The Four Rs for Dealing with Evil

“The wicked spies upon the righteous And seeks to kill him.”(Psalms 37:32)

“But my foes are vigorous, they are mighty, and many are those who hate me wrongfully. Those who render me evil for good accuse me because I follow after good.”(Psalms 38:19–20)

Jesus epitomized righteousness. Though He loved everyone and even said that He did not come to condemn the world, but to save it; He was still hated. That is because evil hates good. The wicked seeks to kill the righteous. Jesus was hated wrongfully simply because He was good. There is evil in this world. That evil will seek to destroy all that is good.


So how should I respond when confronted with evil? How did Jesus respond? “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.“Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”(Matthew 5:10–12)

He told me not to resist. ““But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.”(Matthew 5:39)

He says to love them. ““But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
(Matthew 5:44–45)

At this time when we focus on the crucifixion and the resurrection, it's good to remember that we don't use power to overcome evil; we follow Jesus who used the ultimate in sacrificial love to overcome evil.

My favorite quote from the recent Hobbit movie was when Gandalf explains why he invited Bilbo on a dangerous adventure. "“Saruman believes that it is only great power that can hold evil in check. That is not what I have found. I have found that it is the small things, every day deeds from ordinary folk, that keeps the darkness at bay." “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”(Romans 12:21)

Evil will not be defeated through our political systems, our criminal justice systems, our educational system or any other system. Evil has already been defeated and we enter into that victory by following Him who won it by doing good.

So here are four Rs of dealing with evil:
1. Rejoice
2. Resist not
3. Respond in love
4. Repay with good

Dorothy, Oz, and the Relational Cycle

I'm reading through the Old Testament, looking at all the scriptures say about Jesus and asking Him to do with me what He did with the disciples on the road: “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.”(Luke 24:27)

Today I read in Leviticus and these two verses caught my eye:


““If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.”
(Leviticus 26:3–4)

“I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you.”
(Leviticus 26:11)

They reminded me of Jesus teachings in John 14:


“Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”” (John 14:21)

“Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” (John 14:23)

When I read something in the Old Testament law that leads me to a teaching of Jesus, I feel like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz when she opens the door from her black and white world and steps into the full color world that is Oz. Jesus brings the full color.


Jesus makes good on God's promise to those who obey - and He does so in an amazing way. He does so, not in a master/servant relationship, but in love. In Leviticus, God the Father promised the Israelites that if they obeyed Him, He would live among them and not abhor them. Jesus said that the person who loves Him will obey Him. Jesus promised that He would love the person who walks in obedience to His commandments and would manifest Himself to that person. He renews the Levitical promise that God (The Father & Jesus) would come to the obedient follower and make their home with that person.
Jesus renewed and fulfilled the Levitical promise in living color.


Obedience as important now as it ever was, but I'm not called upon to obey a set of rules, but a person. As I learn of Christ, I fall more deeply in love with Him (and He loves me right back!). My love for Christ causes me to obey Him. As I do, He reveals Himself to me in even greater ways which causes me to love Him more and more readily obey Him. He loves me and shows Himself to me and before I know it, I'm caught up in the relational cycle of spiritual transformation.

“And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)

Knowing, loving, obeying, becoming like -- Jesus. That's the relational cycle, and it's in living color. Step through that door into the full color world of Jesus and His Kingdom. It will change your life.

My Top 12 Books of 2012

Here is a list of the best twelve books I read in 2012. They made the list because (a) I read them in 2012 and (b) I enjoyed them or (c) they were significantly helpful in some way. What were your top reads in 2012?


  1. Jesus: A Theography -  Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola
  2. Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World - Bob Goff
  3. One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are - Ann Voskamp
  4. Beauty in the Desert: Discover Deeper Intimacy with God Through the Model of the Tabernacle - Eddie Broussard
  5. Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation -  Ellis, Joseph J
  6. Steve Jobs - Walter Isaacson
  7. Untamed: Reactivating a Missional Form of Discipleship - Hirsch, Alan, Hirsch, Debra
  8. In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership - Henri J. M. Nouwen
  9. Advancing the Gospel: Colossians - Mike Treneer
  10. Evernote: The unofficial guide to capturing everything and getting things done. 2nd Edition - Daniel Gold
  11. Making Waves - Doug Nuenke
  12. 50 People Every Christian Should Know: Learning from Spiritual Giants of the Faith - Warren W. Wiersbe

Position, Title, and Authority

“and brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year”
(John 18:13 NIV)

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”
(Hebrews 4:14–15)

“So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, “YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU”;”
(Hebrews 5:5)


It is interesting that in the book of John and among commentators there is much discussion of who the high priest was when Jesus was arrested. Most commentator say that Caiaphas held the office of high priest at that time, but that his father-in-law, Annas had formerly held that office and still continued to exercise its authority.

And yet the during the whole farce of a process, the real high priest was the one on trial. Yet Jesus had laid aside His office of authority in order to live life as the Son of Man.

