Romans 12 may be, in my estimation, the most powerful, practical chapter in all of God's Word. It begins with our duty to God and ends with our duty to man. It starts off telling me I have been given mercy and it ends telling me to show mercy. In the middle of the chapter I have been given the perfect formula for church management and church involvement. It is a complete chapter. If I were to follow the direction in this chapter line for line I would be an amazing child of God and stand out from the world. Perhaps one of the most profound and difficult lines in the entire chapter is the line in verse seventeen that tells me to "never pay back evil for evil to anyone." The verse finishes by admonishing me to show "respect for what is right" for others to see. My ability to fulfill these verses in my life is the gospel lived out in my life. The world has a system that says, "if someone stabs you in the back, stab them back." Our society is a "tit for tat" society. We are masters at exacting revenge - so much so that we have perfected revenge in even a "passive-aggressive" manner. Christians are the best at "passive-aggressive" behavior. We may not stab someone in the back who has recently stabbed us, but we will withhold from them some good that might help them. Our passive-aggressive behavior is why Paul went on to say in this chapter, don't just withhold vengeance but show love to those who hurt you and heap coals of love on their head (quoting Solomon's wisdom). We are not simply to avoid rendering evil for evil but we are to render good for evil. That is what makes us a child of God. That is unnatural. God give us His mercy and grace when we don't deserve it. That's unnatural. So, too, are we to give mercy and grace to those who wrong us. Be unnatural today.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Evil for Evil - Romans 12
Romans 12 may be, in my estimation, the most powerful, practical chapter in all of God's Word. It begins with our duty to God and ends with our duty to man. It starts off telling me I have been given mercy and it ends telling me to show mercy. In the middle of the chapter I have been given the perfect formula for church management and church involvement. It is a complete chapter. If I were to follow the direction in this chapter line for line I would be an amazing child of God and stand out from the world. Perhaps one of the most profound and difficult lines in the entire chapter is the line in verse seventeen that tells me to "never pay back evil for evil to anyone." The verse finishes by admonishing me to show "respect for what is right" for others to see. My ability to fulfill these verses in my life is the gospel lived out in my life. The world has a system that says, "if someone stabs you in the back, stab them back." Our society is a "tit for tat" society. We are masters at exacting revenge - so much so that we have perfected revenge in even a "passive-aggressive" manner. Christians are the best at "passive-aggressive" behavior. We may not stab someone in the back who has recently stabbed us, but we will withhold from them some good that might help them. Our passive-aggressive behavior is why Paul went on to say in this chapter, don't just withhold vengeance but show love to those who hurt you and heap coals of love on their head (quoting Solomon's wisdom). We are not simply to avoid rendering evil for evil but we are to render good for evil. That is what makes us a child of God. That is unnatural. God give us His mercy and grace when we don't deserve it. That's unnatural. So, too, are we to give mercy and grace to those who wrong us. Be unnatural today.
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