One Bad Apple
"One Bad Apple," a song by the Osmonds, hit the airwaves on November 14, 1970, hitting the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart on February 13, 1971.
One bad apple don't
Spoil the whole bunch, girl
Oh, give it one more try
Before you give up on love
One bad apple don't
Spoil the whole bunch, girl
Oh, I don't care what they say
I don't care what you heard
Common sense and simple observation tells us one bad apple can, indeed, spoil, the whole bunch. The Osmonds, with their naive, wishful thinking would have liked us to believe otherwise.
So, which is it? Can one bad apple spoil the whole bunch?
Scientists at McGill University had something to say about that:
You bet. Because once an apple is rotten or has physical damage, (ie a bruise), it produces ethylene, which in turn leads to a slightly increased internal temperature causing a breakdown of chlorophyll and the synthesis of other pigments. The starch in the fruit is converted to simple sugars and at the same time, pectin, a component of fiber that cements the cell walls together, begins to disintegrate thereby softening the tissue. Once this happens, it starts a chain reaction, stimulating the process in other apples.
Google's AI bot had a much simpler and to the point answer:
Yes, one bad apple can spoil a bunch of apples because rot spreads through contact.
Whether we're talking apples ...
Or organes ...
Or ...
The company we keep, the fellowship we share, the entertainment we consume, matters. It all matters ... because rot spreads.
Like the wishful thinking in that old hit song, our own wishful thinking would have us to believe that we have it within ourselves to resist the rot. But rot is, if nothing else ... compelling.
Remember that scientific explanation from McGill? "... pectin, a component of fiber that cements the cell walls together, begins to disintegrate thereby softening the tissue." It is an inevevitable process.
We must guard our hearts and minds, lest our Christian testimony, our right thinking, or moral character all begin to "disintegrate" and "soften" overtime.
Remember, "... rot spreads by contact."
"Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm" (Proverbs 13:20, ESV).
"Do not be misled: 'Bad company corrupts good character'” (1 Corinthians: 15:33, NIV).
Better Flesh?
I am not a strong as Dwayne Johnson, the rock.
I am not as rich as Bill Gates, who is currently worth over $79 billion.
I am not as smart as Terrance Tau, who has an IQ of 230 and earned a doctorate by age 20.
I am not, nor will I ever be, as tall, dark, and handsome as Tom Selleck.
But so what! Jesus said, "the flesh profits nothing." (John 6:63)
"Nothing" means nothing, regardless of the advantage we might enjoy over others. When we boast of our
superiority in the flesh, we are still just boasting in the flesh!
The world is very concerned with the four B's: Braun, Bucks, Brains, and Beauty.
But only God, the one who conceived of us before the foundation of the world, has the right to give us our value.
"There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28, NRSV)
Neither our nationality or our social status or even our gender determines our value. It is our bond in Christ that gains us true value.
Unmixed Devotion
Many people love Jesus but they also love the sin of the world. Because they dabble in both, they are miserable. It's like loving lemonade and frappuccino and drinking from both instead of one or the other. It will make you sick. Loving the world and loving God will make you miserable.
Some drinks can be mixed, just as some interests can compliment one another. But some mixtures are so contradictory that to mix them is to create something that's noxious. The interests of the world and the interests of God can't be mixed.
"You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too ..." (1 Corinthians 10:21).
"So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace" (Romans 8:6, NLT).