HS Teaching Series: Good & Evil

Hate Evil. Cling to Good.

Romans 12:9 is the theme verse for this whole series.

Our fall series on good and evil is based on Romans 12:9, where Paul encourages the Romans (and us) to not just "try not to do" evil, but to actually HATE it. What would our lives look like if we truly hated sin, not just the consequences, but were fully convinced that sin is a cheap distortion of a much better good. I'll answer that...we simply wouldn't sin. We would naturally do what is good. Sometimes most of us do truly hate sin...but when we are committing sin, or have a sinful heart posture, we are actually in those moments not hating sin. Rather, in those moments we are convinced that sin is good.

At the same time, Paul encourages us to cling, hold fast to what is good. Let goodness be the firm foundation that we live our lives on. And when anything else in this world attempts to compete, to "hold fast" to the good, with the trust that it truly is "good", and any competition is a cheap fake.

We'll spend the next few months walking through different categories of sin, recognizing not just the obvious struggles, but to take note of all the vast ways our hearts can be filled with sin. Each sin category though, has a corresponding Beatitude, virtue, fruit. Perhaps it's better to speak the other way around. Every type of good has a distorted, empty alternative that tempts us to seek.

Often times we come to the topic of goodness and sin from one of two perspectives. Either we decide that our faith is primarily "becoming better people", and to seek to be good people, often known as "behavior modification" becomes our chief end. On the flip side, for those who have spent much of their lives struggling with particular sins, a defeatist attitude reigns supreme. Faith becomes a way to make peace with our failures, focusing on God's grace and forgiveness, while deciding that change and victory isn't possible this side of Heaven.

Both of these views leave something to be desired. As we travel systematically through the sin categories, it'll become plainly clear how much we fall short, how much we need the grace and forgiveness of Christ. But we'll also start to see how God can move our hearts and our minds to truly hating sin, and seeking after goodness. Paul's command isn't simple. To hate sin, we need a radical reorientation of how we view sin, and we need the work of the Holy Spirit to shape our hearts. As we look upon the categories of goodness, we'll become more and more convinced of the true absolute goodness, and sin will begin to become clearly a hack and a fraud. When our hearts and minds begin to see good and evil, good and sin as it actually is, victory, in part, can be had here in this life.

This is my prayer and my hope for our students as we wade through at times heavy waters this fall on Sunday nights.