Naked Evil

 Jesus said that the devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy the human race and most especially, the people of God. We who call ourselves followers of Christ know this, We're aware of the evidence of this throughout human history. There has always been naked evil in the world since sin first entered the human race through Adam in the Garden. Do we, the church, have any response to it?

Yesterday, a man named Charlie Kirk was ruthlessly murdered simply because someone didn't just disagree with him, they were filled with hate for him. He had to be eliminated. Last month, an innocent young woman from the Ukraine was ruthlessly murdered on a subway by a deranged killer while commuters looked on and did nothing. The woman sitting near the victim glanced at her after she was attacked and then looked away. Every weekend in the streets of Chicago, large numbers of people are ruthlessly shot and killed as violence and murder rules those streets. In the Russian-Ukraine war, a dictator who is truly the face of evil, ruthlessly wages a war that has now claimed nearly 2 million lives. Again, what is the response of the people of God, of the followers of Christ? I believe that in too many ways, it is that of the woman on that subway. We glance at it all, and then we look away.

We look away because we are consumed with ourselves, our families, our affairs, our comfort and our safety. Might I add, even with our "ministries?" We glance at the growing evil in our midst, and then look away, absorbed completely in ourselves. As long as the evil is not touching us, we're not that concerned. We just see it as proof of His soon return, when He'll take us all away and out of it all. And all the while, Christ is weeping....and we're not.....unless it happens to touch us.

In the movie "Gettysburg," confederate general Robert E. Lee says, "We are awash in a sea of blood, and it must end." My friends, our culture, nation, and world are awash in that sea right now, and it must end. It is our part to lead the way in its ending. Author Chris Tiegreen writes, "A blinded world needs us to stand, to fight, and to pray." We cannot go on looking away. We must confess our sin of indifference, repent of it, and attack evil with all our might, using the weapons of the Kingdom of God and not the world. Living on our knees and being the Church Triumphant. It has to start now. It has to start with me and with you. Will it, or will we just keep looking away?

Blessings,
Pastor O