1 Cor 5:1-8 / Lk 6:6-11
What is your long-term effect on the community? There’s an old saying about one rotten apple spoiling a whole barrel, and it’s true. We can see it on a sports team, in a classroom, and even on the freeway. The power of our good or bad example to influence the people around us is too often underrated.
In today’s epistle, St. Paul is worrying about the likely consequences of the conspicuous misbehavior of one member of the community at Corinth. “A little yeast has its effect all through the dough,” he frets. And he’s right. Every one of us, no matter how small or virtually invisible, has our effect on the family.
So it’s fair to ask, what effect is our way of living, speaking, driving, working, praying, sharing or not sharing, having on the people around us? Are we encouraging or discouraging them? Do they walk more readily and confidently with the Lord because we are here, or do they pull away because of us?
God has given each of us great power for good in the force of our example. How are we using that power?
