Silence in the Face of Evil


18 When you see a thief, you join with him;
you throw in your lot with adulterers.
19 You use your mouth for evil
and harness your tongue to deceit.
20 You sit and testify against your brother
and slander your own mother’s son.
21 When you did these things and I kept silent,
you thought I was exactly like you.
But I now arraign you
and set my accusations before you. Psalm 50:18-21

With social media continuing to grow bigger and faster, we are able to see and hear world events in near real time. We no longer have to wait for the evening news. If it’s happening in most parts of the world, it’ll soon be reported on Twitter in Facebook very quickly. It’s also true of the atrocities we can view in the similar time frame.

So, when we come across evil acts committed by evil people, what are we to do? First we need to pray. We may be 6000 miles away but God is right there in the midst of those events as they unfold. He is there to comfort and aid, and sometimes to prevent those acts from occurring.

(I honestly do not know why many of these horrendous events happen, or more importantly, why God allows them to happen. I wish I could provide a more settling answer, but I can’t).

Three other actions come to mind:

  1. Lobby politicians (write, call, fax, email) to work on the victims’ behalf, though I’ve found politicians are virtually useless when it doesn’t affect their constituents.
  2. Send assistance to relief and Christian organizations helping in those regions of the country. Often these organizations are doing the best they can with the limited resources they have.
  3. Lastly, go and make yourself available to those “on the ground”, i.e., to those who know what is going on in the regions.

Don’t believe the lie that you can’t do anything when faced with heart-rending events. Victims need our help, they need to know that others care. We can’t do everything but we can do something…even if it’s only one small thing.

As the world continues to “shrink” because of the rapid nature of news, be prepared to pray a lot.


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.