I doubt that many people wake up in the morning and decide, "OK, today I'm going to be evil." So why is evil so prevalent day after day and in all facets of our world?

"There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death" (Prov. 14:12); "For the lips of an adulteress drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave. She gives no thought to the way of life; her paths are crooked, but she knows it not" (Prov. 5:3-6); "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it" (Matt. 7:13-14).
 
Being created in the image of God, everyone is endowed with a number of attributes including emotions, curiosity, creativity, a physical body, a free will, a need for fellowship, true beauty, responsibility, etc. At the time God placed Adam and Eve in the garden, the attributes of man were perfect and unpolluted, in the image of God. Then came the fall, and all of man's attributes were affected and perverted.* The attributes themselves did not become evil, but man's manipulation of them began to lean more and more away from God, and as Pastor Randy Wilson recently reminded us, collectively as well as individually, man became calloused to the pricks and attacks of evil. The Word of God and the ways of man became separated in our minds by grey area after grey area. Even since Christ came and died, and our redemption was purchased, the grey areas seem to increase. We argue and dispute over anything; we watch and listen to filth and buy products that finance it; we accept the authority of sinful man instead of the righteous God; and we judge and hate and criticise and curse one another--all in the name of "emotions, curiosity, creativity, physical need, free will, fellowship, beauty, responsibility, etc."

Paul instructed Timothy to "Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Don't have anything to do with foolish or stupid arguments, because they produce quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God--having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to acknowledge truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres (Pharaoh's sorcerers) opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth--men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected" (II Tim. 2:22-3:8). Does this not sound familiar? Where do you see it? Outside of God, do we always view it as evil?

Is it OK to be just a little bit sinful when no one else seems to see it as sin? Is it acceptable to dabble in just a little witchcraft ("it's just a game"), a little pornography ("it's rated PG"), a little partying ("I wasn't that high"), a little deceit ("I really needed the cash")? "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death."

Our Father who art in heaven, hollowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever. Amen



*Discussion led by Asst. Headmaster Ryan Todt, Faith Christian School, Anniston, AL. Aug. 11, 2009.