A Christian response
to the senseless Evil in both Beirut
and Paris
Once again the images of senseless violence and the
tragic, unexplainable loss of life were imprinted on our minds after the scenes
of last week’s terror in Beirut and Paris.
We were again confronted by the very real embodiment of evil. Images of the horrific devastation caused by
a few radicalized extremists aroused in us a myriad of different emotions;
compassion for those that lost their lives and their families, anger at those
that would perpetrate such violence, confusion as to how this could happen, and
fear about when this could land in our
towns and cities. It has many of us
reeling. There were quick responses,
some good and some bad. It was beautiful
to see the call for #prayforparis. There
was support for the Parisian people and a willingness to stand alongside our
long-time allies. (Unfortunately this
support didn’t translate to the people of Beirut --I’ll speak to this in a
moment.) There was the call to quick and
immediate military response against the strongholds of ISIS. There was also the fearful statements that
appeared to lump all refugees fleeing from Syria with the extremists. Of course there was the finger-wagging and
the blame game as to whose fault this was.
When we are left reeling by evil, some good and some bad always seems to
emerge. But the crux of all of this is the
word evil.
In the Christian tradition, evil is a very real, pervasive
force at work in this world that seeks to contradict, usurp, mitigate, push
back, and ultimately destroy the work of God’s Kingdom-making here on
earth. Evil has been at work throughout
the whole of human history (in the Christian tradition – after the fall in Genesis
3 and 4). Evil has agendas: domination,
destruction, depair, and ultimately death.
Evil can’t be ignored or wished away.
Evil rages. It lashes out. It wrecks lives. It creates “reactions” that often trade evil
for evil. Evil evokes fear and turns
sensible human beings into death-dealing brutes. Here’s the tricky thing…evil wears many
faces.
In the Christian tradition, we will often talk about “powers
and principalities.” In Ephesians 6, the
Apostle Paul states, “12 For
our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers,
against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and
against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” He seems to suggest that the faces evil wears
will change, but the underlying force of evil is the unseen anti-Kingdom (of
God) powers and principalities that threatens the live-giving,
peace-establishing, hope-offering agenda of God. It is against evil and the forces of darkness that we as Christians
struggle. Why might this be important?
The terror that we experienced last week was the latest
iteration of an ancient problem. There
is nothing new under the sun. When I say
that I don’t mean we should just accept it as fact, become indifferent and
complacent, or throw up our hands in despair and say, “what’s the use.” No, that’s precisely what evil would have us
do. What I mean is that ISIS is the
latest in the line of evil, barbaric, and savage forces of darkness. We would do well to keep that in front of us
so that we are less surprised, less reactionary, and more purposefully
responsive.
In just the 20th and 21st century
evil has worn many faces. This is not an
exhaustive list.
Evil has worn the faces of:
Hitler’s Nazi Regime
Stalin’s brutal and horrendous murderous campaigns
The hooded bodies of the Ku Klux Klan
Jim Crow Laws
The savagery of genocide in countries like Bosnia and
Rwanda
The totalitarian dictatorships of Pol Pot, Pinochet, Idi
Amin and many others
Timothy Mcveigh
Mass shootings at places like Columbine and Sandy Hook
Human Trafficking
Child Sex Trafficking
The Proliferation of Violence in the Inner Cities
Drug Cartels
Al-Qaeda
The Terrorists in Mumbai
The Boston Marathon Bombers
etc., etc., etc.,
And yes…ISIS.
Evil has been claiming the lives of the innocent, leaving
in its path a wake of horror, tragedy, and destruction in all corners of the
earth for a long time. Until we
recognize its tenacious force and refuse to be lulled to sleep by our sense of indifference
and our illusion of safety, it will continue to jump up and bite us, leaving us
surprised, scared, and reeling.
Evil demands that Christians take a proactive
stance. What might that stance look
like?
1.)
