AN INVESTIGATION INTO EVIL

Hebrews 4:11-13
11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

Hebrews 5:12-14
12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.


Lance Morrow, an award-winning essayist for Time magazine, has written a book on a controversial subject--evil. He observes that in a growing emphasis of multiculturalism and tolerance, we're losing our ability to detect and pass moral judgment on evil acts.

"The contradictions of cultural diversity as a rule merely cancel each other out. The fact that you have your way, and I have my way,
means that neither way has moral force or authority. The result is a world in which there is no such thing as good or evil, but merely difference of perspective."

No matter how culturally sensitive we try to be, evil still does its work in this world.

Author G. K. Chesterton said that original sin is the one Christian doctrine that can be proven by experience. Chesterton was referring to the biblical belief that "human beings are sinners." The data for this is on the 6 o'clock news and in Internet headlines. Theft, domestic violence, racism, and murder are terrible reminders of the dark side of human nature.

Nobel Prize-winning author Alexander Solzhenitsyn wrote: "Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, or between political parties either--but right through every human heart . . . and even in the best of all hearts, there remains an un-uprooted small corner of evil."

The key to understanding good and evil is having a biblical perspective of the human heart (Hebrews 4:12). To expect only good from human behavior leaves us partially blind. We need to humbly discern good from evil.

Let's be tolerant. Let's celebrate diverse cultures. But, even more important, let's direct our lives from the moral compass of God's inspired Word. It provides the means of moral discernment in a complex and confusing world (Hebrews 5:14). --Dennis Fisher

DESTINATION POINTS

* How can I learn from different ethnic groups in our culture?
* In what ways can I cultivate tolerance?
* When do I need to "stand my ground" on biblical moral guidelines?

LINKS:
Why would an all-powerful God permit evil?
http://www.questions.org/answer/god/character/permitevil.xml/

bottom line: Evil is the real deal.

soul journey