“Do not be deceived: Bad company corrupts good morals.” –1 Corinthians 15:33
Ask anybody and they can quote a well-known adage for you.
Here’s a few.
An apple a day, keeps the doctor away.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
A penny saved is a penny earned.
Do not put off till tomorrow what you can do today.
A man is known by the company he keeps.
Though it’s difficult to do, if you could trace the ancestry of any adage you would most likely discover that it was birthed out of a situation of some kind. Adages didn’t appear out of thin air.
When Paul said, “Bad/evil company corrupts good morals” he meant it as more than a snappy quip. He made that statement in the middle of a heavy theological discussion about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Corinthians – at least a fair number of them – received teaching about the resurrection of Christ. They knew it as fact and truth once upon a time. Within five years of the church coming to its feet, the resurrection was no more than a fanciful idea to many of them. At least initially, our impression from reading chapter fifteen is that the Corinthians had simply “thought” their way out of their conviction about the resurrection. Upon closer examination, the erosion of conviction was brought on by more than simply thinking through their faith.
Paul pauses in the middle of this discussion and sets it in a social construct for a brief moment. The implication is not that the Corinthians had read a few books and done some thinking. It wasn’t a purely intellectual experience. Their conviction about the resurrection was heavily influenced – perhaps primarily influenced – by the company they kept. It was the kind of company that did not want the teaching of the gospel and more especially, the life that came with it. Being with people of the flesh brought with it the risk of surrendering to their way of life and eventually discarding one’s conviction about the gospel of Christ. For at least some of their number, the Christian thought world was eventually broken down by evil company and the behavior that accompanied it. Earlier in 2:14 Paul remarks that a natural man – a man given over to the ways of the flesh – cannot connect with the promptings of the Spirit because they are foolishness to him. Consequently, Paul calls his readers to become “sober-minded” (15:34). In our vernacular he says, “Get off the sauce and get your head clear.” The gravitational pull of darkness through behavior can be broken when we “wake up” and realize what is happening to us in said situations.
Paul’s memorable words in 15:33 continue to serve us today. They remind us to be vigilant about our convictions and especially with regard to how our particular movements in and out of various social experiences can impact what we believe and how we live out faith. Our flesh is seductive by nature. Deception comes slowly. We get “drunk” on the experiences in a given moment empowered by social connections and we stop thinking Christianly. No one condemns us. We are among friends. Who we are is slowly broken down and then, what we think about God is slowly eroded away. It’s just about whatever our flesh wants because after all, this life is all there is (15:32).
We can’t go out of the world. Paul says in 9:19-23 that being people of the gospel binds us to other people unto their blessing, i.e., that we might win some. And yet, the nature of our culture is such that it is very likely that we will find ourselves in situations that tug at us to engage the dark side. Paul’s words are as current as when they were first penned. And, they still belong on the refrigerator or anywhere else for that matter. For in every circumstance we are those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling (1:2).
“Keep your eyes open, hold tight to your convictions, give it all you’ve got, be resolute, and love without stopping
” (1 Corinthians 16:13 – The Message)
Randy Daugherty
