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Pastor Jay's Blog

Two Ways Sin Gets Into Your Life

30 seconds sounds like nothing in the scheme of things. But have you ever been in a teaching setting with a group of people and tried sitting silent for 30 seconds? I’ll tell you what will happen. Your awkward-ometer will redline after about 10 seconds. Another version of this is the old saying “The watched pot never boils.” What is happening in these situations? What is happening is that you are on high alert, and because of that high-alert state the slowness of things is going to seem unbearably slow. And yet slow things make massive impact. The slow moving tree roots will break through concrete sidewalks. The slow moving hour hand will mark the passing of years. The slow tortoise will win the race.

This understanding is very important when it comes to sin. When we are on high alert we are safe. Things are good. It is not often you see people sinning up a storm in the church foyer; because sin doesn’t work this way. It doesn’t come through the front door wearing sparklers. So then, how does sin work its way into God’s people? There is a figure of speech which the Bible uses numerous times to describe sin, and the item that is used to picture sin in these figures is leaven. Leaven has this amazing ability to work its way through the whole lump of dough. It doesn’t happen fast, but it will happen given enough time. It works in the hidden unseen places, gradual yet effective. Sin works like leaven. But even this figure of speech has nuance. There are two kinds of leaven when it comes to sin.

The Leaven of Teaching

The first kind of leaven is the leaven of teaching and is found in these passages:

Matthew 16:12 (NASB95) — 12 Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Galatians 5:7–9 (NASB95) — 7 You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.

This leaven of teaching will work its way into your soul. It is what happens when you hear passages of Scripture twisted over and over again, backed up with illustrations and examples. You may not pick up everything you are taught, but you will pick up enough. Teaching is like intellectual feeding and digestion. The contents of your diet will make you into what you are. And just like eating, you don’t gain 15 pounds in a week or two, but over a year or two. This is the danger of secular schooling. The more a person hears true things severed from the true God who made them, they will begin to think that you don’t need God to do math or that physics is just a law without a creator and sustainer.

But it is not just secular schooling, it is also church teaching. Along with teaching that isn’t actually grounded in sound biblical interpretation, there is also the problem of how teaching is done or what is emphasized or displayed. When the Bible is used quick and loose, this is leaven. When Bible study is a “what this means to me” mentality, this is leaven. When experience is elevated and pursued over biblical truth, this is leaven. When love is primarily defined as acceptance, this is leaven. When emotions are the goal of worship, this is leaven. When holiness is downplayed, repentance is ignored, and the gospel is watered down to something you can mark on a decision card, this is leaven. When you are around this enough, slowly and gradually over time it will work its way through your soul, becoming the lens through which to see everything else, and the framework in which you do all of life.

The Leaven of Life Practice

But there is a second kind of leaven. In a sense it is teaching, but in a different form. This is the leaven of life practice. You can see this in these passages:

Luke 12:1 Under these circumstances, after so many thousands of people had gathered together that they were stepping on one another, He began saying to His disciples first of all, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

1 Corinthians 5:1, 6 It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife. 6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?

It is our nature as human beings to imitate what we see. It is our nature to learn by example and to be influenced. This is what discipleship is based upon. Yet, discipleship can spoil. Discipleship turns rotten when sinful and worldly practices are the examples that are given for imitation. This is why Paul’s writings are so serious and strong about removing unrepentant sin from the church. When people are allowed to sin, that way of living will be picked up by others. In fact it will be picked up twice as fast because it will be reinforced by the pressure of the surrounding world and the desires of our sinful flesh. It will work like leaven in a church and spread destruction into lives and reproach upon the name of Christ.

A Biblical Pair

So we have seen there are two kinds of leaven: teaching and living. What is interesting is to see these two paired together in other places as well.

Mark 8:15  And He was giving orders to them, saying, “Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”

Jesus paired up teaching and living in one verse with an example for each. The leaven of the Pharisees was the leaven of their teaching. The leaven of Herod was his immoral lifestyle, an example of which was seen in the sinfully sensual party Herod threw that led to the beheading of John the Baptist (Mark 6:21-22).

1 Timothy 4:16 (NASB95) — 16 Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.

We are to watch out for any sinful leavening influence that could come through our teaching and living. And we are to continually watch out, for we may find that the slow leavening is happening in us also.

Titus 2:7 (NASB95) — 7 in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified,

Good deeds and the purity of doctrine are the focus of influence.

Acts 20:27–28 (NASB95) — 27 “For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. 28 “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

Paul was incessantly striving in these two areas, declaring the truth in teaching and preaching, and guarding himself from any life practice that that would undermine the shepherding he was called to do.

So watch out. Leavening is slow but effective. Know well the teaching you are getting and the examples you are learning from.