PURGE THE EVIL

Deuteronomy 17:2-7
2 If a man or woman living among you in one of the towns the Lord gives you is found doing evil in the eyes of the Lord your God in violation of His covenant, 3 and contrary to My command has worshiped other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or the moon or the stars of the sky, 4 and this has been brought to your attention, then you must investigate it thoroughly. If it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, 5 take the man or woman who has done this evil deed to your city gate and stone that person to death. 6 On the testimony of two or three witnesses a man shall be put to death, but no one shall be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. 7 The hands of the witnesses must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people. You must purge the evil from among you.

Take it from me, you never outgrow the awful feeling you get when someone calls you a name like "tattle-tale," "snitch," or "traitor." Anyone who takes a stand against evil may be called all of those and more. But wearing the name is better than sharing the blame when trouble hits.

The modern concept of friendship expects unquestioned loyalty. If you're my friend, you're supposed to stick up for me no matter what I do, and vice versa. It's like an unspoken covenant. But it's the opposite of God's plan. And it eventually destroys rather than saves friendships. Sometimes it even destroys people. I'm sure you can think of some examples.

Nine times in the book of Deuteronomy, God's people are told to "purge the evil" from among them. I'm intrigued that God gave this responsibility to humans rather than keep it for Himself. After all, we're such unreliable judges. Some of us want to deny the existence of evil. Others want to define evil as the existence of anything that obstructs our freedom or pursuit of pleasure. In between are those who want to play with evil for their own fun and profit or appease evil to avoid the inconvenience of conflict.

Despite our limitations, God's plan for getting rid of evil involves us. He doesn't peer down at us like a cat ready to pounce when we make one wrong move. He is creating a community of people committed to the conviction that goodness is good for everyone, and evil is good for no one.

In other words, God's plan for ruling creation and keeping order belongs to each of us!

Sin is destructive, and wherever it is allowed to grow someone always gets hurt. If you have a friend who is dabbling in risky behavior, do
the right thing, the good thing, and be a snitch. You might lose a friend, but you could save a life. --Julie Ackerman Link

DESTINATION POINTS

* What opportunities is God giving me to stand against evil?
* Am I willing to do it even if it will make a good friend angry? Am I willing to risk my social standing to save someone else's life?

LINKS:
When A Friend Messes Up
http://www.christianitytoday.com/cl/2002/006/11.66.html

bottom line: Peace is the absence of evil--not conflict.

soul journey