Accessories to Sin: 5 Ways We Encourage Others to Sin
Our street was swarming with police.
My siblings and I, our faces pressed to the upstairs window of the apartment we grew up in, looked out over the warm summer evening as officers escorted our elderly neighbor out of her house in handcuffs and placed her into the back of a cruiser. Her face was expressionless; far different from the laughing and talkative woman we had conversed with many times on those same summer evenings while visiting our complexes community pool.
The buzz around the complex the next day, later confirmed by headlines in the local paper, was that she had been arrested on charges of accessory to murder. Later convicted, evidence revealed that she had helped her daughter with the plotting, planning, and coverup of the murder of her son-in-law (the daughter’s husband).
I remember thinking over, for the first time, what it meant to be guilty of something you didn’t directly put your hand to and considering what it meant to be an accessory to crime. Theologically speaking, this is not just an accessory to crime but an accessory to sin.
In his excellent book The Ten Commandments, Thomas Watson writes, "God's law forbids not only the acting of sin in our own persons, but being accessory to, or having any hand in, the sins of others." Watson briefly gives five examples of ways we partake of other's sins – which I will expound upon.
A person may be tempted to view being an accessory to sin as a lesser evil than carrying out sin with one's own hand. The reality is that Jesus warns of a greater judgment for those who cause others to sin (Matthew 18:6, John 19:11). Additionally, Paul warns Timothy not to "…take part in the sins of others…" (1 Tim 5:22). The question then remains: In what ways might we be guilty of having a hand in the sins of others?
1. Giving Sinful Commands.
Nebuchadnezzar set up a golden image of himself for worship; this was not voluntary idolatry (though that would have been bad in itself). The king established designated times for all citizens to bow and worship the image. This decree, forcing others to worship a false image and threatening death upon those who refused, made him an accessory to idolatry (Daniel 3).
King David, to cover his sin with Bathsheba (a married woman), sent a letter to Joab commanding him to place Bathsheba's husband, Uriah, at the front of the battle and then withdraw his men so that the enemy would overtake Uriah the Hittite. Joab obeys the commands of his king, and Uriah loses his life. Believing he had successfully covered his sin, King David breathes a sigh of relief. This peace is short-lived because God sends the Prophet Nathan to confront David. Nathan cleverly reveals the sin and says something shocking in his charges against David, "Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. (2 Sam 12:9). God placed the guilt for Uriah's murder on David, though he did not yield the sword.
To seemingly lesser degrees, we can be guilty of using our authority over others to cause them to sin and, therefore, sin ourselves. When we command others to sin on our behalf, we become accessories to sin. When you ask your children to lie – “Tell them I’m not here” or ask your spouse to call out sick for you when you are not ill, you are an accessory to sin. Causing your family to forsake the assembly of the saints because you do not want to attend on that particular Lord’s Day is being an accessory to sin. When you urge your employees or coworkers to fudge the numbers, cook the books, and hide the tips, you involve them in your sin.
2. Not stopping the Sins of Others When it is in Our Power.
A parent who will not correct their child is neglecting their God-given duty as a loving parent. Hopni and Phinehas were worthless men who did not know the Lord (1 Sam 2:12). Though they were priests, they robbed the choice meats from the sacrifices and treated the offering of the Lord with contempt (1 Sam 2:17). Years later, the talk of the town was that Hopni and Phinehas were sexually sinning with the women who were serving at the tent of meeting (1 Sam 2:22). After many years of grievous rebellion, Eli the Great High Priest and one of the last Judges of Israel confronts his sons about their sin, but they ignore their father’s voice. Their rebellion culminates in taking the Ark of the Covenant into battle against the Philistines, resulting in the capture of the ark, the death of the two brothers, and thirty thousand soldiers of Israel.
The Lord reveals to Samuel that a curse would fall on the house of Eli, not only for the rebellion of his sons but for Eli's dereliction as a Priest and parent in failing to stop his son’s wickedness. 1 Samual 3:13 reports the details, “And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them.”
A pastor who will not fight wolves in the church because it’s difficult and costly, a police officer who will not enter a building with an active shooter because he is afraid, a parent who spares the rod because he is inconsistent and lazy, all find themselves to be an accessory to sin.
3. Encouraging Others to Sin
How often have you provoked others to sin and encouraged their sinful behavior? It is not uncommon for friends to give nods of approval to a contentious wife henpecking her husband. How about a child on the playground chanting "Fight! Fight! Fight!" or in the dormitory chanting "Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!". The Bible warns against such sins as encouraging your neighbor to drunkenness when it says, “Woe to him who makes his neighbors drink - you pour out your wrath and make them drunk, in order to gaze at their nakedness!” (Hab 2:15). Ahithophel counseled Absalom to go in and defile his father’s concubines (2 Sam 16:21) to encourage the supporters of the rebellion. Though the man in Habakkuk was not drunk and Ahithophel was not personally defiling the concubines, judgment (woe) falls on them.
There is also a sense in which we provoke (encourage) others to sin with our behavior. In Ephesians 6:4, fathers are commanded not to provoke their children to anger but rather to bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. In a more general command in Galatians 5:25-26, we are encouraged, "If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking (lit: irritate) one another, envying one another.”
4. Consenting to Another’s Sin
To consent to another's sin is to give approval or even to celebrate and applaud it. Saul was said to consent (applaud) the death of Stephen in Acts 8:1. One place a person may consent to sin is in the tumultuous world of politics. After the recent assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump, social media blew up with a variety of opinions, sentiments, and conspiracies. Two prevalent post types carried the following themes: "Too bad the shooter missed" and "Too bad it wasn't Biden."
Both wretched responses show that the individual's heart was behind the sin, though they themselves did not (and perhaps would not) pull the trigger. The heart sin is there, and they have, in a way, become an accessory to the sin.
5. By Being a Bad Example
One of the more sobering aspects of parenting is seeing yourself in your child. I remember my grandmother erupting into laughter when seeing an 8-year-old me standing among my father and uncles with my thumbs stuck into my front pockets, and my arms drooped loosely at my side – this is how my dad and his brothers all had the habit of casually standing.
Setting a bad example gives others an occasion to sin. If a father habitually erupts in sinful anger, he teaches his son to do the same. If a mother constantly complains, she teaches her daughter to echo her voice. If a parent blasphemes God, and the child, by their example, also learns to blaspheme, they have taught by example. Watson comments on this point, saying, "As there are hereditary diseases, so there are hereditary sins."
How much blasphemy has drizzled out of the lips of unbelievers because of the poor example of Christians? Rather than living righteously, resulting in them glorifying God (Matt 5:16) or hating us for righteousness’s sake (Luke 6:22), our sinful behavior and lack of repentance provoke "…The name of God [being] blasphemed among the Gentiles…” (Romans 2:24).
Believers are called to be a positive force of example throughout the New Testament. 1 Timothy 4:12 says, “…but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity." In several places, the Apostle Paul tells others to imitate him (Phil 3:17, 1 Cor 4:16). Pastors are commanded to set the example for the flock (1 Peter 5:3), and the writer of Hebrews calls believers to remember their leaders and to consider the outcome of their way of life, and then to imitate their faith (Heb 13:7).
Conclusion
If you find yourself aiding and abetting the sins of others, it is time to repent to God, seek forgiveness from those you have sinned against, and walk as a child of light (Eph 5:8).
May God give us the grace needed.