A short time ago, a friendly acquaintance posted something moving and troubling on facebook that has really stuck in my mind.
As part of working through some stuff, she wrote out a memory of an experience from when she was a teenager, living with her boyfriend and his mother, who were both physically abusive to her. She had started going to a church down the road and was connecting with the pastor and his family.
One day, the boyfriendβs mother brought home a 40+ year old man and told my friend that sheβd made a deal with him, that my friend needed to go with him and have sex with him.
At the moment she was supposed to get in his truck, my friend ran. Betrayed, terrified, checking behind her as she ran, she headed to the church, where she knew she would be safe. No one was there, so she went to the pastorβs house nearby. He was home, and she told him what had just happened.
He said that his wife and kids wouldnβt be home until evening, so while he wished he could help her, it wouldnβt be appropriate for him to be alone with a woman who wasnβt his wife. He talked about the βBilly Graham Ruleβ and avoiding the appearance of evil. He didnβt even call the police or anyone else to help her.
This pastor, in βavoiding the appearance of evil,β much more neatly avoided the substance of righteousness. The priest and the Levite preceding the Good Samaritan come to mind.
Brothers and sisters, don't be like this guy. Donβt raise your kids to be like this guy.
Hereβs a brief article on what avoiding the appearance of evil really means:
My Only Comfort
Every Appearance of Evil, and the Billy Graham Rule
Iβve been gone and out of the loop for a while. The debate over the so-called βBilly Grahamβ rule, in light of the comments of Mike Pence, we...
And if youβre up for a little more, thereβs a valuable addendum:
My Only Comfort
Billy Graham Rule Follow-up
I recently wrote a blog to correct the misinterpretation of 1 Thessalonians 5:22. You can find it here. I am certainly aware that in terms of the a...
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