How is it that we can lead others into sin? I can give you four simple, general answers to that question. Number one, by direct temptation. You all understand that. You tempt somebody to sin, you invite someone to sin, you invite them to sin morally against the laws of God, against the commandments of our Lord by direct solicitation. You invite people to lie, to gossip, to cheat. You invite people to love the world. You draw them into ungodly enterprise as activities, entertainment – whatever. You understand that.

But there’s a second way, and that’s by indirect temptation. You provoke them to jealousy by flaunting what you have. You provoke them to anger by indifference or unkindness. Like your children, you know, Ephesians 6:4, “Provoke not your children to wrath” by inattention, lack of affection, lack of forgiveness, lack of kindness, overbearing expectations. You can do it directly or indirectly.

Thirdly, another way that you can cause people to stumble is by setting a sinful example, simply by doing things that people see that are sinful, which path they perhaps will follow. Romans 14, it can be flaunting your liberty, which will then lead someone else to do the same, but because that conscience has not yet been liberated to understand the full freedoms in Christ, Paul says, it’s destructive because this is training a person to violate conscience, and that has a very bad outcome. You have to be careful of the example that you set. Just when you don’t think people are watching, the truth is, they are.  ~ John MacArthur