“Right is right, even if no one does it; wrong is wrong, even if everyone does it.” There is a slippery slope when we start calling evil good!
Scripture:
Isaiah, chapters 4-5; Psalms 115 and 116; Jude
Isaiah 5:18-24 (CEB):
Doom to those who drag guilt along with cords of fraud, and haul sin as if with cart ropes, who say, “God should hurry and work faster so we can see; let the plan of Israel’s holy one come quickly, so we can understand it.” Doom to those who call evil good and good evil, who present darkness as light and light as darkness, who make bitterness sweet and sweetness bitter. Doom to those who consider themselves wise, who think of themselves as clever. Doom to the wine-swigging warriors, mighty at mixing drinks, who spare the guilty for bribes, and rob the innocent of their rights.
Therefore, as a tongue of fire devours stubble, and as hay shrivels in a flame, so their roots will rot, and their blossoms turn to dust, for they have rejected the teaching of the Lord of heavenly forces, and have despised the word of Israel’s holy one.
Observations: Beware! Calling Evil Good is Dangerous
This passage from Isaiah 5 identifies several things that God condemns:
- Embracing sin (dragging guilt along with cords of fraud, hauling sin as if with cart ropes, v 18)
- Challenging God’s authority (who say, ‘God should hurry up so we can see what he’s doing, v 19)
- Rejecting truth (who call evil good and good evil, v 20)
- Arrogance (who consider themselves wise, v 21)
- Intemperance (the wine-swigging warriors, mighty at mixing drinks, v 22)
- Injustice (who spare the guilty for bribes and rob the innocent of their rights, v 23)
We should notice that these warnings are broad enough to reach across the spectrum of society. Beware!
Doom to Those who Call Evil Good
I suggest, however, that at the core of these warnings is the real issue – rejecting God’s truth. I reflected on this subject recently (Speaking Truth to Those Who Don’t Want to Hear It), in connection with the earlier chapters of Isaiah. As I also pointed out in that post, in 2 Timothy 4 Paul predicts that people won’t want to hear the truth. “They will collect teachers who will say what they want to hear because they are self-centered. They will turn their back on the truth and turn to myths” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).
Saint Augustine said (about 1600 years ago), “Right is right even if no one is doing it; wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it.” I’m sure Augustine thought that applied to his world; it certainly applies today. In fact, the proliferation of social media and the availability of information online makes everyone an “expert.” You can find something online to support literally anything you believe. You can also find others who share your opinion. But that doesn’t make it right.
In our New Testament passage from Jude today, Jude says: “But these people slander whatever they don’t understand. They are destroyed by what they know instinctively, as though they were irrational animals” (Jude 10, emphasis added). The problem with our instincts, our “nature,” is that it is polluted by sin. Rebellion against God, and by extension against God’s truth, is the heart of sin. In verse 18, Jude says, “In the end time scoffers will come living according to their own ungodly desires.” Doom to those who call evil good and good evil.
Application: The Slippery Slope of Calling Evil Good
It’s easy for us to read a passage like this and immediately think of people to whom it applies. And make no mistake: we are called to stand for the truth. But before we do, we need to apply it to ourselves first. Am I ignoring my failings, and those of people close to me, because I don’t want to hurt their feelings? Do I focus on the sins I don’t struggle with, and ignore those that hit closer to home? “Wrong is wrong, even if everyone is doing it.”
But we have to be willing to stand for the truth, even if our culture rejects it. In verse 3 of his letter, Jude says, “I wanted very much to write to you concerning the salvation we share. Instead, I must write to urge you to fight for the faith delivered once and for all to God’s holy people” (emphasis added). We have to be willing to speak the truth, even when it’s unpopular. Rejecting God’s truth is dangerous business! And that’s as true for God’s calls to justice and mercy as it is for God’s call to sexual purity and personal holiness. Doom to those who call evil good!
Prayer:
Father, forgive us for the times when we have excused sin because it was uncomfortable to speak the truth. Help us to look first at ourselves, and to recognize our own failures. Challenge us each day to live the truth, so that when we speak the truth, it has the ring of truth. Keep us from the slippery slope of calling evil good, no matter how small the evil might seem.
When Satan tempts us to settle for “the lesser of two evils,” remind us that the lesser evil is still evil. Lead us in your way, that we might choose the good. Amen.
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