This is part 2 of a 4 part essay on our response to evil. If you didn't read the previous section go back and read that first.
Response #1
We long to see the Kingdom of the Lord revealed in its
totality. We long for the day when anger, hatred, war and strife will be done
away with. However in the absence of that we have a tendency to respond in a
couple of ways. The first way we respond is with hatred.
Before I go on, I want to emphasize that I don’t want to
speak too harshly about these responses because they are completely
understandable and natural. However we who follow Jesus are no longer natural
men and women, we are new creations and we must constantly strive to put on
that new identity.
By saying that we respond with hatred my aim is not
necessarily to condemn us. When someone attacks us or our interests it is often
our first response to answer back in kind. When someone talks negatively about
us at work, we want to defend ourselves and rattle off their faults and
failings. When someone maligns our child our gut-level response is to come out
with fists flying. Often, even when the attack or oppressor is more abstract
and less direct, we find ourselves leaping to the worst possible solution or to
broad generalities that don’t speak to the truth of the situation.
I find that this is the case with situations in which we can
paint someone as an “other”. It becomes far easier to fight back against an
unseen or nebulous opponent. Our responses don’t have to be tempered by the
humanity of the adversary or the troubled situation they are coming from.
I encountered this one day while I was in college. Nearly
all of us have this story. The story of “where you were”. I am of course
speaking of where you were when you heard about the attack on 9/11. It was the
second day of class of the year. I overheard several classmates discussing some
nameless tragedy in class before the professor came and dismissed us all.
Unknowing, I joined the body of students walking back to the dorms only to find
the reality of the situation on the TV when I got back. For me, one of the most
remarkable and chilling experiences came later that day though. Eventually,
after a few hours, all classes were cancelled. It was the beginning of the
semester and every student, resident and commuter alike, were on campus, just
milling about. Nobody knew quite what to do. Everything was rumor back then. We
didn’t have well-produced websites and Twitter accounts for terrorists to claim
responsibility for their deeds so all we had was vague conjecture about
‘Middle-Eastern terrorists’. I moved throughout the mass of people near one of
the main buildings on campus and listened to the collective voice of the
people, excerpted from passing conversations. The consensus? “We’ve got to get
them back.” “We to bomb them back to the stone age”. And for me, one of the starkest
comments I heard was more personal in descriptive: “We’ve got mow them down.”
It is completely natural for us to feel hurt when we have
indeed been hurt. Too often, though, we fly off without considering the gravity
and complexity of the situation, let alone the human angle.
I find the case of Europe to be particularly enlightening
right now. Due largely to the civil wars in Syria and Iraq, many young (18-25)
European Muslims are flying down and joining the war in the Middle East. Many
of these men and women come from stable, loving homes; from a religious
upbringing that we would not consider radicalized. But the emptiness of the
human condition and the brokenness of man leads the to paths of hatred and
violence. But consider their parents, who never imagined that their children
would be capable of such hatred and evil acts. What if they were our neighbors?
Would we view the attackers differently? Would we be quicker to offer
consolation; to offer grace?
Just a few thoughts.
Response #2
The second response we tend to have to evil and violence in
the world is depression or at the very least thoughts of despair. Again, these
thoughts are born out of a yearning for God’s peace and justice to reign over
His creation. They rise from the desire to live in a just and equitable world
free from the hateful and selfish demands of men and women who seek to control
the world in which they live by controlling the lives of others. These thoughts
of despair cut out the heart of joy that is to define the Christ-follower. They
rob us of the freedom in which we are to live in the Spirit.
So often the nightly news bothers me so much that I am
tempted to draw back and disconnect from this hateful (and hurting) world. We
know that this should not be, but the momentary emotions of our hearts lead us
to abandon hope for despair.
How are we to do as Paul commends us when the oppression of
the evil one weighs so heavily upon us?
Rejoice always; pray
without ceasing; in everything give thanks 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
We know these commands to be true but in our pain and in our
bitterness we sink deeper into the despair of the worn and beaten down.
As we saw, Jesus knew what kind of lives He was calling His
followers to. He intended them to be aware of the cost of such discipleship. He
afforded nothing for their safety or prosperity. In fact the only promise He
made was that they would have
trouble.
Peter wrote to a group of people embroiled in such trouble;
people scattered across the Roman Empire suffering for the faith that had been
called to. To these stalwart saints facing persecution and death he wrote:
Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us
to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from
the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will
not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of
God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In
this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you
have been distressed by various trials, (1 Peter 1:3a-6)
Peter comforts these embattled saints by reminding them of
the power of the Lord in calling them to salvation. They, who were once not a
part of God’s family, had been drawn in by the power of His grace not by any
machination of Man. In light of their temporal and real sufferings Peter draws
their gaze to their inheritance (the fulfillment of salvation) which cannot be
destroyed by clubs, or bombs, or flame. He speaks of their hope as one which
will never fade into obscurity or be halted by death. While the powers of this
world have dominion enough to choke and starve; to torture and kill, they lack
the power to even touch that which the Lord has protected. Their hand only
reaches as far as the Lord will allow. It can never touch our inheritance as
beloved sons and daughters of God. These are the words of encouragement Peter
writes to those believers living through the fire of persecution.
Who are we to doubt the power of God? If the Lord was able
to preserve those who faced death at the hands of an ungodly empire, who are we
to doubt His power to preserve us in the face of temptation, harassment,
ridicule, and indeed physical attacks?
The answer is obvious. Though the emotions often drown out
the truth of Scripture, we must fight to cling to the very words of God which
encourage us to trust not on our own understanding but upon Him. When evil and
oppression lay siege to our soul we must always rely upon the Word of Truth.
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