The Story of Scripture is clear on one thing, Evil has a
mission. This mission is seen in the destruction caused in the Edenic scene,
where a beautiful and happy humanity become broken exiles, hiding from God out
of shame. It is seen again in vivid color as the whole of the New Testament
letters are dedicated to seeing that the community of faith see through the
bickering and differences between them and to the reality of the new humanity
they have together become. Evil has a mission, to see humanity ravaged by
disunity and hate. For a humanity that is broken in this way ceases to be
humanity. If Evil can take humanity away from the world then God too will
vanish. With no humanity to bear his image and reflect his beauty Evil will
have won accomplishing its mission.
God has a mission as well: To see Evil vanquished. The Good
News of the "Gospel" is that in Jesus God's mission has come to the
world and has a great victory. This. Missio Dei is the whole point of the
Biblical narrative, its main theme. Israel was created out of Abraham in order
to see to the riddance of Evil from creation. A people through whom God would
call all the other nations back to himself. Indeed Paul understands this
eschatological intention as the foundation for God’s covenant with Abraham, “in
you all the nations are blessed” (See Romans 8 for the cosmic end of a restored
earth followed by Romans 9-11 where Paul makes the argument that through faith
in Jesus people become members of the “Israel of God” and this people, “all of
Israel will be saved”). Jesus, while dying on a cross cries out for God to
forgive his killers because he understands what is at stake: Evil is the true
culprit responsible for his death and his death will be ironically the death
blow to death itself, Evil has been dealt with. The death of Jesus and his
resurrection bring God’s mission to its climax and to its accomplishment. Evil
is no longer hidden and reigning without challenge, in fact it is only a matter
of time before it’s completely gone from this world. Since the cross, God has
given his spirit, his “glory” to his people as his new Temples. These people
have the authority and power to resist evil and be victorious over it. The most
important way this is done is through the living out of the good news
announcement. Proclaiming that Jesus is now indeed King must be accompanied by
a self-sacrifice of relentless forgiveness. To forgive is to bring the Kingdom
of God into our lives and confrontations. Like the demons and sickness that
encountered Jesus when he began his ministry, so Evil will not be able to stand,
Mark 1. Forgiveness is essential to obeying the Gospel and not being a false or
counterfeit follower, Matthew 6:14.
Do not allow Evil to accomplish its mission in your life. Be
reconciled to your enemies, forgive all who have wronged you. When we fail in
this we deem ourselves of more importance than God's mission and to choose the
wrong Kingdom in which to live. There is no such thing as neutrality. One will
either promote the Missio Malum (Evil) or the Missio Dei. This holiday season seek
that family member, co-worker, Church member or neighbor who you do not like,
who does not like you and forgive them. Speak blessing to them, apologize and
tell them that you want to be reconciled and ask if they would work together
with you to see this done. Obey the Gospel. Otherwise, all of our religious
work, bible study, church attendance, and community group involvement is in vain.
Evil doesn't care if we are religious, it wants us to have broken
relationships, pretending to be a disciple of Jesus while we are violating the
very essence of his Gospel. Do we want to be true disciples, to really see the
glory of God in our lives? Then we must repent and with all of our energy and
resources...with all our life can pour out, be reconciled to our fellow image
bearers. There is nothing more important in the life of the disciple of Jesus.
Be like the Rabbi.
