Evil

A common idea in Christianity is the philosophical notation that evil is an absence of goodness or a perversion of goodness.   I suppose this idea is fine and I cannot see that it leads to anything in and of itself, but I also cannot see that it is true.

I believe that it is the sort of the idea that if we dismiss the teaching of God on the devil and demonic realm we feel tempted to believe.

It also leads the other way our definition of evil can tempt us to dismiss the demonic world.

Evil at its worst seeks to destroy.   I cannot see how we can say the devil is in any sense lacking in goodness or perverted in goodness in his attempt to destroy Job.

None of this is very key, but I do think that by refusing to allow evil to have a seperate class or category than good we fail to grasp the seriousness of the problems of the world.  

There must be some good end or aim in an action or perversion of good if evil is an absence of good.   It seems of use to allow evil to be its own entity rather than to grasp it is some sort of perversion of good.

It seems that along with the categorization of evil as a subset of good often comes the denial or spiritualization of demonic forces.  Such slippage of knowledge opens the door to all sorts of problems.

I have only met truly penetrating evil and work of the devil in places where people see the demonic world as some sort of allegory of scripture.  And here is the problem with the definition we cannot carry its implications through scripture without risk. 

This would suggest the definition is in fact wrong.  If we hold to the definition anyhow we must be careful to not allow man made definition to override clear scriptural teaching as has at times been done.

Thinking on Good Things

When I was younger I didn't have much access to TVs and computers, so I would look through magazines and catalogs in hopes of finding beautiful pieces of pictures to cut out and save to one day create a collage. I never really made one, but I did end taping and gluing interesting things to my high school planner and just keeping some interesting pieces in a folder.

This reminds me of Philippians 4:8: "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

I had aimed to keep what was beautiful, and this verse asks us to keep what is beautiful in our minds. Truly beautiful things. Not necessarily what our culture thinks is beautiful. But true beauty, as defined by God. As God is, and shown in his work in Creation.

When we go through life, we can try to save in our minds the beautiful things we see. The sun is setting just when we happen to be out, and there's an interesting shade of pink and blue forming. The uniqueness of a person we know well that makes us smile.

We can store these up each day like I was going through a magazine clipping out all the nice colors and pictures. We may not remember them as long as papers last in folders, but it is as easy as that. People often feel like it is hard to think of good things, but it's just keeping in mind to look for those things, and taking a moment to reflect on each one as they're noticed.

After we notice beautiful things, the next step can be to thank God for them, or think of how God has blessed us, or even really nothing. Quietly enjoy that time.

I want to also say that sadness is a part of life due to the Fall. So we can't pressure ourselves too much to reflect on the beautiful always. God calls us to other things as well, like truth and honesty (which are beautiful, but sometimes reveal the ugliness of our condition). We really have to be honest about our condition—the falliness of it and the world around us--to truly see our hope in Christ and also the sheer beauty in even the smallest things. A Fallen world that still has beauty in it, thanks to God. That is more than we deserve (the wages of sin is death - Romans 6:23). So we praise God for his helping us weak creatures.

All Good Things from God

Recently I read an article mentioning that all good things come from God (James 1:17). What a beautiful reality.

If we truly start to think often on this, that all good things flow from God, we'd have countless opportunities to thank God. The sun shining and the way the cool wind feels on a hot day can be a cause for quiet awe and reflection.

Or even on a winter day full of snow and cold, the type where people like to complain about the cold, there's a chance to see the beauty of snow or feel the heat inside.

There are hundreds of possible things to be grateful for each day. That doesn't mean that life isn't sad at times, but that gifts are always around us. A beautiful sign from God of his blessings to us. Big and small.

The Goodness of The World

The material world is inherently good. The fall of man and man's sinful nature do not change the fact that the material world is good.

Of course the material world was subjected to futility in the fall. It is a world under a curse, but it is still fundamentally good and declares the power and glory of God.

Many people wish to suggest that things are inherently bad. Material abundance is inherently good. Of course it is our choices which are good or bad.

With great blessing comes a great responsibility to seek to bless with what we are blessed. Maybe the issue of doubting the goodness of the material world comes from the bible's harsh words against many rich people in the biblical narrative.

Of course you see that it is not their wealth for which they are condemned. Job before and after his suffering had great wealth and he was the most righteous man alive.

Many theologians wish to read the story of Job differently and are foolish to do so. God clearly states there was no one as righteous as Job in his day.

To critique the errors of Job is to critique the errors of the most righteous man in his day and we should do so lightly, you see that is the point of the story how the men who critiqued Job greatly sinned.

The errors of the rich which are condemned are oppression of the poor, refusal to help those in need, reliance on wealth, and turning away from God. There are many people with wealth that are not condemned.

You see it is not wealth that is an issue. "Money is the root of all kinds of evil" is not a biblical principle. Rather it's a very poor paraphrase. Rather it is "The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil." Many people scoff the difference is small.

It is not small at all. You see money is a tool. If we wish to use it to serve God then it is a tool for good. It is rather our attitude toward money which makes it good or bad.

Of course the fallen heart of man is what made money have a dangerous power. But it is not the money or the material things it offers that are the issue, but rather how the sinful heart sees those possibilities.