One Sin For the Whole Community

But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against the children of Israel.
Joshua 7:1 KJV

One man sinned, but the entire community of Israel was affected. Rom.5:12-19 is the summary of what Israel experienced here. It took the sin of Adam for the entire world to be affected. In Mat.18:6, there is a great recommendation for punishment for those who lead others into sin. No sin is private. Every sin must affect others also. Saving faith is a personal thing, but there is a corporate element which affects the body of Christ. This is what happened to Achan. See the language: ” the children of Israel committed a trespass”. Some modern Christians will correct God, Me? I was not there! ”. You don’t have to be there, you have to pray for others as well. It could stop a whole community from moving forward. In Eph.4:25, Paul admonished the people to stop lying because we are members of one another. James T.Drapper writing in 2002 says, ‘:There is no private sin, no isolated wrong. A lie is a sin against the fellowship of believers, a hurt inflicted upon others in the faith”. Drapper was dealing with the subject of Lone Christianity. While it was sin with Achan, it became a trespass at the national level. A trespass is the breaking of God’s moral boundary. One act of greed has thrown the entire country into defeat. What will your actions today do to your community? Think about it.