Ephesians 5:11, KJV: "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them."
Timothy was the celebrated disciple of St. Paul, and bishop of Ephesus, where he zealously governed the Church until A.D. 97. At this period, as the pagans were about to celebrate a feast called Catagogion, Timothy, meeting the procession, reproved them for their ridiculous idolatry. The exasperated idolaters fell upon him with their clubs, and beat him in so dreadful a manner that he died of the bruises two days later. In church history, some believers were killed because they didn't associate with the evil of their day. They also reproved the works of darkness like Bishop Timothy did.
If you read the opening text and the account of Bishop Timothy's action against the idolatrous people, you'll notice the word "reprove". If you try to use your understanding of English to interpret that word, you may think that Timothy over stepped his bounds. Actually, reprove in context of Ephesians 5:11 is akin to the word "convince". Here, we are not talking about harsh rebuke as some may be thinking.Timothy did not preach fire and brimstone message to those idolaters. Out of compassion for their sinful state, he began to convince them against idolatry and I know his goal was to bring them to Christ. Timothy must have read chapter 5 verse 11 of Paul's letter to the Ephesians. His death was not a foolish death as some may think. He obeyed the scriptures. He died because he reproved the unfruitful works of darkness. He was not passive about it. It is not enough to shun the unfruitful works of darkness we must reprove it albeit in love. If you see your unmarried son or daughter cohabiting, don't look away and say after all, they are mature.
Appearances of evil and evil itself must be reproved. We are expected to stand for the truth in boldness. As they say, silence in some instances may mean consent. Some want to appear 'friendly' but in the process, they accommodate the works of darkness. In some countries where some Christians do not want to be seen as going against the people's right, they kept silent about the practice of homosexuality and it became a norm. Today, gay right is being pushed subtly in nations that have not accepted it but the voice of reprove is not strong. Who is reproving corruption from the altar? When no one reproves evil, it would become a norm. The effect is that generations yet unborn would accept evil as normal and lies as truth. When you reprove, you're snatching people from hell. Jude 1:23 "save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh NIV.
Father, I receive the grace not to accommodate the works of darkness around me in Jesus name.