Good and Evil

Some seem to have difficulty with the concept of good and evil in this world.  God, in Genesis, said (in creating the word and all in it) "It was very good."  I believe that, but most days I need to be very intentional in accepting it.  I see lots of things that make me say, "That isn't so good."  Pain, poverty, disease, stress, war ... I could go on but you get the point.  This world is far from perfect.  What could God have possibly meant by this?

So I search and I read and I find a great book by C. S. Lewis in which he talks about how there is a battle between evil and good in the world.  In "Screwtape Letters" Lewis tells the story of two tempters (devils) that are assigned to turn people toward evil.  In Chapter 8 he describes the nature of the enemy of the demons.  That enemy is God. It is a beautiful description of what Satan is trying to do and what God is trying to do.  He says, "One must face the fact that all the talk about His love for men, and His service being perfect freedom, is not (as one would gladly believe) mere propaganda, but an appalling truth. He really does want to fill the universe with a lot of loathsome little replicas of Himself-- creatures whose life, on its miniature scale, will be qualitatively like His own, not because he has absorbed them but because their wills freely conform to His. We want cattle who can finally become food; He wants servants who can finally become sons. We want to suck in,, He wants to give out. We are empty and would be filled; He is full and flows over. Our war aim is a world in which Our Father Below has drawn all other beings into himself: the Enemy wants a world full of beings united to Him but still distinct."

Read this carefully.  God draws us to Himself through the decisions and strife we face every day, giving us the chance to choose Him.  He wants us to both be united to Him but remain the distinct and beautiful creations He has made us to be.  It is not a perfection of action (the Pharisees had that market cornered).  It is dancing in tune with God and one another through becoming the humble servants He desires us to be.  And when that happens ... it is very good.

On Sunday when we sing congregational songs it is not to sing the songs in perfection of tune.  It is the choir and the praise team lifting up the songs to God in a way that leads all to sing with passion and joy ... because we are all singing to one person ... God.  This week, lets sing to God.  Let's worry less about the perfection of matching the notes on the page and more about singing from our hearts in unison with God and our brothers and sisters.  I'll bet it will be VERY good!  Randy