What is Evil?
This coming Sunday when Kyle, Ellen, Grady, Rosemary and Tucker are baptized, each candidate (or the parents and godparents answering for them) will make three renunciations and three promises. The promises will seem fairly straightforward: to accept Jesus as their Savior, to trust in his grace and love, and to follow and obey him as their Lord. In contrast, the renunciations will feel less clear and more complex.
Do you renounce Satan and all the spiritual forces of wickedness that rebel against God?
Do you renounce the evil powers of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God?
Do you renounce all sinful desires that draw you from the love of God?
During a conversation earlier this week a parishioner asked, “What is evil?” Our discussion lasted for over an hour and our vocabulary sometimes felt inadequate. While the discussion felt fruitful, we still had many questions yet to be answered.
If evil is so difficult to define, how are we to understand the renunciations at baptism? Given the limits of space, I’ll share one perspective today. This is not the only answer or even the best answer. But it’s one way to wrestle with these difficult questions at the heart of the Christian faith.
While there is much that is good, beautiful, and holy in the world, I find many people these days sharing with me their anxiety and concern about the state of our nation and the world, especially as we move into the critical months of the presidential campaign and transition. The potential for violence feels real. Politicians scapegoat entire groups of people and threaten the freedoms of others. Examples of evil powers corrupting and destroying the creatures of God seem too abundant. It doesn’t take much to believe there are spiritual forces of wickedness rebelling against God. Feeling anxious and afraid is normal and understandable. We don’t need to deny the feelings. But we need to beware how easily they can lead us to hopelessness and powerlessness.
In anxious times, the renunciations become an act of defiance. In the face of despair, they encourage us to live with hope. Instead of feeling powerless, they invite us to claim the power of Christ working in and through us. Through the act of renouncing evil, we choose the way of the cross, which is the way of life and reconciliation. When we turn to Jesus, we choose to live with a generosity of spirit no matter the circumstances.
“If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; be kind anyway. If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; be honest and frank anyway. What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; build anyway. The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; do good anyway. You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God; it is never between you and them anyway.” (Attributed to Mother Teresa)
