Two Evils

"EVANGELIST: Your sin is very great since you have in fact
committed two evils; you have forsaken the way that is good, and
then pursued forbidden paths. Nevertheless, the man at the Gate
will welcome you because he offers goodwill to approaching
pilgrims. Even so, be careful that you do not turn aside again, for
then you may perish altogether when his wrath is kindled but a
little.
Then Christian made preparation to return to the right way.
After Evangelist had kissed him, encouraged him with a smile, and
commended him to God’s keeping, the pilgrim quickly pressed
forward; he was now especially careful not to speak to anyone;
even if spoken to by a stranger, he would not offer a reply. Now
his manner of walking was as if he was stepping on forbidden
ground in unsafe territory; he seemed so intent on reaching the
right way where he was first beguiled by the counsel of Mr.
Worldly-Wiseman." John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress


What is Evangelist referring to when he accuses to Christian of committing two evils? We know he listened to Worldly-Wiseman and took the detour, but two evils? What Christian did is what Israel did. HE not only turned away from the True and Living God, but he turned to a false religion. Israel turned away from the God that set them free, to worship idols made of their own hands. We turn away from God, but our idols are not as easily identified. Whatever causes you to turn away from God, becomes an object of worship. Anything that we treasure, other than God is an idol.


"My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water." Jeremiah 2:13


Evangelist, doesn't make it easy for Christian. He makes it known that Christian's sin is horrible. He makes it known that Christian's sin is dangerous. He warns Christian that this mercy may not always draw him back. How many people have we sat next to in a pew have fooled around with sin to lose themselves in that folly?


"We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For since the message spoken through angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will." 
Hebrews 2:1-4 


"So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness, where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw what I did. That is why I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’ 
¹¹ So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.”Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief." Hebrews  3:7-19


Evangelist also shows his love and devotion to his sheep. Christian has committed a grievous sin, but Evangelist gives him a kiss. He encourages Christian with a smile. We have been made to picture Evangelist before this as stern, and he had to be due to the seriousness of the journey, but Evangelist knows Christian needs this smile.He needs to be shown this side of love as well. Christian is then set on the right path again. He is refreshed. He is serious. He is committed.