Confronting the New face of Evil

As Christians and other non-Muslim Iraqis flee their homes in the face of ISIS terror, I am deeply saddened by the unapologetic barbaric blood-lust that is engulfing our world.

While I do grieve the deaths of my Christian brothers and sisters in Iraq, Sudan, Syria, Egypt and other places, I do not mourn them without hope. I am quite confident that those who remain loyal to Jesus to the point of exile, crucifixion and/or beheading will certainly be received into heaven with open arms.

My real sorrow is of another sort. You may not realize it yet, but those lofty ideas of “peace” and “freedom” (which we too often take for granted) are on life support. For too many people, I think, peace and freedom are not really concepts at all. They are just words that they vaguely remember from a ninth grade American History class. These words are so common to us that they are a part of the wall paper of our lives. Sadly, there is a darkness creeping over our world that is the antithesis of those enlightened concepts.

I know that many people (many much smarter than me) are trying to parse out the cause of the current creeping darkness. Why are ISIS and their ilk so brutal, so oppressive? Is it economic in origin? Is it anger over some (real or perceived) injustice in history? Is it just another manifestation of Islamic sectarian violence? Has the world simply gone crazy?

Here is what I think. I think that this is not a new war. It is simply a new front in a very, very, very old war. This is a part of the same war that started millennia ago in a garden called Eden. You see, whether you believe it or not, there is a very real conflict that exists between evil and good (or to be more specific, between evil and God).

Evil does exist.

And Satan exists as its champion. The Bible clearly and repeatedly reveals to us that Satan (or the “devil” if you prefer) is a very real and very conscious entity, active in this world. From his first appearance in Genesis his objective has been to inflict death on the human race. He desperately wants us to defy God. He also wants us to follow the ways of Cain by turning on one another in fratricidal rage. His objective is to steal, kill, and destroy that which is good. Too often he succeeds.

Now before I carry this train of thought any further, I want to challenge your sensibilities just a bit. The reason the atrocities of ISIS are so horrifying to many people is because the images of beheading and torture are inescapable. Genocide is evil in and of itself, but usually the perpetrators make some effort to hide and deny their crimes. ISIS, on the other hand, places the heads of their victims on sticks in the front yard in a macabre spectacle.

The evil of this genocide has become impossible to ignore. How inconvenient.

In the “civilized” world, I think, we fancy ourselves as children of light. We are lovers of “life” in all its forms. We will spend gazillions of dollars to save the whales (or the dolphins, or polar bears, or trees, or owls, or to rescue pets from the crazy-cat-lady-down-the-street.)  Yet despite all of our purported “goodness” a legal genocide takes place daily within our own borders as thousands of babies are prematurely torn from their mother’s womb and discarded as so much trash.

But, hey, at least we don’t have to see the pictures.

My point is this: the deadly influence of evil is present throughout our world. Evil is starving people in North Korea. Evil is oppressing people in China. It is running drugs in Central America. Regions of Africa that I do not pretend to understand still reel in genocidal conflict. Flash points of hatred, theft and murder are erupting around the world. Evil, it seems, is gaining traction all around us. Even in “civilized” Europe and other parts of the Western world young men are abandoning their native lands and joining forces with unabashed Evil.

Evil is and always has been a formidable enemy. In fact Evil is so strong, so overwhelmingly insidious that you or I cannot overcome it with schemes of human design. The problem is that our “morals” aren't good enough to do the job. Waving old glory and singing patriotic songs isn't going to cut it. We cannot (nor could we ever) defeat Evil by being smart, prosperous, patriotic or moral.

It seems to me that if we are going to be the children of light, we’d best get to being just that. The only force in this world with the strength to overcome Evil is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Here is the deal; Jesus is, and always has been, on a collision course with Evil. Remember, it was Jesus who said, “I come not to send peace, but a sword.” Either those who possess the gospel will take it to the Evil, or the Evil will come to those who have the gospel.

The gospel does not exist to make us wealthy. It does not exist to form a culture or make the world “civilized” and “moral”. The gospel does not even exist to give us an excuse to build palatial church buildings, or quibble about the minutia of ecclesiastical life. The gospel exists to free oppressed men, women and children from the ravages of sin and reconcile them to a Holy God who loves them.

Make no mistake, sin is deadly. Sure, sometimes sin dresses itself in respectable clothes and parades around with sophisticated education and impeccable manners. It is deceptive that way, but in the end sin will be revealed for what it really is, rebellion against God.

You see, Evil has always had a three-fold mission; it steals, it kills, and it destroys. The problem with the fight we face is that the war against Evil cannot be won with physical means. If you bomb it out of existence in one place, it will pop up in another.  Evil is spiritual in origin, not physical. Ultimately, if we are going to overcome this Evil it will be because the Church returns to its mandate, sacrifices itself in prayer and surrenders its treasure to takes the gospel to the world.

May God help us to have the courage, to do his will.