Following the September 11 terrorist attacks, George Bush made a promise: “People have declared war on America and they have made a terrible mistake. My administration has a job to do and we’re going to do it. We will rid the world of the evil-doers.”
I know politicians and promises generally have a complicated relationship, but if President Bush had kept this one, there wouldn’t be anyone left!
Jesus talked about this: “Until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force…But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions…” (Mt 11:12-17)
John had been thrown into prison, and it made him wonder if Jesus really was the One, because the promise was that Messiah would do things like—let’s see—set prisoners free! (see Isa 61:1) So he sent a friend to ask Jesus how He thought the project was going.
It’s a fair question. Jesus came two millennia ago. Is the world improving? It looks like things are going from bad to worse. Is His program to overcome evil really working?
Go and tell him, said Jesus, that I’m right on schedule. The problem is that people go about fighting evil in all the wrong ways. It’s a childish view, He said, like the playground taunt, “I’m the king of the castle; you’re the dirty rascal,” to try to get rid of all the rascals. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn observed, “The line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.” The Bible says, “There is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom 3:22-23)
So how can God fix this? The first step was to give us His law, not as medicine to make us better but as a thermometer to show us how sick we were. Paul wrote, “The law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” (Gal 3:24)
Anyone who tries finds it isn’t hard to show kindness in the face of evil—it’s well near impossible! Only Christ could consistently live like that.
Thus God’s solution was not only to provide a Savior to die for the damage we had done, but then to offer us, as a gift, the infusion of a whole new kind of life, the life of Christ Himself. This gives us the power to become revolutionaries against evil. How? Not by being judges of others. Don’t confuse yourself with God! Here is the preacher’s three-point sermon: First, “Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.” Then “Repay no one evil for evil.” And “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Rom 12:9, 17, 21)
Love changes us from victims into victors. God believes in judgment, but first He seeks to get rid of His enemies by turning them into friends. Don’t come down to your opponent’s level; take the high ground by lifting them up. Longfellow offers this Message To Self:
Kind hearts are the gardens;
Kind thoughts are the roots;
Kind words are the flowers;
Kind deeds are the fruits.
Take care of your garden
And keep out the weeds;
Fill it with sunshine—
Kind words and kind deeds.
Religion Page article by Jabe Nicholson first published in the Commercial Dispatch on Sunday, Aug 15, 2021.