Overcoming evil
I don’t know about you, but it seems like there’s nothing good in the news anymore. The more checked in I become, the more outraged I get.
It’s an endless cycle, a never-ending black hole waiting to suck us in, extract every last bit of empathy and attention, and spit us out as hollowed-out husks void of any remaining vestiges of humanity.
The realization that’s hit me though?
The news has always been bad. The world has always been on proverbial fire. Chaos abounds, madness ensues, humanity cries out for salvation.
Yes there are trends, yes there are ups, and yes it objectively is worse than I can ever remember before. But the answer and solution to this is still the same.
The disciples in Jesus’ day yearned for rescue from the Roman imperial presence. They looked for a messiah to pull them out of the pit of despair, to save them from physical oppression. Jesus, instead, offered a different path. He shared a way to himself, a way to eternal salvation. And for the longest time they missed it. The disciples were looking for temporal answers to an infinite problem.
Did that mean Jesus ignored the oppressed, the downtrodden, the hurt and suffering? Was he one to sit back and pretend that those around him weren’t in pain?
Absolutely not.
He went out of his way, day after day, to support the unloved, to stand up for the ignored, to care for the uncared. And in so doing he spoke truth to power, sometimes no-holds-barred, but other times with principles that would take time to work their way into the hearts of those listening.
We’re called to do the same. We’re called to be His hands and feet, to support those who are viewed as less than, to stand up for those without a voice.
Sometimes it feels like we’re powerless, unable to change the trajectory of the world, frozen in place and seeing chaos abound.
The answer now is the same as before.
We’re called to sit with Jesus, to hear his words, to bring them into our heart and allow them to change us from the inside out. By drawing nearer to the cross, our desire to live for self is changed.
Judas the Zealot, one of Jesus’ disciples, sought to change the world by the power of his hand. Peter, in a moment of fright and self-preservation, swung the sword to prove that he could do something against the enemy by his own might. Jesus pushed back against all of that. He went low when the opposition thought He’d go high. He served when his followers expected Him to ascend.
Right now, in this moment, I’m looking for how I can be more like Him, how I can be assured of my salvation, feel comfort in His presence, and have confidence in a heavenly friend who is there for each one of us. I realize, of course, that even in these attempts I’m looking for ways that I can do it, that I can accomplish this task. The answer, of course is that I can’t. All we can do is listen for the still small voice, accept the gift of salvation, and let God’s spirit work in us to redeem us and transform us.
And you know what’s so exciting? The disciples, a terrified, hiding bunch of broken souls at Jesus’ crucifixion, were transformed through the power of the Holy Spirit into fearless apostles, dedicated to sharing the wonderful news of their Savior. And this was not of themselves. They gave up their desire to control the world on their own, and instead relied on Jesus to work in and through them. That’s the Jesus I’m looking for, and hoping to seek daily.
Today I’m taking courage in the words of Paul:
Romans 12:21 — “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
My hope and prayer for each of us is that we’ll accept Jesus call, allow Him to draw near to us, so that we can be a messenger to share His goodness with the world.