You’d think it wouldn’t be something anyone would need to write about or remind us about in the Christian world. But it is. Evil does exist and not just evil somewhere out there in general or evil in action, but evil intent by human individuals and even governments who have taken on evil as a way of doing things and forming policy. Who are motivated by evil and have wicked plans and malevolent intentions toward individuals, Christians and humanity at large. Who have chosen to follow the way of sin and Satan.
This particular message isn’t going to be about why or how. Just that it does exist because we seem to have forgotten. We’ve become naive. Fallen asleep. Afterall, we’re modern. We’re civilized. People are generally good. And we’re in denial. So much so that I’ve heard it said lately that even some Christians seem to believe that evil is just another conspiracy.
As a result, a large number of Christians are dismissing out of hand any possibility that there could be anything amiss in the response of governments to the current coronavirus crisis, no matter how authoritarian, tyrannical or unreasonably severe restrictions and policy become. They think it’s ridiculous and “tinfoil-hattish” to believe that governments or leaders would have any sort of personal or global agenda in relation to employing vaccines or lockdown policy. It’s all crazy conspiracy theories in their minds of course. No one today is that evil, right?
We should know the story of good and evil in the world
But if we read the Bible at all, we should know the story of good and evil in the world. There was the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. And Satan was in the garden, disguised as a snake who lied to Adam and Eve. There was the time of Noah, just before the great Flood when, “the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Gen 6:5).
There are countless other Bible stories and Biblical references to evil from Old to New Testament including kings, queens and other leaders. Just look the word up in a concordance. From evil actions to corrupt people with ill intent, real characters spring out of the Bible: Cain, the Pharoah of the Exodus, the sons of Eli the priest, Jezebel, Nabal, Abimelech, Haman, the Persian satraps at the time of Daniel, Herodias, Simon Magus, Herod, Judas Iscariot to name a few.
Evil didn’t stop at the end of New Testament times
Evil didn’t stop at the end of New Testament times. Evil leaders invade the pages of history from Nero and Caligula to Hitler, Stalin, and Mao. There have been evil regimes like the Khmer Rouge and wicked families like the Borgias. From terrorists to tyrants, there have been perpetrators of violence, torture, genocides, lying propaganda, mass enslavement and terrible evil. Yet somehow at the beginning of the 2020’s, that all seems so long ago or so far away from most Western nations that many Christians can’t believe it could be happening now in our own countries.
I have news for you. Satan is still around. He’s still lying and deceiving and he’s still influencing members of humanity in an attempt to achieve his own ends (Rev 12:9). He is still perpetuating evil from abortion to pedophile rings and human trafficking, deceitful propaganda and anti-family, anti-human agendas including those instituted and supported by world leaders, prominent people in society and the media. And he’s still playing us when we allow it. Yes, he is and we need to be aware at all times. We cannot afford to be naive even as we trust God going forward.
Nor should we be surprised. Jeremiah 17:9 affirms: “The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked; Who can know it?” Ephesians 5:11-12 tells us: “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.” Ephesians 6:12 further reminds us that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
God is fully in charge. Never forget that. But as long as we live in this world, we must remain vigilant. We are neither civilized nor good. As human beings we are capable of great evil, great deceit, unbelievable immorality and malevolent intentions. We are also capable of being deceived. Don’t be naive, fellow followers of Christ: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) And he is using media, leaders and human governments.
