October 6, 2006

Small towns and countryside communities like ours provide a picturesque and comforting sanctuary in a world that seems completely out of control.  While Hollywood occasionally demonstrates a knack for misrepresenting small town life as either dull or naïve, rural Ohio provides its inhabitants an opportunity to live life in an unhurried manner, uncluttered with many of the pressures and tumults of urban and even suburban areas.

A quiet pace for living and a safe place for raising families are some of the expectations that we’ve adopted in the rolling hills of southern Ohio along the graceful waters of the mighty Ohio River.

And yet quiet, small towns and seemingly peaceful farmlands are not entirely immune to troubles, nor are they impregnable fortresses against the ruthless tragedies and terrors that characterize our times.  While our own area still reels from several unexpected deaths of loved ones, young and old, (impacting our close-knit community in incalculable ways), the headlines of our world are dominated by evil men bent on maiming, killing, and terrorizing others – some of whom attempt to hold nations hostage with the threat of nuclear weapons and some who bind young girls, violate them, and then kill them.

So whether our minds are keeping tabs on the global scene or are focused on events in small town America, let us remember that evil is very real and very insidious.  But let’s not throw in the towel.  I don’t believe in yielding to the power of fear.  Acknowledging the fact of evil is good; running from it is not.  And of course denying it is foolish to the point of being suicidal as well as being evil in its own right.

“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings” (1 Peter 5:8-9 NIV).

So if evil is real and is on the prowl, and there is no place so safe that I can be sure as to my future, where can I turn?  Where can I feel secure?  Where can I find hope?

“Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever….  In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and He answered by setting me free.  The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid.  What can man do to me?  The LORD is with me; He is my helper.  I will look in triumph on my enemies.  It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.  It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes….  I was pushed back and about to fall, but the LORD helped me.  The LORD is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation” (Psalm 118:1, 5-9, 13-14 NIV).

As great and as terrible as evil can be at times, God’s children press on in His righteousness.  We do not react to evil with evil, but respond to it instead with courage, standing up for those who are weak, defending the powerless, and liberating the oppressed.  “Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the LORD.  This is the gate of the LORD through which the righteous may enter.  I will give You thanks, for You answered me; You have become my salvation” (Psalm 118:19-21 NIV).

Of course, that’s what the good news of the Gospel is all about… redeeming those whose lives are under the power of evil.  In fact, the Gospel addresses evil at its deepest level – the human heart as Jesus confronted empty religion and worldly preoccupations, the fruits of which are hypocrisy, hate, and despair.  “… (Jesus) stood up to read.  The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him.  Unrolling it, He found the place where it is written:  ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor.  He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor…  Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing’” (Luke 4:16b-19, 21b NIV).

Since we’ve been made “more than conquerors through Christ Jesus” (see Romans 8:37), let us then each enter into the fray against evil now in earnest.  Let it begin within ourselves as we give our sin over to God for Him to forgive and cleanse through the power of His Son’s sacrifice and resurrection.  Let us take the battle against evil into our homes, our neighborhoods, our workplaces as we use the weapons of truth and love to turn back the advances of deceit and hate.  Let us trust wholeheartedly in the One Who has already secured for us a victory that is so sure and eternal that it will outlast the sun and the stars.

“You are my God, and I will give You thanks; You are my God, and I will exalt You.  Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever” (Psalm 118:28-29 NIV).

(Thom Mollohan and his family have ministered in southern Ohio the past eleven years.  He is the pastor of Pathway Community Church, which meets on Sunday mornings at the Ariel Theatre.  He may be reached for comments or questions by email at pastorthom@pathwaygallipolis.com).