A Lesson in Evil

About twenty years ago I read a unique and interesting book on the subject of human evil. "People of the Lie" by Dr. M.Scott Peck. The word evil appears in the Bible well over 600 times but do we really understand what it is and how it manifests itself in people, in the world, in us? Of course if you ask the average Christian they're certainly opposed to evil but I doubt very many know the characteristics of evil and what evil seeks to do. In my lifetime I've had my share of encounters with what I would call true evil and I have learned the importance of recognizing not only the reality of this "force" but just how powerful of a influence true evil really is. I'll say it now just in case I forget to say it in the course of this note. WITHOUT GOD THERE IS NO DEFENSE AGAINST EVIL!

In scripture there are many instances and examples of evil but I believe there is not a better example of evil on display than the encounter that Christ has in the wilderness when he is tempted of the devil. Since evil is such a broad topic worthy of an entire book (maybe I'll do that one day)I'll keep my focus to that of evil as it manifests itself in people.

The best summation of evil I"ve ever heard I found on an obscure website, http://samredman.com/peopleofthelie/ which contains an exposition on the subject of evil based on Dr. Peck's book, it reads:

"Evil can be primarily defined as that force, residing either inside or outside of human beings, which seeks to kill life or liveliness."

At its root, that's all evil is, it's the combined forces that exist in this realm of existence that oppose life. What then is life you ask? I would simply define "life" as "the collective existential state experienced as God intended" Jesus put it this way:

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
-John 10:10

The "thief" is in the world stealing, killing and destroying all aspects of the life experience, that means none of us is living the life God intended us to live. We are being robbed of those opportunities at life in many ways but the way in which most of us are the most effectively robbed of that life is by evil people. People who seek to destroy not only life but liveliness! Liveliness describing that desire within us that seeks out life more abundantly. That sometimes means denying ourselves, saying no to somethings, choosing to suffer when we have viable options to alleviate our own suffering for the sake of doing what is right. Most importantly those who are the "true worshipers" worship Him in "spirit and in truth". That's just another way of saying "the true worshipers of God worship Him by constantly examining themselves" Mark my words, if you are committed to seeking a life more abundantly, EVIL PEOPLE WILL BE DRAWN TO YOU! They will not be attracted to you for the sake of becoming like you but they are drawn to you because they seek to destroy all things where life dwells. Here I'll prove it to you. Take a look at Matthew 4:1, and think for a moment about the situation that Jesus is in. He is in the wilderness for the purpose of self-examination! He is fasting to deny himself, He is in the wilderness to isolate himself. There the Bible says the "Spirit" is dwelling with Him, leading Him and like clockwork the devil appears to tempt him. Here's what I want you to see:

And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
-Matthew 4:2-4

Notice how the devil tempts Jesus with food. He doesn't tempt him with food because he knows he's hungry. He tempts him with food because he knows Jesus' purpose for fasting. He understands that Jesus is taking time to examine himself deeply. If you've ever fasted (correctly) you know there is a point at which your body stops bugging you about food and allows you to look deep within yourself. Jesus magnifies this process by fasting and isolating himself alone in the wilderness! Satan is there with him in the wilderness to disrupt this process. You've encountered people in your life dozens of times that have succeeded in disrupting this process when you embark upon a time of self examination. For example, how many times have you decided to go on a diet, only to have a friend disrupt your efforts with "C'mon live a little" or "Just one won't hurt your diet"? When addicts decide to get off drugs the first thing they're required to do is find a sponsor, someone they can be accountable to. Why? Because the friends of addicts are notorious for disrupting their efforts to become sober. It's more than just temptation, it's far more serious than that. The truly evil are dedicated to avoiding self examination, they hate looking at themselves and anything that reminds them of who they truly are, what they truly are.  When we decide to examine ourselves and purge our lives of evil and its influence, it can have a dramatic impact on our lives.  Our friends become enemies, but why?  Because as long as we ignored the sin within us, we shared something in common with those who were committed to doing the same.  When we decided to turn away, we reminded them of the evil they so desperately seek to ignore.:

..."The evil in this world is committed by the spiritual fat cats, by the Pharisees of our own day, the self-righteous, who think they are without sin, because they are unwilling to suffer the discomfort of significant self-examination." (taken from http://samredman.com/peopleofthelie/)

I'm reminded of an article I read recently about a woman who was over 300 lbs who decided to go on a diet secretly.  She said that she didn't tell anyone what she was doing, and that she kept it a secret for as long as she could.  Pretty soon as her weight loss became obvious she could no longer hide her dieting efforts.  Surprisingly, she mentioned how many friends she lost after she lost weight.  Why?  They were all overweight and when she lost weight, she reminded them of the things they were committed to avoiding. 

So you see, the truly evil in this world are those who have achieved a form of righteousness that does not involve examination of the soul.  The truly evil are those who are just as committed to deceiving themselves and others as you are to frequent self examination. They look at themselves in the mirror and say, "What sin?" Then they go out into the world and declare they are sinless and without fault. The biggest threat to these people will always be those who are willing to examine themselves. Take a moment to examine yourself and ask yourself "which side am I on?" And remember that the true worshipers of God are not those who answer correctly but rather, they are those who are not afraid of what they must do when they hear the answer.

Created 6 months ago