Responding to the Evils Around Us

by David Gibson

All around us are all kinds of bizarre behavior, sinful lifestyles, and strange ideas that currently trouble our land. How shall we respond?

Wrong Reaction: Acceptance

Some Christians, sad to say, gaze at the evil and are drawn into it. How easy it is to find our resistance gradually being lowered by the constant exposure to sins that once shocked us! God’s people in the Old Testament were vulnerable to being swallowed up by the sins of their neighbors. It can so easily happen to us too! (I Corinthians 10:12; Ephesians 4:17-24; II Timothy 4:10).

Wrong Reaction: Arrogance

On the other hand, while we may never indulge in the blatant sins of our society, we may be tempted to look down on those who do. We may forget that we too are in need of the grace of God and that we have something positive to offer those who are mired in sinful lifestyles (Luke 15:1-2, 25-32; 18:9-14).

Wrong Reaction: Apathy

A third reaction is thinking that the situation is so far gone that there’s little we can do to make a difference. It’s been well said that the darker the world, the brighter our light is. Let it shine! (Philippians 2:15).

Right Response: Rejecting Sin

So how shall we respond to the evils of our day? Not by participating in them, not by reacting self-righteously, and not by withdrawing into inactivity.

So what shall we do? The letter we call First Peter has much to offer us. Christians then were struggling to maintain their integrity in a dark world in much the same way we do today. Peter urges his readers to maintain holy lives (I Peter 1:14-16; 4:1-4) and live in such a way that unbelievers can’t help but notice the difference (I Peter 2:11-12; 3:1-2, 16).

By the grace of God, let’s hate sin but have enough concern for sinners so that they too will be drawn out of the darkness and into God’s wonderfully marvelous light!