(Grace
Notes October
2004
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans
12:21).
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!
