Each member of a Church in each day’s conduct in business and at home stakes, not only his own reputation, but the credit of the Church to which he belongs. Involuntarily and unconsciously men lower their opinion of the Church and cease to expect to find in her a fountain of spiritual life, because they find her members selfish and greedy in business, ready to avail themselves of doubtful methods; harsh, self-indulgent, and despotic at home, tainted with vices condemned by the least educated conscience. Let us remember that our little leaven leavens what is in contact with us [1 Corinthians 5:6 “Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?”]; that our worldliness and unchristian conduct tend to lower the tone of our circle, encourage others to live down to our level, and help to demoralise the community.

“The First Epistle to the Corinthians” by Marcus Dods in The Expositor’s Bible, Vol. 5, 652.