Asleep In The Face of Evil
One of the great peculiarities of history is the tendency of humanity to be oblivious to the evil that is right in their midst. The refusal of the people of England to recognize the grossly horrific treatment of the slave trade comes to mind. This is why William Wilberforce had to publish material explaining to the people the conditions endured by those on the slave trips. Likewise, a historical study of WW2 makes one understand that many in both England and America were mostly asleep before Adolf Hitler began his audacious and tyrannical schemes. Winston Churchill, the great prime minister of England, was considered an alarmist for his stance against Hitler and a political outlier before his predictions came to pass and England stood in need of his leadership. There is a lethargy in the face of evil that drives inaction. It leads to a failure in duty and responsibility. And, it causes evil to only grow and multiply.
None of this is surprising given the truth of sin and the biblical worldview. We tend to be blind and asleep to the reality of sin and evil in our own hearts and even more in the world. Proverbs 1:32 says that “the complacency of fools destroys them.” Our hearts are not naturally born with a propensity to pluck sin out of our lives or to pursue righteousness. We do not automatically spot evil in the world and have a passion to run to the fight. Such things are the grace gift of God. It can be rightly said that the rise of totalitarianism in the world during the 20th century had much to do with the silence of good men who were blind during their time. We must learn from this reality and not repeat the same mistake. Our vision needs to be clear so that we can bring glory to God by fighting the good fight He has called us to in our day!
Dealing With Evil Quickly
There is no shortage of evil in the world today nor of false and dangerous beliefs that need to be confronted with the bright light of Scripture. Abortion is one such enemy. It is a killing that we do not see in front of our eyes. Babies are murdered in the womb chemically behind closed doors away from the sight of the public. Women go to facilities where their children can be slaughtered. Bodies do not lie slain publicly in streets making it all too “comfortable” for the public to not realize the travesty occurring in their midst. Children are mutilated in the name of “transgender ideology” and encouraged to “transition” from one gender to another at very young ages. Such evils are murderously inflicting irreparable damage on individuals made in God’s image. This is not even to speak of increasing governmental control and totalitarianism which is arising again. We must awaken to the reality of the matter. It is vital we see the evils of our day.
The evil will only grow unless the bright light of the Gospel and God’s Word are brought to bear by His grace working through His people rising up by the power of the Spirit of God to seek the honor of Christ. We must see the evil plainly and fight it with great courage seeking the salvation of men and women. There is no doubt all of this starts with seeing the evil, the sin in our own lives that needs to be plucked out. Christ said:
“Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” -Matthew 7:3-5
The call here is not that we are to refuse to see the sin or speck in our brother’s eye but that we must first remove the plank in our own lives so we can have clear vision. If we are trying to come alongside them while having a plank in our eye then we will not be able to see the sin clearly in someone else’s life to help them. We must deal with sin in our own hearts and do it quickly. Psalm 119:60 says, “I hasten and do not delay to keep your commandments.” We are not to be slow to obey, but run quickly to do the will of the Lord. That means getting the plank out of our eyes so that we are living faithfully and are able to serve God and others fully. If there be sin in our lives let us repent immediately. May Christ give us the wisdom to know how to run the race He has called us to with even more faithfulness.
Fighting Evil in The World
Sadly, far too many have a reluctance to boldly speak on sins that are prevalent in our world today. Isaiah 59:14 truly does echo the situation in our culture today:
“Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has stumbled in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter.” -Isaiah 59:14
Our calling as the people of God is to speak the truth which involves calling out sin and proclaiming the full righteous standards of God. We must speak into the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ seeking to pursue the Lord together and strengthen one another. The church grows whenever we come alongside each other and point one another to Christ. Beyond the life of the church, we must speak the counsel of Scripture to the world calling on sinners to come to Jesus and repent. This is going to involve calling out all kinds of sins that we see. Whether we are talking about sexual immorality, theft, abortion, lust, drunkenness, governmental tyranny, abdication of responsibilities, or whatever else, we must call out sin. Certainly, this does not mean that we fail to praise righteousness or have only a cynical spirit. Yet, it does mean that we preach the full counsel of God’s Word refusing to back down from the parts that might be considered controversial in our day. We must not have slowness to speak or act here, our Lord is worthy of our quick obedience to the praise of who He is!
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