WALKING ON DANGEROUS GROUND: DO YOU CAUSE OTHERS TO SIN?

Jesus said to His disciples:  “Things that cause people to sin are bound to come,
but woe to that person through whom they come.”
Luke 17:1

Have you ever influenced others to sin?
You might say that you did before you became a Christian, but not since then.
Is that true?
Before you answer, think of these possibilities.
Has anyone ever been rude to you?
How did it make you feel?  Did it make you angry?
Have you been rude to others?
What do the scriptures say about anger?
Psalm 37:8
Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.

Proverbs 15:1
A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Ephesians 4:31
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander,
along with every form of malice.

Colossians 3:8
But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these:
anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.

1 Timothy 2:8
Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray,
lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing.

James 1:20
because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.

If anger does not produce righteousness, then by default it can produce sin.
Rudeness can cause others to sin as they react in anger,
either openly or privately as they seethe.

Have you ever bragged about what you own or what you have done?
Did you ever think this could cause others to be jealous or covetous?
Jealousy and covetousness can lead to other sins.

James 4:2
You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot
get what you want, so you quarrel and fight.
You do not have because you do not ask God.

Acts 7:9
Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph,
they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him

Acts 13:45
When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy.
They began to contradict what Paul was saying and heaped abuse on him.

Acts 17:5
But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters
from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city.
They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas
in order to bring them out to the crowd.

Romans 13:13
Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness,
not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.

1 Corinthians 3:3
You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you,
are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?

2 Corinthians 12:20
For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be,
and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be discord,
jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.

Galatians 5
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;
idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition,
dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you,
as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

God wants us to be a good influence and warns us against being a bad influence.
There’s no doubt what Jesus meant when He said,
“Things that cause people to sin are bound to come,
but woe to that person through whom they come”

We live in a sin-cursed world, and the opportunities for sin surround us always.
Jesus also knew that some people influence others to sin.

You might think of only the ‘big’ and obvious sins that cause others sins
and miss the possibility that you can cause others to sin.
You can disrespect others through rudeness, create jealousy or covetousness by boasting,
participate in and encourage gossip, cause dissension within the church body,
and a multitude of “smaller”, but just as wrong, sins.

Woe to the pornographers, abortionists, bar owners, etc.
but woe also to us when we cause others to sin.

Are there ways that you are influencing others to sin?
What changes will you make in order to encourage others (which can lead to righteousness)
instead of discouraging them through rudeness or boasting (which can cause them to sin)?