House Church Talk - Good & Evil

[goodwordusa at att.net]

Hebrews 3:12-14 says:
Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, 
in departing from the living God.  But exhort one another daily, while it is 
called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of 
sin.   For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our 
confidence stedfast unto the end.

Long before that Isaiah cried out, "Woe unto them that call evil good, and 
good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put 
bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!"  (Is 5:20)

In our modern society, we have drifted quite a bit in our perceptions of 
evil.  And I use the word "society" because the church itself tends to drift 
right along with the world in its ideas.

The whole world would agree that life would be perfect if all the "evil" were 
to be removed.  But what is evil?  The perception of our present culture is 
not what God calls evil.

For example, we no longer see adultery as evil, or lust itself.  We no longer 
see greed as an evil thing.  Society tends to market according to the desires 
of the flesh, and the church seems to be following after.  Divorce is 
portrayed in Scripture as evil, but we see huge "Bible-preaching" churches 
that do not attack divorce at all.

I'm not talking about attacking believers.  I'm talking about spot-lighting 
and exposing sin itself as evil.  Beware, we are told, lest the deceitfulness 
of sin harden our hearts to the very voice of God Himself.

What is evil today?  Is cheating your employer evil?  Is deceiving evil (see 
Rev 21:27)?  Is it evil to revile those we do not understand or respect?  Is 
it evil to reject authority -- or to practice sexual impurities, 
homosexuality, and other forms of fornication?  Is pride evil?

The world only calls "evil" those things which threaten its own happiness.  
It is drifting away from calling prostitution, pornography, deception, and 
evn murder evil.  But it is ready to call anyone evil who objects to abortion 
or homosexuality.

Perhaps one reason the church has no real voice in today's society is that we 
have lost sight of what is evil and what is good.  

The Lord told Jeremiah, (Jer15:19)  "If thou return, then will I bring thee 
again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious 
from the vile, thou shalt be as My mouth: let them return unto thee; but 
return not thou unto them."

Another translation says it this way:  "If you turn back, I will take you 
back, and you shall stand before me. If you utter what is precious, and not 
what is worthless, you shall serve as my mouth. It is they who will turn to 
you, not you who will turn to them."

But if the church is confused about what is good and what is evil, then how 
can we give the world a meaningful message from God?  And if the church does 
not give the world a message from God, then who will?

Jim