A Question of Good vs. Evil
“How can there be a God?” one might ask, “when there is so much evil in the world? A good God wouldn’t allow evil.”
A mentor once answered in this way: “You say there is evil in the world. Doesn’t that imply that there must be good as well? Then there must be a moral law to differentiate between good and evil. And if there is a moral law, there must be some standard – a Judge or Moral Lawgiver, in other words, God. So what is your question?”
If God’s revealed law does not set the moral standard, then who or what does? Majority rule? The loudest and most insistent voices? You be free to do what you want while I am free to do what I want? The latter is actually the opposite of freedom – it’s anarchy. What if, for example, some of us decided to disregard accepted traffic laws and standards?
“Don’t Hurt Yourself”
The true answer for the presence of evil is God’s gift of free will. When we don’t choose the Good, those choices have natural consequences on ourselves and others. As a Loving Father, when God says “Don’t do that,” what He’s really saying is “I Love you. Don’t hurt yourself.”
What is Sin?
“All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the father but is of the world.”
1 John 2:16
Our parents in the Garden saw the forbidden fruit “was good for food” (lust of the flesh), “a delight to the eyes” (lust of the eyes), “and to be desired to make one wise” (“to be like gods”, the pride of life – Genesis 3:6). Like that original sin, “All subsequent sin [is] disobedience toward God and lack of trust in His goodness” (Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) #397).
The Catechism defines sin as “An offense against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to certain goods.” (CCC #1849).
God, I know what you want; but I want what I want.
A definition of sin by Fr. Mike Schmitz really brings it home: “God, I know what you want; but I want what I want.” That is a sentence that begs to be read slowly and prayerfully.
All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). We know deep down that certain things we are drawn to – even good things in excess – are sinful. And yet we do them. Sin is deceitful. It may bring us momentary pleasure, but it will never bring true joy and peace. We are in a constant battle; virtue or vice, chastity or sexual license, heeding God’s Word or succumbing to our disordered desires.
The Deceit of Sin
“Exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”
Hebrews 3:12
A recent post by Msgr. Charles Pope points out how things have changed in our society.
“Many of us remember times when sins that are openly practiced (and even celebrated) today were considered shameful. Pre-marital sex (fornication), living together before marriage (“shacking up”), and divorce were considered scandalous. “Gay” meant happy or joyful, and condoning (let alone celebrating) homosexual acts would have been inconceivable to most Americans. The concept of same-sex marriage was not even imaginable. Even contraception was considered by most Americans to be a loathsome practice associated with prostitution.”
His point isn’t that those earlier times were sinless, but that we have lost the sense of shame and scandal that certain behaviors brought about.
Scandal and the Church
Scandal (noun) 5a: discredit brought upon religion by unseemly conduct in a religious person 5b. conduct that causes or encourages a lapse of faith or of religious obedience in another.
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
Scandal is an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil.… The person who gives scandal becomes his neighbor’s tempter. He damages virtue and integrity; he may even draw his brother into spiritual death.
Catechism of the Catholic Church #2284
If a married man is secretly having an affair it is gravely sinful, but not yet a scandal because it is not public. Public scandal is more serious for leaders and manipulators of opinion. A popular teen novel a few years ago in which suicide was a key theme led to a rash of teen suicides. The reception of the Sacraments by public figures who are actively promoting sinful behavior – notably abortion – causes scandal by implying the Church agrees with or at least condones their stances. The Church sexual abuse crisis was and is a devastating scandal. If particular sins can be judged as worse than another, those certainly can. They reflected not just on the sinful (and criminal) individuals, but on the Church herself. The public airing of their sins undoubtedly caused some to turn their backs on the Church, and indeed perhaps all spiritual truth. Those sins will have eternal (literally damnable) consequences. Scandalous and tragic.
Do My Actions Give Scandal?
Whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called the least in the kingdom of heaven.
-Matthew 5:19. See also Matthew 18:6
The Apostle Paul deals with scandal in 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 and Romans 14 and 15. He warns us to reflect on our own behavior, and how we might be unintentionally giving scandal by our actions or inaction. From the Catechism:
“We have a responsibility for the sins committed by others when we cooperate in them:
- by participating directly and voluntarily in them;
- by ordering, advising, praising, or approving them;
- by not disclosing or not hindering them when we have an obligation to do so;
- by protecting evil-doers.” (CCC #1868, emphasis retained)
Good Out of Evil
God can bring good out of evil (Genesis 50:20), and even great good out of great evil (The Crucifixion), but He requires our cooperation (CCC #306). Yes, there is evil in the world. You and I are not responsible for the whole world, but we are obliged to care for our corner of it. My job and yours in this life is to do good, to exhort and encourage others, and to be open to their sincerely meant admonishment in return.
“Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good.” -Romans 12:21
Feature image by JonathanRieder from Pixabay
No Comments