Distancing

Social distancing is more widely practiced now than in the past, but it is hardly a new concept. Most of us have always put a little extra distance between ourselves and a person who is coughing or sneezing. As children, we were taught to cover our mouth when we cough. Most of us had enough sense to avoid shaking hands after coughing, even before the pandemic. We do not want to spread germs. We do not want to contract an illness, so we keep our distance. That tendency may be amplified now, but it is not new. 

 We keep our distance from germs that might damage our physical health, but all too often we invite spiritual illness into our lives, and into the lives of our children. There was a time when schoolteachers could be dismissed if they had a contagious disease (either physical or spiritual). We still expect that the school board will not allow a teacher with tuberculous into the classroom. But we accept it calmly when they hire persons known for immorality as teachers. Which is worse? When she was a child, my mother-in-law contracted tuberculous from a schoolteacher. She survived, but even if she had died, it would only have been her body. 

When we cozy up to immorality, and allow the immoral to teach our children, we are inviting their spiritual death. That is far worse. We are told to “Flee immorality” (1 Cor 6:18). All too often, we are doing the opposite. We must remember that the friend of the world is an enemy of God (James 4:4). Let’s put some distance between ourselves and sin. 

 “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26, ESV)