Bringing Back the Blush

Several posts ago, I referenced 1 Corinthians 5:20 in talking about the mind. But sandwiched in the middle of this verse, between two phrases about thinking, is a four-word command:

“Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.”

(ESV, emphasis added)

Be infants in evil. Wow. Let’s think on that for a few moments.

Do you remember a time when you were too young to know that certain words were foul language or that certain gestures were obscene?

Maybe you can recall the first time you heard a particular four-letter word and acted like you knew what it meant just to fit in (even though you didn’t know exactly, but you could tell that it wasn’t very good.) Perhaps in such a situation you felt inferior to your peers because of your seeming naiveté. And perhaps you resolved to find out more about those kinds of things so that next time you would be “in the know.”

But is that the attitude we as Christians should have? Is that the kind of knowledge we are to be proud of?

To figure out what it means to be an infant in evil, let’s first think about what it means to be an infant in life. For one, infants are limited in their action. They can’t walk; they can’t feed themselves; they can’t climb the stairs or drive a car or wash the dishes. But infants are also limited in their knowledge. They can’t form a sentence; they can’t solve math problems; they can’t understand the concepts of history or science.  

Similarly, to be an infant in evil involves not doing evil things, but I would venture to argue that it also involves not knowing evil things. In other words, the admonition to “be infants in evil” lets us know that ignorance of certain worldly terminology or immoral actions is nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed by. On the contrary, it should be celebrated!

Incidentally, this ignorance need not manifest itself in a “holier-than-thou” attitude. Undoubtedly, many who are “of the world” will interpret a Christian’s desire to be ignorant of certain worldly ideas as an elitist posture. But, though difficult, I believe it is possible to seek to be an infant in evil while being winsome to the world. We do not wish to be infants in evil because we think we are better than others but because we have been commanded by our Creator and Savior, and it is He who deserves our allegiance, not the one from whom we have been delivered.

Of course, once you know something, you can’t un-know it. So what about those of us who are not ignorant of evil things anymore? First, we can make sure that we don’t make our fellow believers feel belittled because of their own innocence. Second, we can refrain from trumpeting our worldly intelligence. Third, we can be on guard so that our knowledge does not translate into action. We must be watchful, because it is easy to become desensitized and for that desensitization to lead to committing evil ourselves.

We must ask the Lord to help us stand firm so that we do not become like the people spoken of in Jeremiah 6:15: “‘Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,’ says the LORD” (ESV, emphasis added).

As followers of Jesus Christ, let us not be embarrassed when we are naïve about the intimate details of worldly ways. Let us be more concerned over biblical illiteracy than we are over cultural illiteracy. And let us do what we can, as we seek to be obedient to our Lord, to bring back the blush in the church.

Memory and the Golden Rule

Probably one of the most well-known passages of Scripture is that known as the Golden Rule, found in Matthew 7:12—“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (ESV).

Perhaps you’ve heard parents reverse this admonition, asking their children, “Would you want someone to treat you that way?” [Usually the implied answer is no.] “Then don’t you go treating them that way.”

Overall, the Golden Rule has been accepted by Christians and non-Christians alike as a good life principle contributing to a better society, but is it more than just a moralistic saying? To answer this question, a few other questions must be asked. . .

Why is treating others the way we would want to be treated so important? Perhaps it’s because if we did so, presumably we would be treating others well.

And why is it so important that we treat others well? Well for one, you might be thinking, it’s the right thing to do. You wouldn’t be wrong. But why is it the right thing to do? It’s right because everyone is equally valuable as a human being created by God Himself and in His own image. To mistreat the creation is to insult the Creator.

That’s all well and good, but when it comes to living out the Golden Rule, how are we to do it?

With our selfish tendencies and self-centered thought-processes, it is not natural for us to put others first. But it is natural to put ourselves first, and Jesus tells us that we are to treat others as we would want to be treated ourselves. We have no problem looking out for our own best interests, but how do we take that conscious step of projecting those “best interests” onto someone else?

Sometimes (indeed, most of the time) this requires a power outside our own, a strength from someone else—namely, God Himself. But I believe that oftentimes God’s ways of empowering us to fulfill His commands are through tools He has already provided us. In this case, one of those tools is memory.

I have an uncannily strong memory. Scenes from my past vividly replay themselves in my mind whether I want them to or not, particularly those that were accompanied by potent emotions. I think I have inherited this capacity for memories from my grandfather, yet while part of this memory may be genetically acquired, part has been consciously cultivated, especially when it comes to the Golden Rule.

From an early age, whenever I would be treated unpleasantly, I would make a mental note to remember how I felt in that moment so that, when I found myself in the other person’s position, I would not inflict such unpleasantness on others. Over the years, this has caused me to change the way I think and often the way I act because I have cultivated an ability to put myself in someone else’s shoes.

As an example of this practice, consider the typical senior-freshman relationship in high school or college. Freshmen are often looked down upon by seniors, belittled for their ignorance, or generally ignored. I think it’s safe to say that most freshmen don’t appreciate such treatment, but when they get to be seniors themselves they often treat freshmen just as they were treated, thinking that they’ve earned the right to dish it out just like they had it dished out to them.

But what if, instead, seniors took a moment to remember? What if they remembered the biting remarks, the snobbish looks, the dismissive attitudes? What if they remembered the way it felt to be belittled and resolved to make sure no one felt that way at their hands?

Then maybe, instead of just succumbing to the pattern they complained about as freshmen, they would do their part to change it.

The above example is just that—one example among many I could have chosen. Insert your own relationships into the equation, and the principle still applies.

If you are (or have been) a daughter-in-law, remember the things that frustrate(d) or hurt you in your relationship with your mother-in-law and resolve not to let those things exist in your relationship with your own children-in-law one day (or today). If you’re a student, remember what it is like so that when you become a teacher you will be more empathetic toward your students.

Indeed, empathy is one of the keys to living out the Golden Rule, and like so much else it is an ability that can be learned (more on that another time). And memory is perhaps one of the most helpful tools in cultivating an empathetic spirit. For when we store up memories, combined with a conscious determination and the indwelling presence of God, they provide the fodder needed for us to fulfill the law of Christ (see Gal. 6:2) and to live out the Golden Rule. 

To read the Arabic translation of this post, click here.

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