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Good and evil have always stood in stark contrast, but sometimes, they come into sharper focus. Whether you are a spiritual person or not, the palpable reality of evil is more evident than ever in our lifetimes.
There was a time when I measured success by how many friends I had. Everyone wants to be liked and respected. Now, I find myself gauging success by who my enemies are and for what reasons. When I speak the truth, people who love lies oppose me.
I’m not trying to find trouble, but moral absolutes cause conflict. When I say God created only males and females, activists get angry. When I say the Bible alone is truth, the “my-truth” crowd bristles.
When I say Jesus is the only way to God (John 14:6), those who want to follow their own way are offended; conflict results. I’m rarely surprised. Jesus said, “If the world hates you, remember it hated Me first” (John 15:18).
He also said, “The world hates Me because I expose its evil works” (John 7:7). When Light enters, evil is exposed.
Many equate conflict with war. We have always had wars. War is ugly, and people die; that’s always been true. But in recent wars, the glaring good versus evil has never been clearer.
When war shifts from soldiers fighting soldiers to terrorists beheading children, desecrating, and raping corpses, that’s good versus evil.
Evil rises, not because of surging hate, as some assert. Evil rises not from an overwhelming preponderance of wickedness. Evil grows in the absence of Good. Good comes from God.
When I say, “God is Good,” I am not evaluating His actions. Good is who Godis. When we remove God, we also remove Good: His words from education, His influence on our nation’s founding, and His moral absolutes from society.
Lies prevail in a truth vacuum. Horror exists where beauty is missing. Riots occur not because violence is present but because peace is missing. When Good, Light, or civility are missing, the opposite fills the void. Iniquity invades the spaces emptied by retreating virtue.
Evil is a spiritual storm surge. I’ve lived in a coastal area for years and weathered several hurricanes. In a hurricane, the most lethal danger is storm surge. A one-foot storm surge can lift a small car.
Hurricane Katrina’s 20-foot storm surge flattened brick buildings. Storm surge happens when shoreline waters are sucked out to sea, then return with the full force of hurricane winds, bringing a crushing wall of water onshore, destroying everything in its path.
Anger and violence — once present — wreak havoc, but the damage occurs because good and truth are forcibly removed, allowing evil to rush in. When truth is removed, Light is extinguished. Darkness is certain.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. succeeded in establishing the Civil Rights Movement not because he organized better riots. Those already existed. He succeeded where the Black Panthers and KKK failed because he offered peace in the face of violence. His biblical alternative was stronger than the tumult — calm marches and powerful but peaceful words.
Dr. King answered hateful nightmares with, “I have a dream…” While rioters burned Detroit, he flooded the airwaves with Scripture. Amid race wars, he offered something that made no sense to the violence — peace through peace: the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).
Dr. King said, “The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence, you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie nor establish the truth.
Through violence, you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate… darkness cannot drive out darkness; only Light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”
The world was dark when Jesus arrived, literally and figuratively. Rome’s history was bloody before Christ and after. Rome and Greece killed Jews and Christians. Their God of Light exposed the darkness of slavery, abortion, and gladiatorial murder as entertainment.
With that Light dimmed, 900 years of Dark Ages rushed in. Art and beauty ceased or became chaotic.
Light returned when the Reformation freed people from toxic religion. Translating the Bible into English brought truth to the common man. God’s Word illuminated hearts. Society transformed. Truth and freedom are cleansing agents.
Christmas and Hanukkah are celebrations of Light. When Jesus was born, Light entered the world (John 8:12). The world is dark: war, addiction, moral and mental confusion, and absolute evil have been unleashed. We don’t need less darkness; we need more Light.
Darkness will always be lurking, but Jesus is still the Light of the world. Run to the Light.
For further reading:
Why Does the Bible Say 'Woe to Those Who Evil Good and Good Evil'?
Did Evil Exist Before Adam and Eve Sinned?
5 Ways to Stay Focused on the Reason for the Season
5 Ways to Stay Focused on Jesus This Christmas
3 Ways to Keep Jesus at the Center of Your Christmas This Year
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/Simon Lehmann