Dear Reconcilers,

This month guest contributor Sheila Graham describes God’s compassion for the vulnerable in this world and how we can respond to the evils they face.

The Antidote for Evil

Today’s news, and more tragic headlines. Oh, how awful, we think, as we turn over to the sports page. We can become so desensitized to Evil that we hardly recognize it anymore. We’ve been so inundated by the Evil around us we can become nonchalant about it.

Yes, it’s a way of coping in this wicked world. But, as followers of Jesus we should be appalled by what’s going on, the hatred, the division, the abuse, the manipulation of our youth.

Evil has commandeered the world’s governments and corporations to twist and hurt and destroy people, all for power and money. Whenever the Bible speaks about the wrath of God it’s about how God feels about Evil. Can you imagine how wrathful God’s wrath could be!

How do you think God feels when he sees the poor and the vulnerable, those he is most concerned about, suffering? Our Savior showed us.

Jesus heard the mournful wails of the widow. Her son was lying dead in front of her. She’d already lost her husband, now her only son had died as well. What agony she was going through.

Though such miracles put a target on his back, he felt real gut-wrenching compassion for her, so much so that he raised her son and restored him to her alive. What kind of love and concern is this? It’s Jesus love. It’s godly love. It’s the compassion for others he expects us, his followers, to have.

And God is just as passionate against Evil as he is for showing compassionate love. “The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked” (Psalm 146:9, NIV).

C.S. Lewis encouraged us to be rebels in this world, to actively care for those suffering in our country and around the world. Let’s be rebels for Christ and “frustrate the ways of the wicked.” Let’s protest Evil. Let’s be compassionate. Let’s feed the hungry, care for the sick, visit the prisoner. We may not be able to do everything, but we can do something. May God help us as a country and as a people.

Sheila Graham has a master’s of arts in religion and a master’s of arts in women’s studies in religion. Among her published writings is The Proverbs 31 Woman and Other Biblical Women, coauthored with Michael Morrison, available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, which also addresses the question of what roles women can play in the church today.