"One Bad Apple"

“Do not be deceived: "Bad company ruins good morals." (1 Cor. 15.33)

Everytime I read this verse I think of the phrase “one bad apple, spoils the bunch”. I’m sure you all have heard of this phrase, but have you ever thought about what that means? The phrase comes from the fact that when apples are placed in a closed container such a paper bag the ethylene (the stuff that makes apples ripen) that is produced by them is heavily concentrated because it has nowhere else to go but to swirl inside the bag. Let’s say then that one of these apples in the bag is over ripened or even moldy (these kinds of apples would produce more ethylene then their non-moldy counterparts), what would happen to the other apples? The amount of ethylene would be greatly increased in the bag and cause the other apples to ripen at an alarming rate, which would eventually cause those apples to over ripen much faster than they ever would have without the moldy apple.

So what?

I brought up the apple illustration in order to prove the point in 1 Corinthians 15.33 “bad company ruins good morals”. The bad apple represents the “bad company” (people we shouldn’t be around). The “good morals” are represented by the other apples (you and me, hopefully). Unfortunately I bet we can all think of someone that we hang out with that we aren’t supposed to be (I want to pause right there and state that I am not condemning having friends that aren’t Christians, I am saying however that we shouldn’t be constantly hanging around people with bad morals). If we are hanging around people that have bad habits or morals then what will happen to us? What will happen is, we’ll become moldy!

Have you ever noticed that you pick up habits from those around you? If you’ve ever been around both me and my brother then you have probably noticed some similarities in the way we act. My brother and I hang out and by consequence we have a lot of the same mannerisms. This same thing happens no matter who you hang out with. If you hang around people who cuss all the time then guess what…you will probably start cussing! If you hang out with people who are disrespectful then you will more than likely start being disrespectful!

This week I want you to think about the people you hang out with. We’ve got to start realizing that we have to let our “good morals” be a good influence on the “bad company”, instead of letting the “bad company” be a negative influence on our “good morals”. Make a good choice of who your friends are and don’t let bad company corrupt your good character. Don’t let yourselves get moldy! –Jack D.