I must be very careful when talks turn to "authority" and "submission" and titles. These things do exist, but they are not what is important in the sight of God. Jesus is the ultimate authority and all real authority must be derived from Him, not from the constructs of man. Jesus is the real army branch director, the real seattle metro leader, and any other "position of authority" that I may be placed in. I only have any real authority as I act in harmony with what Jesus would do in that role.

A Lesson on Perseverance

““And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And the door is opened to everyone who knocks.”
(Luke 11:9–10 NLT)


The NLT captures the sense of Jesus' teaching on perseverance here. "Keep on". Now this teaching is balanced with Jesus' teaching elsewhere on prayer that a person should not think that their many words will have an impact on God. So it's not repeating a mantra or a well-rehearsed prayer that Jesus is talking about here. No, he is talking about a desperate person who refuses to give up. One who continues to knock on the door even though it's late at night and the noise is waking up the neighbors.

"One day George Mueller began praying for five of his friends. After many months, one of them came to the Lord. Ten years later, two others were converted. It took 25 years before the fourth man was saved. Mueller persevered in prayer until his death for the fifth friend, and throughout those 52 years he never gave up hoping that he would accept Christ! His faith was rewarded, for soon after Mueller’s funeral the last one was saved". (From: George Mueller, Man of Faith)

What are the longings of my heart? What are the loaves of bread I need because of visiting friends? Will I keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking? Or will I give up and assume that somehow, God is not listening to my prayers? Persistence, persistence, persistence! Prayer is an interesting thing. We are going to the God of the universes who already knows the end from the beginning. Yet, prayer is so important both to Him and to us. This teaching from Jesus came as a result of the disciples seeing Him at prayer "in a certain place" and asking Him to teach them to pray. After walking them through the Lord's prayer, he told the story of a man knocking on his friends door after hours looking for bread. He concluded the story with the exhortation to keep on asking, keep on looking, keep on knocking.

Lord, give me perseverance in my faith and in my prayers to you. Help me not to give up. Increase my faith and my faithfulness.

The Key to a Tender Heart

“He *said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way.” (Matthew 19:8)

“Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:32)

The root cause of every interpersonal conflict from divorce to all out war is the hardness of the human heart. The opposite of hard-heartedness is the tender-heartedness described in Ephesians 4:32. A person develops the tender heart by forgiving people. The source for the strength to forgive comes from a reflection upon Christ's forgiveness. We grow into a deep understanding of all that Christ has forgiven us for and that allows us to forgive others. A life lived that way results in a tender heart. A life of unforgiveness results in a hard heart that demands a certificate of divorce. Such people deceive themselves that changing their circumstances will result in that which only a change of heart condition can accomplish.

I want to be a forgiving person, keeping my heart tender before the Lord by reflecting on His forgiveness of me and extending that same forgiveness to others.

Some years ago, my friend Dave Legg wrote the following about forgiveness:


All too often our approach to conflict and hurt is separation. Unfortunately, separation is never the solution when unity is the problem. When God says make every effort to maintain the unity of the body (Ephesians 4:3), He chose to use a powerful idea. The phrase “make every effort” means literally to strive like a gladiator. In other words, it’s not a casual suggestion or something to do if we’re not busy. Often, a refusal to forgive a wrong keeps us locked in the past and unable to move into the future.

In Matthew 18 Jesus tells the story of the unforgiving servant who ends up in prison at the end. Jesus then concludes the parable by saying, "this is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart". I believe the prison that Jesus is talking about here is the prison of a hardened heart. It is a prison of the unforgiving person's own making.

Forgiveness is the key to a tender heart and a tender heart is key to finishing the race. Most people have thin skins and hard hearts. Christ followers must have thick skins and tender hearts.

Grow or Die

Growth

At a conference a few years ago, then 98 year old Jim Downing called together all those present who were above the age of seventy. He then gave them a message that only one of his years and stature could give to that group: “If you’re not growing you are dying.”

I’ve made a study of those who are old in years but are young in their spirit. They are still pressing hard in the abundant life that Jesus gives. They are people like Caleb who said “I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so my strength is now, for war and for going out and coming in.” (Joshua 14:11)

The one common denominator I’ve found with such people is that they keep growing. So how does one continue to grow as a person? A couple of years ago, I created the acrostic GROWTH to help me remember some key components in my own growth. They stand for:

God Caused

Response to Circumstances

Oneness with Christ

Word of God

Truth and Love in Community

Hidden Spiritual Disciplines

I need to keep a handle on the fact that God is the author of growth – He causes it. That helps me respond correctly to the circumstances of life, because by faith I can see God’s hand in all things, always working for my growth. I only have the ability to see and respond rightly to these life circumstances through my oneness with Christ, my unity with Him as I abide in Him. I am able to abide in Him only to the extent that I abide in the Word of God. I live out the truth of the Word of God as I love people in community. My secret energy source for continuing to grow is directly tied to a few spiritual disciplines that are largely hidden from view, but are part of my intimate relationship with Christ. Those are the elements of growth in my own life and I’ll work to unpack these further in my next few posts.