Prayer:
I know this seems so churchy to start off with, but I really believe
this to be true. God, according to the
Scriptures, has wired this world for co-participation with humans. Part of that participation is prayer. Prayer is the spiritual force of communities
of faith that recognize the unseen dimensions of evil and call upon God to act
and ask God for the discernment and wisdom to know what to do when it is
encountered. Prayer is the posture of
the believing people that acknowledges that the authority to overcome evil is
not found in human ingenuity or good intentions (those have often unwittingly
contributed to evil). No, overcoming evil
is about a community of faith surrendered to God’s will and work in this
world. It is about a life shaped and
sold out to the priorities of God for this world. Prayer is about a life oriented to God and
drawing its direction and strength from God.
Prayer wages war against evil through heavenly means. It pushes back darkness and declares the
power of God.
a. Note: We must also pray for those that wage
physical battle against evil. God has
seemingly used violence to mitigate (not end) evil. However, those thrust into those positions
pay a terrible toll.
2.)
Abandoning Ethnocentrism: What does that mean, right? Too often we are only shocked by the horrors
of evil when those affected already look a lot like us or live like us. For us Westerners, it means we are often only
horrified when other Westerners are affected by evil. This is the reason Beirut got little airplay
last week. We expect such brutality in
certain parts of the world, so it doesn’t hit us as hard. Unfortunately such ethnic bias does nothing
but perpetuate evil through prejudice, hatred, and malice. We must be equally broken-hearted over the
loss of life of the innocent. We mustn’t
write off certain people groups because they aren’t like us. We should be horrified by the countless
thousands of innocent mothers, children, men, and elderly that have been killed
in the Syrian battles. Compassion should
know no color, ethnic origin, or religious creed.
3.)
Peace-making:
This is tricky for us Christians.
Too often this is seen as a passive “Liberal” response of the weak who
don’t understand the gravity and weight of evil. This couldn’t be any less true. Peace-making is hard work, grueling work,
painful work. It is the work that costs
some their lives. It is about
engagement, proactive engagement in the lives of others. It’s about bridge-building, diplomacy,
education, intervention, reconciliation, forgiveness, caring for the broken and
needy, the poor and disenfranchised.
There is nothing passive about peace-making. Making peace cost Jesus his life and may do
the same for us.
4.)
Generosity:
Did you know there are agencies, missionaries, and mission works
happening in these areas and countries that are seeking to do the hard work of
making peace right now? Did you know
they would be able extend their reach if we’d be more faithful in the giving of
our finances? As Christians we are
called to generosity. Engagement means
funding those Kingdom-oriented methods of engaging evil and pushing back
darkness before it lashes out and takes the lives of others.
5.)
Quit Feeding the Pundits and Fear-Mongering
Voices: Right now there are people
making lots of money off Christians whose rhetoric is hateful, arrogant, prejudicial,
malicious, deceitful, and sensationalistic.
They spout and spew out claims that can’t be substantiated and drum up
business for their books, shows, and speaking engagements by keeping us frenzied
with fear. It is time to stop buying the
junk they are selling. It is time we
begin to weigh the words of the loud-mouthed pundits against the words of
Christ and the example established in His gospels. When they don’t align we must be willing to call
out their ridiculousness.
6.)
Love:
This is my last one for right now, though I could go on. Love is the primary orientation of Christians
toward the world. Love is a life lived
outward, toward God and others in hopes of being ambassadors of God’s desire
for reconciliation with a lost and broken world. Love is the power of God, poured out through
His people to bring hope and healing to our world. This is not sentimental love. This is a love that gets in the mix, gets our
hands dirty, makes sacrifices, and willingly tackles the most difficult
systemic evils that seem to perpetuate terror in this world. Love is God’s counter-force to evil. Evil steals life and Love gives life, even if
it requires giving up life to give life.
ISIS is without a doubt a face of evil in our world and
must be engaged through a variety of different means. However, if we aren’t aware of the proliferation
of evil, we will miss the next iteration until it jumps up and bites us. If we are not conscious of the many faces
evil wears, we will again be lulled to our places of indifference. The intensity of the moment will pass. Our Facebook filters will be replaced by our
funny poses. Our prayers for Paris will
be replaced by our Christmas wish lists.
We will struggle in a year to remember when that “bad thing in Paris
happened.” And yet, evil will rage
on. We must begin now! We must be proactively engaged to bring peace
and healing to a world under the sway of death and destruction. We must sell out for the Gospel as God’s
preferred means bring all of humanity under the life-giving, peace-making,
hope-offering reign of God.
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