If you live on this earth, you can be sure of one thing: you will witness evil. We should expect it and be prepared to react. How then should we respond to evil?
Hate it: Romans 12:9 tells us “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.” This may seem obvious, but our culture has turned evil into entertainment. We pay money to see evil unfold on the big screen. We etch out time to sit in our own homes and watch evil prevail on television. Because of this, we often find ourselves numb to the actual presence of evil when we see it on the news or right before our very eyes. We must learn to recognize evil and hate it.
Pray against it: Matthew 6:13 is a great example of praying for escape. “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” Our pride often tricks us into thinking we can deal with evil on our own. We can’t, and if we try, we will fail. We must pray to our Heavenly Father and ask for deliverance.
Expose it: Ephesians 5:11 says “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness but instead expose them.” Our current culture is one that teaches complete tolerance. We are expected to accept and tolerate any and all behavior, even if the behavior directly violates God’s Word. While we are expected, as Christians, to respond to sin with a certain level of grace and love, evil should in no way, under any circumstance, be tolerated. It should be exposed, and we should take no part in it.
Speak truth over it: Jesus should always be our ultimate example of how to live our lives. In Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-14 we are given a wonderful example of Jesus responding to evil. In these verses we read about Jesus being tempted by Satan in the wilderness. Imagine being face to face with Satan, the author of evil. How did Jesus respond? He quoted Scripture. Jesus is showing us the utmost importance of knowing God’s Word and being able to speak truth in the face of evil!
Let God handle it: Wars are waged to fight against leaders of evil nations, and there are punishments in place to deal with evil individuals. We should be thankful for the laws of our land and the protection provided by federal and local law enforcement, but we must also remember our responsibilities as individuals. Romans 12:17-21 tells us, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. On the contrary: ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good.”
As Christians we are called to be people of hope. We follow a God who is obsessed with restoration, with redemption, with bringing light out of darkness. Our faith is rooted in expectation; in the belief not only that an afterlife will right all wrongs, but that God is already involved in remaking the world for the better.
That all sounds fantastic. But how does it really work in practice? When all we can see is a world increasingly broken, how do we hold on to the kind of hope that can propel us to action? I believe the Bible contains some compelling answers.
Believe in what you have not seen: Hebrews 11:1 describes faith as “confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see”. At the heart of the biggest problems we see today are issues of anger and greed, often among powerful people who are apparently immoveable from their positions. Corrupt governments, powerful terrorist organizations and even entrenched economic systems can seem beyond defeat, modern day Jerichos that cannot be breached. We can’t see how change is possible, but the Bible suggests we still must believe it is – and act accordingly.
Never tire of doing good: In a list of instructions at the end of his letter to the Galatian church, the Apostle Paul includes a wonderful one-liner: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9). The awful phenomenon of compassion fatigue is perhaps unpleasantly familiar to us. Paul addresses it directly: don’t give up, and don’t allow yourself to become tired of trying, even when faced with incredible difficulty. It is a discipline to stay hopeful and to keep on fighting for good.
Evil is real, but not victorious: We should not be surprised that evil is on the march. The New Testament is crystal clear that the life we see now is a battleground between good and evil; that God isn’t simply in control and moving things around like chess pieces. Paul writes of how the early Church experienced this firsthand, yet in each phrase there is always a tension between suffering and hope. “We are hard pressed on every side but not crushed; perplexed but not in despair; persecuted but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). These verses should be a great encouragement to anyone struggling with feeling overwhelmed.
The light shines in the darkness: However bad things may seem, the Bible is clear about who wins in the end. At the very beginning of John’s gospel (John 1:5), the writer informs us that “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it”. Jesus wins. Love wins. Goodness wins. That may not change short-term horror, but it can embolden us with long-term perspective.
He will wipe away every tear: Finally, at the very end of the Bible, we get the most extraordinary picture of the God who grieves with us over the state of the world. In his vision of the new heaven and the new earth in Revelation 21, John writes: “‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Right now, we are still living in the midst of the “old order of things”, but we know not only that these things will one day be no more, but that the God, who empowers and guides us as we fight against them, is so filled with love and compassion that he promises to dry the tears of the suffering and to make right all that has gone terribly wrong.
These verses can, I believe, be a great help in restoring and encouraging our sense of hope, even in the face of great evil. Simply reading and understanding them, however, is by no means enough. They should not simply make us feel better. They should drive us to action and compel us to be the hands and feet of the God who promises that light will overcome darkness, in spite of the odds.
These past weeks have knocked many of us to our knees. That is a good place to start. But it is crucial that we find our way back to our feet. God is calling us to be a people of hope, even in the face of unspeakable evil.
May God Bless You and Grant You His Peace!