Transforming Evil: Embracing Love and Non-Cooperation

 

Summary

In today's reflection, I invite you to consider the concept of offering gentle non-cooperation with evil, a phrase inspired by Dallas Willard. We often find ourselves grappling with the overwhelming presence of darkness and brokenness both within and around us. The challenge is to understand the nature of evil and how it manifests in our lives and society. C.S. Lewis, in "The Screwtape Letters," warns of two errors regarding evil: disbelief in its existence and an unhealthy obsession with it. We must navigate these extremes to truly comprehend the pervasive nature of evil.

Dallas Willard's insights in "The Spirit of the Disciplines" guide us to recognize that the readiness to harm others or allow harm to occur is deeply embedded in human nature. This readiness is often triggered by our desires for security, ego gratification, or bodily satisfaction. It's a systemic readiness that lies dormant within us, waiting for the right conditions to ignite. This understanding is crucial in addressing the root causes of evil.

Evil is not only a personal issue but also a systemic one. It infiltrates our institutions and societal structures, influencing politics, business, education, and more. These structures, much like individual habits, perpetuate wrongdoing and injustice. However, if we were to truly live by the principles of love for God and neighbor, these evils would cease to exist as mass conditions. The kingdom of evil is fragile, relying on our cooperation to sustain it.

The call to action is to stop seeking new information or social arrangements to eradicate evil while remaining unchanged ourselves. The monstrous evils we deplore are consequences of the spirit and behavior of normal human beings. The solution lies in our transformation and cooperation with the Holy Spirit. By focusing on the readiness within us to do wrong, we can replace it with a predisposition to love, truth, and courage. This is our part in the divine conspiracy to bring about a new kingdom.

Key Takeaways:

- Evil is deeply embedded in human nature, manifesting as a readiness to harm others when conditions are right. This readiness is often driven by desires for security, ego gratification, or bodily satisfaction. Recognizing this systemic readiness is the first step in understanding the root causes of evil. [02:57]

- Evil is not only a personal issue but also a systemic one, infiltrating institutions and societal structures. These structures perpetuate wrongdoing and injustice, much like individual habits. However, living by the principles of love for God and neighbor can dismantle these systemic evils. [06:02]

- The kingdom of evil is fragile, relying on our cooperation to sustain it. By refusing to cooperate with evil and instead cooperating with the Holy Spirit, we can weaken its hold on our lives and society. This requires a transformation of our inner readiness to do wrong. [08:32]

- The solution to evil is not found in new information or social arrangements but in personal transformation. The evils we deplore are consequences of the spirit and behavior of normal human beings. By focusing on our own readiness to do wrong, we can replace it with love, truth, and courage. [09:28]

- Offering gentle non-cooperation with evil involves recognizing the flammability within us and seeking God's help to replace it with a predisposition to love and truth. This is our part in the divine conspiracy to bring about a new kingdom. [11:17]

Youtube Chapters:

- [00:00] - Welcome
- [00:22] - Invitation to Non-Cooperation with Evil
- [00:46] - Understanding Evil with Dallas Willard
- [01:10] - Individual vs. Systemic Issues
- [01:46] - Ideology and Character Formation
- [02:16] - The Readiness to Harm
- [03:14] - Flammability of Human Nature
- [04:04] - Billy Graham's Example
- [04:29] - Dallas Willard's Turning Point
- [05:06] - The Next Level of Evil
- [06:02] - Systemic Structures of Evil
- [07:20] - Structural Evils and Social Practices
- [08:19] - Imagining a World Without Lies
- [09:14] - The Illusion of Modernity
- [10:05] - The Weakness of Evil
- [11:17] - Transformation and Divine Conspiracy

Study Guide

Bible Study Discussion Guide: Gentle Non-Cooperation with Evil

Bible Reading:
1. Romans 12:21 - "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."
2. Ephesians 6:12 - "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."
3. Matthew 5:44 - "But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

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Observation Questions:

1. According to the sermon, what are the two errors C.S. Lewis warns about regarding our understanding of evil? [00:57]

2. How does Dallas Willard describe the "readiness" to harm others, and what triggers this readiness according to the sermon? [02:44]

3. What examples from the sermon illustrate how systemic evil infiltrates societal structures? [06:14]

4. How does the sermon describe the fragility of the kingdom of evil? [08:32]

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Interpretation Questions:

