Tag Archives: Good and Evil

Looking for answers

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Despite the fact that the Bible doesn’t spend a lot of time talking about the whys behind evil events, it’s natural that we seek explanations. Our society doesn’t tend to believe in fate; we feel that we are the masters of our environment, able to shape the course of our lives. Because of this, we seek explanations in order to seek solutions.

After the Newtown tragedy, some have pointed fingers at easy access to guns. Others (not including Morgan Freeman) have blamed the media, saying that the focus on killers and mass murderers makes violence attractive to those seeking fame. Some have emphasized the killer’s mental illness, arguing that this event highlights the need for more and better treatment for those suffering from such conditions. Others have argued that the lack of religious teaching in school is to blame. Some have noted the effects of a broken home.

It bears saying once again: big problems rarely have simple solutions. If we point to any one of these things and say, “Here’s the problem. Fix it and these incidents will go away,” we’re just kidding ourselves.

Tragedies like that at Sandy Hook Elementary have a multitude of causes. I think all of the things mentioned above come into play (though I remain strongly opposed to prayer in school, beyond that which already exists). We need to look at gun control and mental health. We need to examine how these tragedies are reported (as well as our fascination with death and violence in TV shows and movies). We need to teach morality in our schools (and teach spirituality in our homes). We need to strengthen families and teach that marriage is “until death do us part.”

There is one problem/solution that has been mentioned that I heartily agree with. It’s not a matter of what we need, it’s who we need. Jesus. The problems of society can have bandaids applied to them, but the only real solution is the transformation brought about by the Son of God.

Pray. Tell people about God and his goodness. And do your best to live like Jesus. That’s not all we can/should do, but it is the most effective best. (Edited at 9:51 a.m. — I originally said “most effective,” which is poor word choice. Much of what is right isn’t effective, especially in the eyes of the world.)

photo by Ladyheart on morguefile.com

Waiting on the Lord

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Soldiers were coming to kill their babies. On a regular basis. The Israelites had suffered as slaves at the hands of the Egyptians for hundreds of years. None of them knew what freedom felt like. But this was much worse. Genocide.

Exodus chapters 1 and 2. Egyptians were killing Israelite babies. God’s people cried out to him and he heard their voice. He sent them a deliverer.

Eighty years later.

Eighty years. It was a crisis, an emergency situation. All human reasoning says that something had to be done at that moment. Divine reasoning agreed… and allowed the baby to be born that would bring about justice. Eighty years later.

But that’s the Old Testament, you say. Right you are. Let’s look at the book of Revelation. Christians were being persecuted. One had been killed. More were about to be killed. The people wanted to know what they should do: fight or flee.

God had a different plan: stay and suffer. And he would take care of the Romans. A couple of centuries later.

A couple of centuries later.

Human reasoning says, “Take care of it now. Bring about justice by your own hand. Something must be done immediately.”

Divine reasoning says, “I’ll take care of it. In my time.”

Do we have enough faith to wait on the Lord?

Drawing by Distant Shores Media/Sweet Publishing

Living out spiritual realities

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Following up on yesterday’s discussion (thanks for the great comments!), I want to think about how we can view the world with more spiritual eyes. As someone who takes a high view of Scripture, I have to believe that the world it portrays is a reality. Because of this, I believe there is more to Creation than what meets the eye. There are spiritual realities that need to be recognized.

I think we need to see that our physical actions can have spiritual consequences. There are “deeds of darkness” and “works of light.” When we choose to do evil, we are partnering with evil. We are doing its bidding, allowing it to be our master. We are weakening ourselves spiritually.

We choose between carnal and spiritual, flesh and spirit. Each choice we make shapes us and affects us. Giving in to sin makes it easier to give in the next time. Resisting temptation makes it easier to follow the Spirit in the future.

Even sins that “don’t hurt anybody” hurt me. They weaken me, because we’re not just talking about superficial actions; we’re talking about placing ourself in the camp of evil or the kingdom of good. Paul put it this way: “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?” (Romans 6:16)

I think that we need to help people see that we are in a spiritual struggle, an all-out war between the forces of heaven and the forces of evil. Far too much of our thinking about sin has to do with “will I still get to heaven or not?” That kind of thinking misses the point, fails to see the realities of the world in which we live.

Or am I missing the point? As always, feel free to correct me or steer me in the right direction.

Moving toward holiness

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Yesterday I talked about the concept of the pursuit of holiness. I think that “pursuit” is a good word to use in this case, for two reasons:

(1) 100% holiness will not be achieved through our efforts. As long as we are in the flesh, we won’t be purely holy. All we can do is pursue it.

(2 The idea of movement needs to be included. Let me illustrate why, using an illustration inspired by a recording I heard of a Jeff Walling presentation at the Tulsa Workshop.

First, let’s lay out a continuum, with immorality and holiness as the two endpoints:

Then let’s place two markers on the continuum, one representing the world and one representing the church:

Typically, what the church seeks to do is to use the world as a reference, then seek to be a little bit holier than the world. Our holiness comes to be defined by what we don’t do. (Like the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector in Luke 18) As we resist the influences of the world, we take our stand just to one side of it.

But what happens when the world moves?

The church tends to move with it. I could give myriad examples, but surely we know it’s true. It happens with bad things… and even with good things. In many ways, the world moved ahead of the church in the area of civil rights, for example. The current emphasis on social justice arose from humanists, then spread to the church.

The point is, we can’t just seek to maintain the status quo. That’s next to impossible. We need to be actively moving toward holiness, seeking the fruit of the Spirit, imitating Christ, pursuing godliness. If not, we’ll slowly drift along with the world, maybe not as far, but drifting all the same.

The pursuit of holiness

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Regarding what we discussed yesterday about good and evil, I think that a big problem that Christians have is that they have no sense of the need to pursue holiness. Part of that goes back to something I referred to before, the transactional view of God. That is, people only see their relationship with God in terms of what they can get from Him, the primary “good” to be gotten being salvation. All that matters is whether or not your are saved or lost, according to this view. Therefore, the only concern about sin is whether or not it will “keep us out of heaven” or not.

It’s that viewpoint, for example, that fears teaching about grace. If people are only focused on doing enough to get saved, then any teaching about grace will remove their motivation for doing what’s right. You’ve got to preach fire and brimstone, or people will become complacent.

The New Testament, of course, teaches that grace motivates us to work all that much harder. Because of the grace we’ve received, we pursue holiness. Even as we acknowledge that we will never be perfect, we imitate He that is perfect, becoming holier in the process.

With that sort of view, we begin to look at right and wrong in a different way.That’s where a study of the Old Testament concept of holiness becomes helpful. We choose to do things not only because they are prescribed or proscribed but because they reflect the nature of God. Admittedly, it’s an advanced way of thinking, one that’s not easy to teach to children, for example. But as we mature, I think we have to start looking at things in terms of holiness.

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (1Peter 1:13-16)