Genesis 34: 31

People do bad things. It was true in the time of Jacob, and it is still true today. Tonight the news is still reporting on the deaths in the latest school shooting. Such evil is hard to comprehend. It is even harder to explain. We live in a nation seeking to avoid personal responsibility. We blame the weapon. We blame mental illness. We blame the perpetrators past. If the wicked among us are not responsible, then we cannot be held responsible for the things we do that are so much less evil.

This type of thinking is not new. When Jacob confronts Simeon and Levi with their wickedness they give a classic response. They point to the evil perpetrated against their sister by Shechem. When accused of wrongdoing they replied, “Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?” Their answer was an attempt to avoid all personal responsibility.

People do bad things. The weapons they use are not to blame. Most of the time mental illness is not to blame. A rough childhood is not an excuse. The root cause of evil is found in the heart of the evil doer. When a man allows hatred, bigotry, envy, lust, jealousy, covetousness, thirst for revenge, greed and anger to grow in his heart bad acts follow. People do bad things because they have allowed their hearts to grow wicked.

Until we’re willing to recognize evil as a spiritual problem we cannot expect to find a practical solution. Evil acts are committed by the sin sick. They have a sickness that only the love of God can cure. If those who are sick are going to seek the cure, they must see that it works. Christians are to be walking billboards for God’s love. The love of God lived through his children is the hope of the world.