Pacifists in the War Against Sin and Evil

September 3, 2015

Pacifists in the War Against Sin and Evil

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

1 Peter 5:7-8

I knew a man who could not stand peace. If all was peaceful and tranquil within his house, he would insult his wife or daughter just to get a row going. Turmoil was his normal. But most of us are not like him. We want to be at peace with our family and neighbors.

Jesus warns us, as does Peter in the text quoted above, that we have an enemy whose “purpose is to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10). Jesus also promised us “a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid” (John 14:27). Even so, too often we may be attracted to the peace of the world as opposed to the peace Jesus offers to us.

Because we do not live cloistered lives, but seek to be followers of Jesus in secular societies, we must be diligent in knowing ourselves. It is way too easy for us to become chameleon like, and take on the attitudes, habits and beliefs of the world culture. We may lose our remorseful conscience and just go along to get along. Although we may not feel remorseful, what we misinterpret as peace is a sign that we are befriending our enemy the devil whose sole purpose is to destroy us.

Recently, in the news was a story of a public official who refused to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple, even though the Supreme Court had directed her to do so. I disagree with her decision, but I admire her tenacity. The official was either elected or appointed to administer the public laws, not her interpretation of God’s law. If in good conscience, the official cannot administer the public laws, she should look for other work. Even so, I do admire her willingness to struggle with following Jesus in our secular society. There is, in fact, a war in this life. Regrettably, far too many of those called Christians have become pacifists in the war against sin and evil. 

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.