Forgiveness in the Face of Evil

When we run up against hate or hostility in this world, we know that we, in Christ, possess a force
that is so much stronger - the power of His love. Romans chapter 12 states:
9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.
10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;
11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord...

When we see hate or encounter it first hand, we can remember how we have been endued with the love of the Lord.  That love is so powerful, that it can help us to generate the correct response to the evil in this world.  Rather than be consumed with hatefulness, unforgiveness, or bitterness ourselves, we can release Christ's love, that will flow outwardly to a world that needs to see it, and inwardly through us to cleanse us of attitudes that are not pleasing to the Lord.

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In Matthew 5, we find some helpful words of Jesus as we consider how we can walk in His love in
the midst of an evil world. We can read these verses:
43 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'
44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,
45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

Recently, we had chilling instances of how people of faith faced real threats, fueled by hatred.  One of those involved a man entering a Rabbi's home in New York and stabbing multiple people, arguably part of a wave of anti-Semitic violence in New York City, and, in this case, beyond.

Then, you had a man walk into a Sunday morning service at a church in Texas and fired his weapon before being taken out by a church member who was armed and alert.  You certainly have stories of heroism here, and of God's protection, using the security team at the church to identify the possible danger and taking very swift action.

And, there is a story line of forgiveness and the love of Christ, as well.  One of the members of Fort Worth's West Freeway Church of Christ who survived was John Richardson; Faithwire reports:

West Freeway Church member John Richardson dived to the ground and lay on top of his wife when he heard shots ring out at the Fort Worth area church.

In a matter of seconds, the shotgun-wielding attacker had killed two people before being taken out by an armed church member.

Incredibly, despite the loss of life, Richardson said he felt no ill will towards the attacker. “We have to understand that evil is everywhere and that no matter preaching or teaching, if evil’s going to try to do something horrible, evil’s going to do something horrible,” he told WFAA.

The article also notes that, "Not only is Richardson void of resentment towards the murderous individual, but he even said that his 'heart goes out to his family' because 'they have to live with this.'" He said that he did not "have any hate for this person."

One of those who lost their lives was deacon Anton "Tony" Wallace, who was serving communion at the time of the attack, according to his daughter, Tiffany, who was attending that Sunday morning.  The Christian Post stated:

Wallace told NBC News that her 64-year-old father was serving communion at the time of the shooting.

"It just happened so fast and it was so crazy," Wallace said. "I was like, 'not my dad, not my dad."

After checking to make sure her own children were unharmed, Wallace rushed to her father’s side to tell him she loved him and was going to be OK. Shortly thereafter, he died at the hospital.

She is quoted as saying, "I forgive him, and it's the hardest thing to say because it's like, somebody killed your dad, but I forgive him," adding, "I’ll never forgive what he did, but I forgive him.” She questioned how "someone so evil, the devil," could do what he did.

The church's senior minister, Britt Farmer, also explored the deeper meaning of the tragedy:

"There is evil in this world," Farmer said. "Today is one sermon I'll never preach ... it's called leaving a legacy and two men today left a legacy. But a congregation is going to build on that legacy.”

“We like to say we’re a place your family can call home. Today our home was invaded by evil,” the pastor said, adding that he hopes in “some way, we might be a beacon to those who don’t know what to do, because we proved ... that we can be God-fearing people, but we can protect each other as well.”

Just the physical heroism is something we can isolate here, considering the imminent physical threat.  We can also make sure that we are alert to spiritual dangers and watch out for each other.  We can be alert to the enemy's schemes and make sure that we are ready for action when he comes.

We also can check our response to when people commit misdeeds against us or perpetrate outright evil acts.  We should be ready to forgive, otherwise, we can become bitter on the inside and allow our unforgiveness to consume us and develop into hatred.  We can be willing to forgive when we are wronged and make sure that we continue to be gracious.

And, we can admit that there is evil in the world, but God's love and power can overcome it.  We must be characterized by a dependence on God and be devoted to expressing the love of the Lord.