
“I hate those who are double-minded, but I love your instruction. You are my shelter and my shield; I put my hope in your word. Depart from me, you evil ones, so that I may obey my God’s commands. Sustain me as you promised, and I will live; do not let me be ashamed of my hope. Sustain me so that I can be safe and always be concerned about your statutes. You reject all who stray from your statutes, for their deceit is a lie. You remove all the wicked on earth as if they were dross from metal; therefore, I love your decrees. I tremble in awe of you; I fear your judgments.” (Psalm 119:113-120 CSB)
This passage of Scripture helps us to see and address the wrongness and evil of this world through the lens of Scripture.
How are we responding to all of the evil that we are seeing?
If you are truly a believer, then your weeping over sin and evil isn’t limited to a specific kind of sin or evil. For too long, I’ve found myself weeping over the racism that has been happening in this country, and now I’m weeping over the chaos that has ensued through riots and looting. We are continuing to sink more and more into sin and further and further away from God.
The bottom line is this: Wrong is wrong. Sin is sin. Evil is evil.
And God is not pleased with any of it! We are not qualified to redefine evil and unrighteousness under any circumstance. It’s God’s way or no way.
Ask yourself this, do you really love the things that God loves? Do you really hate the things that God hates? Or does your love and hatred vacillate based on factors outside of God? Are you double-minded when it comes to evil and wrong doing?
I’ve been drawn back to the chapter that I wrote in “His Testimonies, My Heritage: Women of Color on the Word of God” for the past few days. The chapter is entitled “When This World Is Wrong” and in it, I unpack how believers are to respond to sin, wickedness, and all that is evil.
The fact of the matter is that our world is plagued by sin. WE are plagued by sin. And although we’d like to think that we have all the answers and the ability to get it right, when left to our own devices we’d NEVER be able to do so. We need Jesus!
Lord knows my heart cries out for the lost.
It hurts to see the current state of affairs, but what hurts even more is knowing that many will die right here in unrepentant sin. Instead of falling on our faces before God, confessing our many sins, we stand proudly as if we are incapable of offending the only One who is wise and holy.
We downplay our proclivity to get it wrong and as a result, we fall deeper and deeper into sin. Evil is rampant and so many are woefully blind. Even worse, we often can’t even see our own faults because we’re too busy checking for everybody else’s.
I have found myself weeping profusely at the brokenness of this world, but even more than that, I am weeping at the lostness of man. We are arrogant, proud, selfish, foolish, disobedient, unloving, unforgiving, and a stench in God’s nostrils. Have mercy upon us, Father.
I pray that God will soften hearts and that many will be granted repentance.
If you are struggling to figure out your next move in regard to all that is happening today, I’d like to encourage you to first start with four simple things:
Repentance
Every day, in some way we offend the holy God; thus, there is always room for repentance. Take time to sit before the Lord and confess the areas of your life where you’ve sinned against Him and others. I cannot tell you explicitly what areas in your life call for repentance. But I can tell you that without repentance we as individuals and as a people on the whole, cannot receive the healing that we desperately need and can only be provided by the hand of God.
Pray
Prayer is (or should be) an essential component of the Christian life. The answers that we need to the many problems in life can only be achieved through the workings of God. Take time to pray and cry out to God. Our prayers can take many forms: Lament, Praise, Thanksgiving, etc. As you pray, remember those who are lost and do not know Jesus. Pray for the angry and frustrated. Pray for God’s mercy on this land. Don’t just say you’re praying, or “post” that you’re praying, but sincerely sit before the Lord and cry out to Him.
Love
We are commanded to love. God first, then our neighbors. Ask yourself this: “How well am I demonstrating my love for God and others?” Understand that loving well sometimes means laying down your rights for the sake of others. Practically, this can look like taking the time to listen to a friend share their thoughts and experiences. Or maybe loving well means forgoing the social media argument and simply praying for that person. When I think of what it means to love well, I am often reminded of 1 Corinthians 13. I urge you to read through that chapter and apply those biblical truths to your own life.
Proclaim
Every believers’ responsibility is to proclaim the Gospel throughout the land. Right now, people are in dire need of hearing Gospel truths. Furthermore, we need to know and teach the Gospel so that we can effectively make disciples. As believers, we can effect change to the glory of God by teaching others 1 by 1. Jesus started with 12, but we can start with just one. We don’t need a platform, web show, podcast, or anything else. Start within your area of reach and labor with each person that God brings to you. This is how we change the world and make a godly impact all to the glory of the Lord.
Guest Post was written by Portia Collins. You can find Portia Collins on Instagram @portiawcollins and @sheshallbecalled Grab a copy of His Testimonies, My Heritage.