“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11)
The Basket Case Chronicles #187
“Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame” (1 Cor. 15:33–34).
The word rendered here as communications is homilia, which in other translations is rendered as company. Bad or evil company corrupts good customs, morals, or habits. The word there for manners is ethos. Another way of putting this is that moral stupidity is contagious, and that a person is more vulnerable to such contagion in crowds. He who walks with the wise will be wise, and a companion of fools will be destroyed (Prov. 13:20). Practical virtue is a team sport. So is vice.
Paul begins his exhortation on this point with a reminder not to “be deceived.” It is very easy for us to think that our character is more impervious to outside influence than it actually is. We like to think that we can navigate the rapids of foolish company, but it turns out that our high end kayak of personal integrity is actually a leaky and cumbersome canoe.
So then wake up to righteousness, and stop sinning. Whether this admonition is obeyed or not will be seen by which crowd a person heads for—the wise or the foolish one. To head toward the people who do not know God is a demonstration that the person doing it does not know God either, and that the whole thing is shameful. Professing Christians who do this, like some of the Corinthians, need to be ashamed.