Defiled By The World (Preventable? Response?) Series

Is there sin in the world?

Sin is anything that does not line up with a Holy God!

Specifically, where do we see sin in this world we live in??

We are confronted with sin everyday, aren’t we?

Jesus prayed to God the Father in John 17, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.”

Think about this prayer for a moment. Jesus is basically saying, “Yes, the world is full of sin and the Devil is always looking for someone to devour, but for the time being, I want my followers to stay in the world!” Wow!

Jesus allows his followers to be in the Lion’s den!

Until Jesus returns to earth, Christians can not escape being involved in the world!

God has a purpose for Christians to remain on earth; but being defiled by the world is not one of those purposes! Being defiled means to be blemished, to be impure, to be stained with immorality. Jesus prays for Christians to be in the world but not to be defiled by evil! Jesus desires for His followers to be holy! Is the prayer of Jesus enough?

How can Christians prevent themselves from being defiled by the world? If a Christian is defiled, what is the proper response? Let us learn from the Children of Israel then look at further instructions for Christians today. Let us read Genesis 34..........

Here’s the good news: God gave a promise of blessing to the descendants of Jacob. God changed Jacob’s name to Israel (one who strives with God).

The bad news: Israel was supposed to testify to the world about the Loving Creator God, but instead, the Sons of Israel killed all the males of a city, looted it, and made the women and children their slaves!

Jacob summed up the situation in v30…………..

Israel (God’s Chosen People) became a “stench” to the world! What went wrong? Was it God’s fault? Why didn’t God protect His people?

The problem started with Jacob’s daughter Dinah!

What did Dinah do wrong? Dinah placed herself in a situation where she could be violated! Was it wrong for Dinah to go the city and meet other women? Of course not! The Israelites can only testify about their God as they meet other people.

The problem with Dinah was she was not careful enough to be protected from being violated by the world. From what we read, Dinah did not have anyone else with her as she went out into the world! Dinah placed herself in a bad situation and she was violated. Another thought that came to my mind was, “I wonder what Dinah was wearing to town that day?”

The world can and loves to defile believers of God!!

Believers must be careful in relating with the world.

Believers must not place themselves vulnerable to being defiled by the world.

The world can, and likely will, defile believers of God!

If Believers are defiled by the world, what is the right response? Did the Sons of Israel respond properly?

Was revenge even the right thing to do? We read in God’s Word, “vengeance is mine, says the Lord!”

The Sons of Israel did many things wrong in response to the defilement of their sister:

Look again at v13…………

1. They disrespected their father by taking charge of the discussions! It was to be a discussion between 2 fathers.

2. They were deceitful. They responded wrongly with their anger (they schemed for revenge!). They pretended to be nice when they already planned to kill.

3. Not only did they murder all the males in the city, they also took captive the innocent women and children.

We also need to note the following:

4. They didn’t talk to Dinah, the one who was actually violated. Shouldn’t they have heard her out?

And most importantly,

5. They didn’t consult with God!

Because of Dinah’s carelessness and the wicked response of Jacob’s sons, the Israelites became a poor testimony for God. Instead of being Salt and Light to the world, the Israelites became skunk oil and darkness to the world!

Are we Salt and Light to the world today?

Christians are to influence the world, not the other way around!

How are we doing? Yes, Jesus is praying for his followers. But, can Christians be like skunk oil and darkness to the world?

Have you heard this saying? “If that’s what a Christian is like, I don’t want any part of it!” When a Christian leads a person to this thinking, that Christian has become a stench. And because of ungodly actions of Christians, many will not consider the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Christians involved in ungodly acts can be instruments of eternal death to some. We are to be Salt & Light but we are all susceptible to do the opposite!