Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21).
Grace Notes October 2004
Events at No 1 School in the Russian town of Beslan, North Ossetia, a few weeks ago filled us with horror. The scenes of death and grief on such a scale were painful to watch on TV; we cannot imagine the despair of those actually involved in the suffering.
It seems to me that an unfolding of the above text can help to guide our approach to these things.
1. Evil threatens to overcome us
Recent history shows that societies, perhaps mainly in the West, have been reluctant to acknowledge the notion of sin and evil, whether individually or collectively. There was an element of surprise that such things as, for example, the Bosnian conflict of the early 90s with its barbarity and ‘ethnic cleansing’, could ever happen among the ‘civilised’ nations of Europe. The assumption was that ‘evil’ belonged to a more primitive age.
The Bible of course is clear about the reality of evil in the world, specifically in the sinner’s heart. The Christian has the key to understanding people and the world around him. We know something of the power of sin. We know its source. We know are involved in a spiritual warfare with a determined enemy. As God said to Cain, Sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it (Genesis 4:7, NIV).
There are at least three spheres in which evil seeks to overcome believers:
a) We can be overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of evil as reported in the news media. We are dismayed by the extent and depravity of what is reported – on local and national news, as well as worldwide. During a 24-hour period up to the morning of Friday 17 September, there were five murders in the Greater London area. That day’s ‘Evening Standard’ reported that a 16 year-old boy was stabbed to death in Hackney as he tried to save a friend in a gang fight. A retired couple were found bludgeoned to death in their house on a private estate in Highgate. In a car park in the centre of Croydon one man was found dead after an attack with a screwdriver. A young man was found bleeding from fatal stab wounds in Tottenham High Road. Other acts of evil almost seem worse than murder. The same day’s ‘Times’ carried a report of the ‘grooming’ of a 14 year-old boy who was then sold for sex to ‘clients’ around the country.
b) But there is also the evil within us. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these evil things come from within, and defile the man (Mark 7:21-23). Evil is one. The seeds of every sin are present in our own hearts. The real ‘axis of evil’ operates within each human heart.
c) Then there is the evil done to us and how we respond. Paul envisages that the believer could be overcome by evil if he retaliates, repaying evil for evil. In this case evil has won. If we allow resentments, bitterness, hatred to fester we have lost the battle.
2. We can overcome evil with good
Paul assumes our responsibility and God-given ability to overcome evil. Passivity is not enough. Christians, renewed in their minds by the Spirit of Christ, are created for good works. We do not let the world set our agenda. We fill our lives and consciousness with good things (Philippians 4:8). We are busy asserting, proclaiming, pro-actively doing good.
The foundation for Paul’s exhortations in Romans 12 and 13 is 12:1-2: I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
We are not to be obsessed or fascinated with evil, nor over-anxious about it. While it is good and right for us sometimes to yield emotionally to the impact of evil events with all their human suffering, we can easily be overcome and lose the will to protest against evil. That is to leave God out of the picture.
The controlling factor for Paul is that God is the Judge. Though he does not undertake to stop evil men in this world, he has said, Vengeance is mine, I will repay. He has enthroned his king on Zion. There is a place for speaking out against evil and striving for justice for others, but we dare not take over the responsibility for ultimate judgement. We are to give God his rightful place as the Judge and leave to him the righting of wrongs.
In the meantime we can be sure that good acts can defeat evil. The story is told of a US Army sergeant and his unit - all pretty rough characters. But none of them was harder than a certain corporal. This man became a Christian and was baptised. His life underwent a transformation that amazed the others because he had been so hard before. They admired him at first, but then began to ridicule and insult him. They would tell dirty jokes in his presence, or they would slip Playboy magazines into his bed or in his things to try to upset him. One day the men had returned from a long day’s march. They were mud-covered and weary. The sergeant pulled off his boots and collapsed onto the bed. But, as his head was going down he noticed that this corporal was praying at his bed. This so irritated him that he picked up one of his hoots and he threw it at him. The boot hit the corporal in the shoulder. He grunted, but didn’t stop praying. The sergeant picked up the other boot and this time aimed a little higher. The second boot hit him right on the side of the head. The corporal rubbed the side of his head, but he kept praying. The sergeant then let out a string of profanities and laid down on his bed and within a couple of minutes had fallen asleep. Later the sergeant awoke to find that the corporal was gone, but his boots - the sergeant’s boots - had been cleaned, shined, and polished and were sitting next to his bed.
The evil heart of that sergeant was overcome by good. Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!