Good vs Evil
For me, a great story has a ‘goodie’ and a ‘baddie’. I’m no great reader but I love watching movies! Be it a western, war, epic, science fiction, comedy, drama, animation or musical: every film where there is good versus evil, I find so engaging to watch.
As a child I was so scared watching ‘The Wizard of Oz’, as the Wicked Witch of the West (and her flying monkeys!) tormented Dorothy and her clumsy friends. What a relief when they finally defeated that green skinned sorceress!
In 1977 my eight-year-old mind was blown by Star Wars. Darth Vader was the ultimate baddie. He and the evil ‘Empire’ were beaten by the rebels and Luke Skywalker, the young farm boy, became a hero… a goodie!
The concept of good and evil is very old, one that goes right back to the earliest pages of Genesis in the Bible. There we read of God (the goodie) and Satan (the baddie). However, it’s not until the final pages of the last book in the Bible, Revelation, where the dramatic conclusion unfolds! Spoiler Alert: God wins!
In our world today we still see good and evil. What Putin’s Russian army is doing in Ukraine is seen by many to be evil. Opposing him is Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s President, the good guy, and the Ukraine people.
Recently I was reading the Bible and this verse popped out at me…
“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
It comes at the end of a section where the author, Paul, was giving some practical advice to his readers, the Christians in Rome, on how to live.
Paul accepts that there is evil in the world, and his response to it is profound…
He says that we should not be overcome by evil. In other words, we must not let it overwhelm, beat or defeat us. Instead, we should be positively proactive! We should not run, hide or do nothing as the antidote is to do something good.
Evil is still at work, and we can see the effects of it. So, how does God want us to respond?
I know of people who have taken in refugees from Ukraine into their homes. Here in my town, people have shown love and support to asylum seekers who have come here from mainland Europe.
They are overcoming evil with good.
Let me encourage you. Where you see evil at work, then be proactive and do something good!
God bless
Gary Bastin - Hope Community Church leader