1. In what ways does the sermon suggest that personal transformation is more effective than seeking new information or social arrangements to combat evil? [08:59]

2. How does the concept of "gentle non-cooperation with evil" challenge the listener's understanding of their role in addressing systemic issues? [10:05]

3. What does the sermon imply about the relationship between individual readiness to do wrong and the perpetuation of systemic evil? [06:02]

4. How might the sermon’s perspective on evil influence a person's approach to spiritual growth and cooperation with the Holy Spirit? [11:17]

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Application Questions:

1. Reflect on a time when you felt a readiness to harm others, even in a small way. What desires were driving that readiness, and how can you address them with God's help? [02:57]

2. Consider the societal structures you are part of, such as your workplace or community. How might you practice gentle non-cooperation with systemic evils present in these environments? [06:14]

3. The sermon suggests that the kingdom of evil is fragile. What is one specific way you can "pull a string" to weaken its hold in your life or community? [08:32]

4. How can you actively replace your readiness to do wrong with a predisposition to love, truth, and courage in your daily interactions? [11:04]

5. Identify a personal habit that contributes to systemic wrongdoing. What steps can you take to transform this habit into one that aligns with the principles of love for God and neighbor? [07:34]

6. Reflect on the idea of cooperating with the Holy Spirit. What is one area of your life where you need to invite the Holy Spirit's guidance to overcome evil with good? [10:20]

7. How can you apply the principle of loving your enemies and praying for those who persecute you in a current relationship or situation? [11:17]

Devotional

Day 1: Recognizing the Readiness to Harm
The readiness to harm others is deeply embedded in human nature, often driven by desires for security, ego gratification, or bodily satisfaction. This systemic readiness lies dormant within us, waiting for the right conditions to ignite. Recognizing this readiness is crucial in understanding the root causes of evil. By acknowledging this aspect of our nature, we can begin to address the underlying issues that lead to harmful actions. This awareness is the first step in transforming our predisposition to harm into a predisposition to love and truth. [02:57]

"For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice." (James 3:16, ESV)

Reflection: Identify a recent situation where you felt the urge to act out of ego or self-interest. How can you transform that readiness to harm into an opportunity for love and truth today?


Day 2: Systemic Structures of Evil
Evil is not only a personal issue but also a systemic one, infiltrating institutions and societal structures. These structures perpetuate wrongdoing and injustice, much like individual habits. However, living by the principles of love for God and neighbor can dismantle these systemic evils. By understanding how these structures operate, we can begin to challenge and change them, creating a society that reflects God's love and justice. [06:02]

"Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing oppression, to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey!" (Isaiah 10:1-2, ESV)

Reflection: Consider a societal structure or institution you interact with regularly. How can you contribute to transforming it to better reflect God's love and justice?


Day 3: The Fragility of the Kingdom of Evil
The kingdom of evil is fragile, relying on our cooperation to sustain it. By refusing to cooperate with evil and instead cooperating with the Holy Spirit, we can weaken its hold on our lives and society. This requires a transformation of our inner readiness to do wrong. By aligning ourselves with the Holy Spirit, we can become agents of change, breaking the cycle of evil and promoting a kingdom of love and truth. [08:32]

"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:21, ESV)

Reflection: Identify a small way you can refuse to cooperate with evil today. How can you instead cooperate with the Holy Spirit to promote good in your life and community?


Day 4: Personal Transformation Over New Information
The solution to evil is not found in new information or social arrangements but in personal transformation. The evils we deplore are consequences of the spirit and behavior of normal human beings. By focusing on our own readiness to do wrong, we can replace it with love, truth, and courage. This personal transformation is essential in creating a world that reflects God's kingdom. [09:28]

"Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness." (Ephesians 4:22-24, ESV)

Reflection: What is one area of your life where you need personal transformation? How can you invite God to renew your mind and spirit in this area today?


Day 5: Gentle Non-Cooperation with Evil
Offering gentle non-cooperation with evil involves recognizing the flammability within us and seeking God's help to replace it with a predisposition to love and truth. This is our part in the divine conspiracy to bring about a new kingdom. By choosing not to engage with evil, we can contribute to the establishment of God's kingdom on earth. [11:17]

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." (Romans 12:2, ESV)

Reflection: Think of a situation where you are tempted to conform to the world's ways. How can you practice gentle non-cooperation with evil and instead align with God's will today?

