Bible MBASample

The Appearance of Evil 

“Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! Matthew 18:7 ESV

Does a business bear any form of liability for what people do with its products? This is sometimes not an easy question to answer. You can't blame the maker of a television set, for instance, if someone decides to watch pornography on it instead of wholesome stuff. 

However, there are certain products for which there is hardly any edifying use. An extreme case would be someone who sets up a brothel. What God-glorifying aim could such a person be pursuing? 

For the practicing believer, however, the devil may not typically bring extreme temptations. He offers instead temptations around which we can prevaricate and rationalize. If a believer owned media businesses, for instance, the devil will try to get him to promote any and everything under the guise of 'staying neutral' and not projecting personal biases. 

Therein lies the danger. The Christian business leader must desperately seek discernment, and deploy it in deciding what products to develop. The wise rule to follow in all such decisions is to “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” (1 Thessalonians  5:22 KJV)

That which is good and wholesome hardly ever requires much justification. It is typically plain to see. That which is unwholesome, however, is not that easy to judge, which is why the rule is to err on the side of caution. The counsel is not to seek irrefutable proof that a business idea or product is bad through and through, if you are doing that, you have probably strayed into rationalization. Instead, it is that, once something appears to be tainted in some way by evil, it is best to abstain from such. 

Critically, at such decision points, the believer who pays attention will find that “the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit”. He, as the Spirit of truth, will lead us into truth at such a time if we leave open the possibility that every idea can be sacrificed in order to please the Lord.