[Confident Series] Confident: Things We KnowExemplo

We Know that the World Is Evil

The Bible refers to the children of God as light, but the world is darkness. Christians must be completely different from this world. That does not mean that we should separate ourselves from people. It means that we need to live far from sin. 

Unfortunately, the world is enticing. Its ways are familiar to us. We lived in darkness before we became saved. We were, and are, surrounded by unbelievers. It is tempting for Christians to be holy on Sunday, but return to living the same way the world does on Monday. Jesus knew that it would be difficult for His disciples to be spiritually separated from this world while they are physically in it. So, He prayed for us before He went to the cross and asked the Father to protect us from the evil one in this world.

Unfortunately, the Church as a whole has been living very close to the world. We say that we believe in a good God, but many times Christians do evil things. People see racism in the Church; they see sexual predators, harassment, and prejudice among Christians because that is what is advertised on the news. In 1986, 10% of American youth said that they were religiously unaffiliated. In 2016, 39% of young adults say that they are religiously unaffiliated. The number of people today who do not want anything to do with Christianity is four times larger than it was 30 years ago. Many unbelievers say that Christians are hypocrites. 

What can we do about that? How can we still witness to our friends and loved ones that God is good? We can do several things. First, we need to listen to the stories of others with Christ’s sympathy. We should not dismiss their negative experiences. We should tell them that we are sorry that they encountered evil in a church. Next, we need to show them that we are shining for Christ. When we can demonstrate to unbelievers that our lives reflect the goodness of God, they will listen to us. Now, we can share the real gospel with them. We can invite them to accept Christ as their Savior and their Healer. God can heal people from the hurts that they experienced, even when those wounds were inflected by the church. 

When we live in the light, we can create a difference between ourselves and this world. We can be good even though this world is evil. Then, we can invite other people to experience God. Our lives must be radically different from the evil of this world so we can witness to others about a good God. Then, we can say to unbelievers or those hurt by a church, “Let me take you to the goodness, strength, and grace of the Lord.”