Quotes


Dallas writes our constant asking why in the face of evil, why do such bad things happen, why do people do such terrible thing signals a lack of insight willing or unwilling into the forces that inhabit the normal human personality, and thereby move or condition the usual course of human events. Above all here's the key, it shows a failure to understand that the immediate support of the evils universally deplored lies in the simple readiness of decent individuals to harm others or allow harm to come to others when the conditions are quote unquote right. [00:02:12]

That readiness comes into play whenever it will help us realize our goals of security ego gratification or satisfaction of bodily desires. This systemic readiness that pervades the personality of normal decent human beings is fallen human nature to understand this is the first level of understanding the why of evil people do, he says, it's like something that is flammable and is just waiting for a spark and it's inside all of us, so that it doesn't take much for me to lie doesn't take much for me to gossip and I'm often not aware of how deeply it's in me. [00:02:55]

The magnitude of evil in human deeds is also a result of the institutional structures or common practices that emerge at the social level in politics art business journalism education the intellectual life government service sexual family relations and sports and entertainment. This is our system, so now sin, wrongness evil the readiness to harm gets into our bodies it gets into our habits, but then corporately it gets into our systems, and roughly a system is to a community what a habit is to an individual. [00:05:31]

The social structures exhibited in such cases are strictly speaking not in any individual but in the world where we live, though they totally depend for their existence and power upon the readinesses that are in us individually. Structural evils are practices that whether they are stated or not explicitly are accepted and enforced by others in the context of our actions, but none of these evils would continue to function if the ten commandments and the two great principles of god love of god and neighbor were generally observed. [00:07:18]

In that case malnutrition war oppression class and tribal conflict overpopulation crime and violence family strife would eventually cease to be possible as mass conditions, because individuals would not cooperate in their development and would take measures to stop it. Such non-cooperation would transform the social and political as well as the personal areas of our life almost beyond recognition. I admit it is difficult to imagine what such a world would be like, try picturing a world where lying does not exist. [00:07:54]

He talks about how the kingdom of evil structurally is very weak because it depends on the readiness of individuals to do what is wrong in one sense then the kingdom of evil is very very fragile, pull one string and the whole thing unravels but individuals cannot be counted on to do what is right, we must be transformed. And so finally this, we must at some point stop looking for new information or social arrangements or religious experiences that will draw off the evil in the world at large. [00:08:30]

The monstrous evils we deplore are in fact the strict causal consequences of the spirit and behavior of normal human beings following generally acceptable patterns of life, they are not the result of strange flukes accidental circumstances or certain especially mad or bad individuals, the tyrants satanic forces oppressive practices of this world play upon our merely decent lives as a master organist dominates his or her instrument, but is holy powerless without it. [00:09:20]

The solution, the response, the invitation today is, offer gentle non-cooperation with evil, see the odd weakness of evil is the only reason that I gossip or judge other people or lie is that other folks will collude with me in this to get what it is that I want, and of course now I can't stop cooperating with evil on my own I can't, but he can, I think I'll let him. [00:10:01]

So those of us in the fellowship of the withered hands seek not just not to cooperate with evil but to do that by of course cooperating with the holy spirit as I go through this day as you go through this day, ask god to speak to me not about the evil that is out there in somebody else but the readiness that is in here, god help me to see and understand the flammability inside me. [00:10:31]

My predisposition to cheat, to lie, to judge, to lust, and would you replace all of that god as I am ready, with a predisposition to love and to speak truth and to live in courage, and so I can be a little part of the divine conspiracy to bring in another kingdom, today offer gentle non-cooperation with evil. [00:11:01]

Dallas I've heard in several of his talks discuss how a turning point in his own life was as a student when he came under conviction by the holy spirit because he had cheated on a test, and he went and confessed this to people at his college even though he might well have gotten expelled, and it made me think about times that I can remember when I was in school and I cheated. [00:04:20]

Although I had a vague sense of guilt mostly I just tried not to think about it and I never experienced that kind of coming close to god under conviction that would move me to tell a teacher or the person that was in charge or seek to make it right or find out what causes me to do this and how do I get healed of it, so there is inside me a readiness to do wrong and it is still there and it's inside all of us but that's not the end. [00:04:38]

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Transcript
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