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Sin Is a Social Disease
Gerald Cowan

"No one given to fornication or indecency, or the greed which makes an idol of gain has any share in the kingdom of Christ and of God. ...Have no part nor lot with them." (Ephesians 5:5-7. NEB). "Do not be a partaker of other men's sins." (1 Timothy 5:22).

No one likes to think of himself as guilty of the sins or mistakes of another person. But there are several ways in which one may share the responsibility, or become a "partaker" of the sins of others.

Practicing the sins of others makes one a partaker with them in evil. It is easy to be led astray by people we admire or respect. There is a tendency to overlook the faults and sins of our heroes, those we admire and want to be like. This is a special problem for the young who tend to idolize movie stars, entertainers, and sports figures. But the principle applies to all hero-worshippers. Then we can justify ourselves for doing the things we refuse to condemn them for. Their sins are thus socially transmitted, but they are not socially justified.
One cannot agree with sinners about their misdeeds without becoming guilty by implication. One who approves of sin is as guilty as the one who commits sin (2 John 9-11). There are many unrepentant persons who will never mend their ways, simply because they have found that their church will accept them without it. So the disease is allowed to spread because Christians seem socially content to have the diseased dwelling among them.
Urging, prompting, tempting or encouraging others to sin "by word, example, or tolerance makes one a partaker in that same sin. Social pressure and social acceptance cause many social evils. What society asks for and allows it must also be responsible for. Society cannot redeem itself by condemning the person it has pressed into sin or allowed to sin.
When individuals or groups impose no restraints upon the sinner and do not try to prevent his sins, then they must share the guilt of his sins. Laws are made to punish offenders, but also to deter them from committing the offense at all. The Law of God is given that all might know the exceeding sinfulness of sin (Rom. 7:12-13) and be warned in advance about the consequences of sin (Rom. 6:23).

The church, which is "the society of the redeemed of God," ought to be very sure it is not "guilty by association" in its attitude toward the sins of others. It must prevent this by refusing to practice or condone the sins of its members or others, by urging people to righteous living, by placing proper restraints upon sinners, and by administering proper discipline in the case of its own members who sin.
Tommy's Trouble (I Cor. 3:1-3)
Bill McCormick

Tommy came to school one day with a knot on his head. I asked him how he got it and he replied, "I fell out of bed." "How did you manage that?" I asked. "I stayed too close to where I got in it." he replied.

Some Christians are guilty of the same thing. We obey the gospel, but then instead of growing in Christ, we stay too close to the world we were supposed to have left, and to which we should have become dead. It's much easier to fall there. Let's move as far from the edge as we can and lessen our chances of falling out of God's bed of blessings.