As Christians, we often have a hard time discerning
between an evil heart and an ordinary sinner who messes up, who isn’t perfect, yet
because of weakness succumbs to sin.
I think one of the reasons we don’t “see” evil is
because we find it so difficult to believe that evil individuals actually exist
within the body of Christ -- the Church. We can’t imagine someone deceiving us
with no conscience, hurting others with no remorse, spinning outrageous
fabrications to ruin someone’s reputation, or pretending he or she is spiritually
committed yet has no fear of God before his or her eyes.
The Bible clearly tells us that among God’s people
there are wolves that wear sheep’s clothing (Jeremiah 23:14; Titus 1:10;
Revelations 2:2). It’s true that every human heart is inclined toward sin
(Romans 3:23), and that includes evil (Genesis 8:21; James 1:4). We all miss
God’ mark of moral perfection. However, most ordinary sinners do not happily
indulge evil urges, nor do we feel good about having them. We feel ashamed and
guilty, rightly so (Romans 7:19–21). These things are not true of the evil
heart.
You may be dealing with an evil heart right now in
your spiritual life. An evil heart is
very different from an ordinary sinful heart.
Here are the differences, heavily supported by Scripture:
1.
Evil hearts are experts at creating confusion and contention.
They twist the facts, mislead, distort, lie, avoid
taking responsibility, deny reality, make up stories, and withhold information.
(Psalms 5:8; 10:7; 58:3; 109:2–5; 140:2; Proverbs 6:13,14; 6:18,19; 12:13;
16:20; 16:27, 28; 30:14; Job 15:35; Jeremiah 18:18; Nehemiah 6:8; Micah 2:1;
Matthew 12:34,35; Acts 6:11–13; 2 Peter 3:16)
2.
Evil hearts are experts at fooling others with their smooth speech and
flattering words.
But if you look at the fruit of their lives or the
follow through of their words, you will find no real evidence of godly growth
or change. It’s all smoke and mirrors. (Psalms 50:19; 52:2,3; 57:4; 59:7;
101:7; Proverbs 12:5; 26:23–26; 26:28; Job 20:12; Jeremiah 12:6; Matthew 26:59;
Acts 6:11–13; Romans 16:17,18; 2 Corinthians 11:13,14; 2 Timothy 3:2–5; 3:13;
Titus 1:10,16).
3.
Evil hearts crave and demand control, and their highest authority is their own
self-reference.
They reject feedback, real accountability, and make up
their own rules to live by. They use Scripture to their own advantage but
ignore and reject passages that might require self-correction and repentance.
(Romans 2:8; Psalms 10; 36:1–4; 50:16–22; 54:5,6; 73:6–9; Proverbs 21:24; Jude
1:8–16).
4.
Evil hearts play on the sympathies of good-willed people, often trumping the
grace card.
They demand mercy but give none themselves. They
demand warmth, forgiveness, and intimacy from those they have harmed with no
empathy for the pain they have caused and no real intention of making amends or
working hard to rebuild broken trust. (Proverbs 21:10; 1 Peter 2:16; Jude 1:4).
5.
Evil hearts have no conscience, no remorse.
They do not struggle against sin or evil—they delight
in it—all the while masquerading as someone of noble character. (Proverbs
2:14–15; 10:23; 12:10; 21:27,29; Isaiah 32:6; Romans 1:30; 2 Corinthians
11:13–15)
If you are working with someone who exhibits these
characteristics, it’s important that you confront them head on. You must name
evil for who and what it is. The longer you try to reason with such people or
show mercy towards them, the more you, as the Christian, will become a pawn in
his or her unholy game.
They want you to believe that:
1. Their
horrible actions should have no serious or painful consequences.
When they say “I’m sorry,” they look to you as the elder-pastor
or Christian counselor to be their advocate for amnesty with the person he or
she has harmed. They believe grace means they are immediately granted immunity
from the relational fallout of their serious sin. They believe forgiveness
entitles them to full reconciliation and will pressure you and their victim to
comply.
The Bible warns us saying, “But when grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn
righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and do not
regard the majesty of the Lord.” (Isaiah 26:10).
The Bible tells us that talking doesn’t wake up evil
people, but painful consequences might. Jesus didn’t wake up the Pharisee’s
with his talk nor did God’s counsel impact Cain (Genesis 4). In addition, the
Bible shows us that when someone is truly sorry for the pain they have caused,
he or she is eager to make amends to those they have harmed by their sin. Consider the example of Zacchaeus’ and his response
when he repented of his greed in Luke chapter 19.
Church leaders should not conspire with the evil one
by turning attention to the victim, requiring the wounded person to forgive, to
forget, to trust again when there has been no evidence of inner change on the
part of the perpetrator. Proverbs says, “Trusting
in a treacherous man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth or a foot that
slips” (Proverbs. 25:19). It’s foolishness.
The evil person will also try to get you to believe:
2.
That if I talk like a gospel-believing Christian I am one, even if my actions
don’t line up with my talk.
Remember, Satan masquerades as an angel of light (2
Corinthians 11:13–15). He knows more true doctrine than you or I will ever
know, but his heart is wicked. Why? Because although he knows the truth, he
does not believe it or live by it.
The Bible has some strong words for those whose
actions do not match their talk (1 John 3:17,18; Jeremiah 7:8,10; James 1:22,
26). John the Baptist said it best when he admonished the religious leaders, “Prove by the way you live that you have
repented of your sins and turned to God” (Luke 3:8).
If week after week you hear the talk but there is no
change in the walk, you have every reason to question someone’s relationship
with God.
A major part of any Christians spiritual maturity, is
that we have been trained to discern between good and evil. Why is that
important? It’s important because evil usually pretends to be good, and without
discernment we can be easily fooled (Hebrews 5:14).
When you confront evil, chances are good that the evil
heart will stop fellowshipping with you because the darkness hates the light
(John 3:20) and the foolish and evil heart reject correction (Proverbs 9:7,8).
But that outcome is far better than allowing the evil heart to believe you are
on his or her side, or that “he’s not that bad” or “that he’s really sorry” or
“that he’s changing” when, in fact, he is not.
Daniel says, “The
wicked will continue to be wicked” (Daniel 12:10), which begs the question,
do you think an evil person can really change?
