discomforts of the Social Heights

 

“The aspiring social climber is gently chaffed, in three loosely connected paragraphs” (Kidner p. 151). The expression, “put a knife to your throat”, means to curb your appetite or control yourself (like ‘bite your tongue’).  “What you say and do at a banquet or elegant dinner tells others what kind of person you are.  The ruler who hosts a dinner has a sharp eye on his guests.  Some are so awed by the elegant surroundings and rich array of food that they will probably miss out on the real purpose of the evening.  Others will overeat, thereby revealing greed and overindulgence.  Wise men, however, will eat with moderation and restraint, constantly aware of what the host is asking of them” (Alden pp. 167-168).   The food at such a banquet is called “deceptive”, because the ruler is not simply hosting a party.  Nothing is free, and the ruler probably wants something from you, whether it is information or a favor.  “The banquet may be a buttering-up occasion” (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 956).  “The rich do not give away their favors for free.  They want something in return, and it is generally much more than what they have invested” (Garrett p. 195).  The verse serves as a warning to those who long to be around the rich and powerful.  It is a reminder that the stakes can be very high in such a crowd and the games that they play can be very dangerous.

 

“I am inclined to think a Christian would be wise to avoid, where he decently can, any meeting with people who are bullies, lascivious, cruel, dishonest, spiteful, and so forth.  Not because we are ‘too good’ for them.  In a sense because we are not good enough.  We are not good enough to cope with all the temptations, not clever enough to cope with all the problems, which an evening spent in such society produces.  The temptation is to condone, to connive at; by our words, looks and laughter, to ‘consent’.  The temptation was never greater than now when we are all so afraid of ‘smugness’” (Lewis pp. 167-168).  The Bible certainly teaches that we are to go out into all the world and seek the lost, yet the Bible equally teaches that not everyone that we encounter will be a “safe” friend (1 Corinthians 15:33; Romans 16:18; Titus 3:10-11). 

 

·        Strengthening the Hands of the Enemy:

 

If we are not careful, it is easy to give sinners the impression, “that ‘those Christians’, once you get them off their guard and round a dinner table, really think and feel exactly as we (sinners) do”. 

 

 

·        Psalm 1:1 “Does not walk in the counsel of the wicked”:

 

“It need not strike us as strange that this happiness is first pictured in terms of negatives---what such a man will not do” [1]   It is interesting that people seem determined to sacrifice just about any wholesome thing to find happiness (a good spouse, time with children, etc..,), and yet somehow think that giving up certain wicked associations is an unreasonable sacrifice. “Counsel, way, and seat draw attention to the realms of thinking, behaving, and belonging, in which a person’s fundamental choice of allegiance is made and carried through; and this is borne out by a hint of decisiveness in the tense of the Hebrew verbs (the perfect)… the three complete phrases show three aspects, indeed three degrees, of departure from God, by portraying conformity to this world at three different levels:  accepting its advice, being party to its ways, and adopting the most fatal of its attitudes---for the scoffers, if not the most scandalous of sinners, are the farthest from repentance (Proverbs 3:34)” (Kidner pp. 47-48). The stress in this passage is the righteous person does not start adopting the attitudes and behavior that is associated with lost people.  He does not start thinking like sinners (“walk in the counsel of”), and neither does he start believing that sinners have a better grasp of reality than God.  “His world-view, his ethical life, and his moral decisions are no longer dictated by the godless” (Williams p. 26).  The word “counsel”, can also mean, “plan” or “principles”.  When it comes to running his business, raising his children, or working on his marriage, he doesn’t accept or believe “counsel” which is contrary to the word of God. And this is a real temptation, for even Christians can end up believing and accepting ungodly counsel, when it is presented by sinners who are viewed in the world as being “professionals”. 

 

·        Psalms 1:1 “Nor stand in the path of sinners”:

 

“His identity, his standing, his lifestyle are no longer determined by those in rebellion against God” (Williams p. 26).  We must make a choice!   This person has the courage to break from conventional thinking, to get out of the mainstream, and firmly take his stand with God.  There are many people who want to do the right thing, but peer pressure and other factors keep them standing with the world (John 12:42-43). Jesus calls upon us to do more than simply stop doing sinful things, we also start doing what is righteous, and spread the message to others (Ephesians 4:25-5:11).

 

·        Psalm 1:1:  “Nor sit in the seat of the scoffers”

 

One does not actually have to be sitting with them, to be guilty of sitting in the seat of scoffers.  All one has to do is just assume the attitude of the scoffer.  “He neither learns nor judges from the perspective of those bearing the acid authority of cynicism and pride” (Williams p. 26).  “He finds no rest in the atheist’s scoffings.  Let others mock at sin, of eternity, of hell and heaven, and of the Eternal God….The seat of the scorner may be very lofty, but it is very near to the gate of hell” [2]  It is very easy to sit in the seat of the scoffer. 

 

Thus the Psalmists were right when they described the righteous man as avoiding the “seat of the scornful” and fearing consort with the ungodly lest he should “eat of” (shall we say, laugh at, admire, approve, justify?) ‘such things as please them’” (Lewis p. 169).  “Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, to practice deeds of wickedness with men who do iniquity; and do not let me eat of their delicacies” (Psalms 141:4).

 

·        Matthew 6:13 “And do not lead us into temptation”:

 

“Lead us not into temptation often means, among other things, ‘Deny me those gratifying invitations, those highly interesting contacts, that participation in the brilliant movements of our age, which I so often, at such risk, desire” (Lewis p. 169).

 

·        The Common Danger of the Tongue:

 

“Closely connected with these warnings against what I have called ‘connivance’ are the protests of the Psalter against other sins of the tongue.  I think that when I began to read it these surprised me a little; I had half expected that in a simpler and more violent age when more evil was done with the knife, the big stick, less would be done by talk.  But in reality the Psalmists mention hardly any kind of evil more often than this one, which the most civilized societies share:

 

·        “Their throat is an open grave, they flatter with the tongue, there is nothing reliable in what they say” (Psalm 5:9)

·        “His mouth is full of curses and deceit” (10:7)

·        “With our tongue we will prevail; our lips are our own... who is lord over us?” (12:4)

·        “All who hate me whisper together against me” (41:7)

·        “Your tongue devises destruction, like a sharp razor” (52:2)

·        “You love evil more than good, falsehood more than speaking what is right” (52:3)

·        “My enemies have reproached me all day long” (102:8).

 

“One almost hears the incessant whispering, tattling, lying, scolding, flattery, and circulation of rumors.  No historical readjustments are here required, we are in the world we know” (Lewis p. 169).

 

Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church of Christ/503-644-9017

www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net/mdunagan@easystreet.com

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