What's My Attitude To Those Who Do Evil?
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12.21
Watchman Nee in his book Two Principles of Living shares a beautiful story about two Chinese farmers. The farmer whose field was higher up the hill was a Christian. He would get up early and work hard to pump water by hand for his crops. But his neighbour below him would cut a path through his upper neighbour’s watercourse and let the water flow down to his lower field. This happened more than once and the Christian farmer was quite irritated with his lazy neighbour.
But rather than going down and yelling at his neighbour, the Christian farmer started pumping water first for his neighbour’s field and then for his own. The neighbour soon went to the Christian and apologized.
Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth and evil for evil is the most natural thing that comes to us. We need not get trained for it. Our parents need not teach this. It comes naturally to all of us. It came naturally to the disciples also. One of the best examples is of Peter drawing out his sword and cutting of the ear of Malchus. But Jesus soon tells him to put back the sword in its place and heals the soldier’s ear.
Overcoming evil with good calls for an extra ordinary living. And Christ came into this world, lived, died and rose again so that we too may experience and live out a life of higher standard. The above verse tells us how we as Christians should relate to the world around us and people around us. We call ourselves Christians which means ‘those who follow Christ’.
Does Paul say this because these way things will always work out for the good or there will be an attitudinal change in the other person? I doubt if that’s the reason Paul is stressing on. The reason Paul commands us to act in this way is not because it may bring about a change but because it’s the right thing to do. This is what should be our calling as a Christian community.
None of us has endured evil to the level and extent that Jesus did. But Jesus Christ was not overcome by evil. He overcame evil with good. The best example can be found on the cross, when Jesus prayed for the enemies who persecuted him, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
I am sure there are many who have hurt us in the most painful manner. Before we enter into the Passion Week and sing out Hosanna and make our journey towards the cross is it possible for us to give a blessing for a curse, a kiss for a blow and a favour for the wrong meted unto us? May we have a meaningful celebration of Passion week and rise up to be extraordinary beings filled with the divine atmosphere of love where evil doesn’t have a place.
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