Evil May Not Be What You Think

Do not devise evil in your hearts against one another. Zechariah 7:10

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable. 1 Corinthians 12:21–22

When you hear the word "evil," what do you think of?

A supernatural force opposing good? The darkness in us that shows itself in our lesser moments? The guy with the pitchfork down below? What images or thoughts come to your mind when you see the word "evil?"

The Old Testament prophet Zechariah is warning all of his hearers (us included) against stoking this flame in our own hearts. When we sit and stew on how angry we are at someone else, we are feeding the flames that could consume them, and us.

In the New Testament, Paul uses a different analogy. Paul is the master of analogies, by the way...they are so good, they have endured for 2000 years, and still I cannot think of a better way to explain how we are called to be the people of God together than...a body.

At first you might wonder why these two passages are paired together, but I believe reading them together points our minds and our hearts toward an aspect of evil that we often ignore...

Evil is seeing the "other" as dispensable.

I got a first-hand account of this from a young man I met a number of years ago who identified as a "Satanist." Now, it's important to take a second to draw the distinction; he was not a "Satan worshipper." He did not believe in ANY supernatural force, evil included. He didn't believe in a red guy with a pitchfork. He believed in himself above all else. LaVeyan Satanism (started by Anton LaVey, the shock-jock of the 1960's) is humanism, taken to the extreme.

Here's a core principle of LaVeyan Satanism, directly from their website: "We Satanists are thus our own 'Gods,' and as beneficent 'deities' we can offer love to those who deserve it and deliver our wrath (within reasonable limits) upon those who seek to cause us—or that which we cherish—harm."

This young man I met believed this very much; that as long as the other person deserved love, he would offer it. But if they wronged him, he was done with them. There is no concept of forgiveness in this world view. The other person, whoever it is, is useful to me if they can help me achieve my goals and deserve my care...but absolutely disposable and in fact must be destroyed if they stand between me and my will's desires.

This. Is. Evil. And a less severe, less perceptible version of it surrounds us in this culture. We are not all followers of LaVeyan Satanism, but we are all modern, individualist American consumers...and there are some troubling parallels. We are often judgmental of, or afraid of the "other" rather than seeing them as absolutely indispensable.

Who is to decide who in my life "deserves" love and who does not? It had better not be ME having to decide that...I am a fallible human with my own biases and memories of past hurts.

Today, may we reject this form of evil that surrounds us. Take a moment and hold in your mind a  person who irritates you...a person who frustrates you...a person to whom you would LIKE to say, "I have no need of you." Now, let the truth settle in that that person deserves love too...and maybe you aren't the one who can give it right now, depending on the depth of the past hurt...but they deserve it, and they are an essential part of the world, and your life. Maybe, just maybe...they are indispensable for YOU because accepting that they are worthy of love will soften your judgments and soften your heart.

PRAYER:
God, soften our hearts today toward those we dislike. Give us the grace to forgive them and love them...and when we cannot, love them for us for a while...and teach us to follow your example. Amen.