There is a general principle we fumble with that is quite practical in the world – that good is a major weapon in the defeat of evil. Sounds like common sense in some interpretations, but it is more than that. It is a principle that should guide our thought and action, but it often does not. We tend to react or respond in the way we are approached. A loud word gets a loud word back. Bad treatment gets some form of bad treatment back. Ill will is matched by ill will. And, so the story goes. In international affairs: if we are spied upon means you will be spied upon; if we are treated with arrogance means you will also be treated with arrogance; if we are threatened means you will be threatened; if cheated on arms production by you, you will be matched with arms production on our part. What is seen as evil is matched with our protective (perhaps, evil) measures. An evil response is turned into a good – protection. That’s not the way it works. Jesus won without a spear, without ill will, but gave love, prayer, and sacrifice for the good of all. Gandhi asked for peaceful resistance. Martin Luther King did as well. Both Gandhi and King acknowledged that Jesus set the standard. King saw the success of Jesus’ methodology in Gandhi, and credited Gandhi in it. Had Gandhi’s followers maintained his modus operandi, they would have achieved many of their rightful goals. Much was lost in the hatred on the division between the Hindus of India and the Muslims of Pakistan. At this writing, a leader, following Gandhi’s lead on non-violence and fasting has just closed his fourteen days fast on the promise of the nation’s leader to address the enormous problem of graft in the government of India that has weighed heavily on the people, and the quality of government.
We need to know that every act, followed in a spirit of love for humanity, even if there is reticence to acknowledge God, or relate to him as heavenly Father to his children – is a bullet or arrow shot against evil. Some are social torpedoes, some are only gestures, but they are, even in common grace, attacks on evil. To the degree the individual or the institution practices this manner of attack, to that extent is the life of mankind improved. If good, given of God, carries over from Christian faith, it carries a spiritual legacy that will be rewarded ultimately as knowledge and obedience in the economy of God. It reflects the qualities of the nature of God seen in love, mercy, patience, longsuffering, peace, and safety – perhaps of benefits we do not know in personal or social bondage. The biblical call is to do good as the effective enemy of evil. The approach is not to respond in kind to evil, but perhaps to accept some temporary defeats for the ultimate release to, at the least, gain freedom and equity for our earthly sojourn. The greatest resistance may come from the practical leaders who respond in a spirit of justice – retaliation. They, like Peter, will cut off the enemy’s ear, while Jesus heals the ear of the enemy, an enemy that will take him to execution. Peter, a disciple of Jesus, was reprimanded by Jesus for his bravery, while the soldier was comforted in the healing. The evil seems to have lost the skirmish of the moment, but the good won the war, a war that extended through human history to be won by the only person who could accomplish the feat. Had Peter won on this day, we may not have had the cross. Without the cross, we would have no redemption or hope related. The ugly Cross was good for mankind, countering human immorality.
Every grace, charity, word, act that offers peace, improvement, safety, help to mankind, becomes a blow against evil. If our performance is related to obedience to God, the acts will have a magnificent value added feature that multiplies the effort. The acts of one person may not seem like much in the largeness of the human drama, but God relates first to the individual. The purpose counts for one or many, and provides meaning for the original creation in God’s mind. We face difficulty in sifting out all the factors and complexities that work and fail in the management of ourselves and the creation. We may miss that God is at work with all peoples, even the profane, as his sense of interest, perhaps duty to his creation. Whatever was done to separate the human race to independence from God did not deter him from an ongoing interest and participation. God continues to offer earth blessing and care. Giving some administration to the creation he appeals to mankind to consider how relationship can be restored, and we can find effectiveness in forming decent societies for life and creativity. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020