Abstain from All Appearance of Evil?
Revisiting First Thessalonians 5:22

I cannot begin to count the number of times I have heard lay-people and preachers alike quote this verse without a clue as to its meaning:

"Abstain from all appearance of evil" (I Thessalonians 5:22).

It has been forcefully used to chide people on many things, from going to movie theaters, to not listening to secular music, to not drinking from a bottle—no matter what's in it—to not spitting on the sidewalk.

It seems that when a person does not like the way that you appear, or the way that you are acting, or whatever, this verse is yarded out of its semantic context and used as a battering ram to prove that you should change something about the way you are "appearing" at that moment.

A pastor once used this passage to inform a person that though a relationship she was in was not sin, it "appeared evil" to others and thus, she should remove herself from the relationship.

A well-meaning preacher once told me that my mustache "appeared" evil to some Christians because they did not believe in facial hair, and so I was to shave it off so as to avoid "the very appearance of evil."

One Sunday morning, years ago when I pastored in Longview, I arrived to church on my motorcycle. An older couple of the church met me at the door and with their Bibles open to First Thessalonians 5:22 ("Abstain from all appearance of evil"), they chided me for riding my motorcycle to church. They said, "While we know that you are not part of one of those biker gangs, the fact is that it 'appears' evil, and so Scripture charges you not to ride that thing, especially on Sundays."

I actually heard about one church fellowship that would not allow a ketchup bottle on the table—either at home or in a restaurant—because it looked evil, after all, alcohol comes in bottles. So, they'd quickly pour the ketchup onto their plates and then instruct the waitress to remove the bottle immediately.

And so it goes.

The King James Version

According to the King James Version of the Bible, Paul says to, "Abstain from all appearance of evil" (I Thessalonians 5:22).

What Does Appearance Mean?

The American Heritage English Dictionary defines "appearance" as, 1. The act of appearing. 2. The outward aspect of something. 3. A pretense.

So, if we are to abstain from the very appearance of evil, my wife can't have a "virgin margarita" (one with no alcohol). Shooting pool at the local pool hall is definitely out of the question. And certain styles of clothes, hair, beards, and mustaches would all be problematic because they "appear" evil to some people.

The Master Abstainer: Jesus as Example

Next, have you considered some things Jesus did? One thing we know for certain, Jesus abstained from sin. And, I'm not trying to be disrespectful, but it does not seem that Jesus always abstained from the "appearance" of evil.

He and his disciples picked grain on the Sabbath, and they did not ceremoniously wash their hands before eating. Both of those "appeared" evil.

Furthermore, Jesus ate with the tax-collectors, prostitutes, and other sinners.

He also drank wine. In fact, this looked so evil to some of his time that they charged him with being a drunkard (an alcoholic) in Matthew 11:19:

"The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and 'sinners.'"

And, in Luke 7:34:

"Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners."

Jesus also turned water into wine at the marriage in Canan:

"Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now"--John 2:10

So, where's the "appearance" line?

Just what did the apostle Paul mean when he said "Abstain from all appearance of evil"?

But, before we answer the question, "What did Paul mean by?" we must answer this question: Did Paul even say, "Abstain from all appearance of evil"? Or, is it possible that the King James Version translation makes him say these words? Let me explain.

W. E. Vine points out that the word appearance: "Eidos, signifies the external appearance, form, or shape." He goes on to say,

It has a somewhat different significance in I Thess. 5:22, in the exhortation "Abstain from every form of evil," i.e., every sort or kind of evil (not "appearance," as in the KJV). This meaning was common in the papyri, the Greek writings of the closing centuries, B.C., and the New Testament era.

So, there you have it. The Greek word eidos not only means the appearance or the outward aspect (looks) of something, but in this particular passage it means the actual form, i.e., the thing itself.

So, in First Thess. 5:22, Paul is simply saying that we are to stay away from the sin (evil) itself, not the "appearance" of evil.

He is saying, in the Ric Walston translation, "No matter what form evil takes, abstain from it."

Actually, the NIV also clears this up rather nicely in its translation of this text: "Avoid every kind of evil" (1 Thess. 5:22).

And, the literal English translation from the Nestle Greek Text says, "from every form of evil abstain" (1 Thess. 5:22).

A Few Translations

Here are a few translations of this verse in other versions of the Bible.
1. Stay away from every form of evil (Jewish New Testament)
2. Abstain from every form of evil (New King James Version)
3. Abstain from every form of evil (New American Standard)
4. Avoid every kind of evil (New International Version)
5. Keep away from every kind of evil (Living Bible)
6. Abstain from evil—shrink from it and keep aloof from it—in whatever form or whatever kind it may be (Amplified Bible)

Old Memory Verses

What is amazing to me is that so many people—probably older people like I am—will quote from memory passages of Scripture from the KJV but in their daily devotions and even in their churches, they will use more modern translations. So, without checking what the newer translations have to say, these people will quote the KJV representation of Paul's words, and, ultimately, they perform a type of eisegesis instead of exegesis.

In a conversation today with my pastor, Rev. Ross Holtz (The Summit ), he correctly pointed out that we must still take into account the legitimate aspect of honoring others and not placing stumbling blocks before them. I agree.

Note Paul's words in First Corinthians: "Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak" (1 Cor. 8:9).

So, there is a legitimate command to abstain from activities that appear evil to our weaker brothers and sisters in the Lord. However, and this is my point, the concept of "abstaining from activities that appear evil to our weaker brothers and sisters" comes from First Corinthians, and not from First Thessalonians 5:22.

I cannot tell you the number of times over the years that I have agreed with a person's conclusions, but not with the process of his argumentation. In fact, when we misuse Scripture to support our conclusions, even if those conclusions are right, we undercut the scholastic authority of those conclusions.

So, if one should argue that a certain activity appears evil to weaker brothers and sisters in the Lord and that we should abstain from those activities in deference to those believers, the basis for his argument should not be a mishandling of First Thessalonians 5:22, but rather the correct understanding of the germane pericope in First Corinthians chapter eight.

Thus, keeping in mind that we must avoid being stumbling blocks to our weaker brothers and sisters in the Lord (1 Cor. 8:9), the Bible does not say: "Abstain from all appearance of evil."

It says, rather, "Avoid every kind of evil" (NIV—I Thessalonians 5:22).