Is it enough that the born-again believer should point out sin when they see it, or should they search it out to expose it? The question can only be asked to those who first can recognize evil, and then have the desire to do what is necessary, or possible, to eradicate it, and on top of all that, the beam must not be found in our own eye (Matt. 7:5) when it is noticed.
“Never offend” is the banner that most Christians carry today, and the very moment that Satan saw this occurring, which he helped to initiate, he moved in with the enabled and inclusive ideologies that are rampant across the planet, altering the moniker, when necessary, the “woke,” critical race theory, gender autonomy, this is nothing new, save for the grand scale of his actions. No matter the name, it is known as evil, yet not blatant in its form, for there is almost always a hint of truth behind every lie.
Mankind does not have the right to perform evil, but he does have the ability to, he has been blessed with the freedom of choice in the way of his life, and rebellion against God is at the heart of all sin, for sin is disobedience. “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” (James 4:17) The question then must be laid on the table, one that very few pastors will speak about these days, is it good to point out, to expose evil?
“I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts.” (Isaiah 65:2) By offering a different way to the lost we meet, the wicked that the wrath of God abides on, (John 3:36) we are by default telling them that their lives at this time are in open rebellion to the Most High, they are evil. By that simple act we are, again by default, not only informing them that they are evil, but we are doing good by exposing it to them, it cannot be any other way, witnessing to the lost is to inform them that they are wicked in the eyes of the Lord. We have pointed out their sin.
But what of searching out evil, are we instructed by the Word of God to actively go into the world and search for evil men and expose their deeds, or are we to wait until it exposes itself in our presence? “Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.” (2 Peter 3:17) Those that perform this task will at one time or another in their lives fall into this trap, while attempting to do good, to abate evil in this world, they will find they themselves have begun to do the same. Perhaps not in the exact same manner that those they were attempting to stop or at least expose, for Satan is the epitome of the word subtle, but in one way or another they all at times find that sin has slowly crept into their lives almost unawares to them.
“Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Luke 3:7) John the Baptist had no problem exposing evil, in public, right to people’s faces, nor did Peter. “Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.” (Acts 4:10)
Here is the question that each of us must ask of ourselves, if you know of an evil that exists, and you do nothing about it, are you an accessory to that crime against God? In the laws of many nations the answer to the question would be yes, and the punishment, though not as severe as the perpetrator of the actual action would not be as severe, but punishment would still be due you.
As for the searching out of evil, I personally believe that if that is going to happen, the Lord will not only lay that task at a man’s feet, but will enable him to accomplish it, and always for His glory.
“To him that knoweth to do good” can turn a man towards repentance or harden his heart towards the actions that are in direct disobedience to all that a born-again believer is to be, the light of the world, (Matt. 5:14) and since darkness will not approach light, that means we are to go to them, and in a sense, answers to both of the questions of the initial statement of this short letter to you. Your entire life with Jesus Christ can be viewed as a man walking with a lantern that shines around him, yet outside of that light is utter darkness, outside of that circle of light are wicked, evil people, and Satanic forces who will not come anywhere near that light, for it will expose their deeds. (John 3:20) We have to go towards them, we are actively searching for evil, unrepentant sinners, we are attempting to expose their deeds against the Most High to them, we are attempting to expose evil, and when it is found, we are to point it out. That is called witnessing for the Lord Jesus Christ, and it is just one of the ways that we glorify God.
