When I was in high school, the English curriculum had taken a decidedly negative turn. It was assumed, apparently, that it was the humanities’ job to make inexperienced teenagers aware of the harsh brutality of human existence. In my senior year, the protagonist of every book we read in English class died of unnatural causes. Every. Single. One. There was not one happy ending. My father was the president of the city’s Christian Ministerial at the time, and he had the opportunity to speak to school administrators from across the city. He pointed out the pessimistic messaging of the English curriculum and asked why students were not allowed to read classics in which the protagonist was victorious and still alive on the last page. Certainly, there were masterpieces such as Moby Dick, The Great Gatsby, and The Grapes of Wrath that ended tragically, and those were worth studying. But were there no classic tales in which the hero or heroine overcame evil to do something noble and good?Several English teachers mocked his archaic naivety. They pointed out that life was hard and could be nasty, and English classes were a great forum in which to discuss life’s difficult issues. My father conceded that life could indeed be challenging. But, he countered, it could also be beautiful, joyful, and triumphant. Where in the curriculum, he asked, was the beauty of life covered? The question dumbfounded them.
Sadly, those English teachers’ mindset has become more widespread over time. Today we are inundated with “reality” shows that revel in the seamy, distasteful aspects of people’s lives that were once kept behind closed doors. The twenty-four-hour news cycle bombards viewers with a perpetual stream of “breaking” reports about people who have committed heinous crimes and unpardonable sins. A heartwarming story is only occasionally squeezed in at the close of a newscast if there are a few remaining seconds. Conspiracy theories abound in a culture that has been saturated with news of evil. For a society numbed by the constant barrage of stories of mass murderers, sexual predators, and evil dictators, newscasts seemingly must sink to shockingly new levels to capture viewers’ interest.
The question is, what effect does this stream of negative information have on society? When news broadcasts are dominated by stories of evil and suffering, how do people view life? In such a society, what difference should Christians make?
The Bible is anything but prudish. It never shies away from addressing the messy aspects of humanity, even when doing so casts God’s people in an unfavorable light. A casual reading of the book of Judges provides ample evidence of that fact. In the book of Acts, humanity’s cruelty is on full display. The first church elects Stephen as a deacon and tasks him with caring for widows and the poor. Stephen far exceeded that calling. He was “full of grace and power,” so he performed great wonders and signs among the people (Acts 6:8). One would think he would have become a local celebrity. Instead, his opponents attempted to argue with him, but they were no match for his wisdom and knowledge. So, taking a page right out of twenty-first-century politics, they enlisted people to lie about him, claiming he had spoken blasphemy and made all manner of politically incorrect statements. When Stephen spoke the truth in his defense, his enemies became so angry that they dragged him outside the city and stoned him to death. The unjust, cruel murder of a godly, innocent man provides a graphic example of the ugliness in society.
But before Stephen died, he had a vision. He saw heaven open up and Jesus standing at the right hand of God (Acts 7:55-56). While others perceived only the cruelty of angry, hypocritical, murderous men, Stephen glimpsed God’s glory.
In an age dominated by negative news and ubiquitous evil, only Christians have the capacity to gaze into heaven. At times, believers have been accused of being naïve or out of touch with reality. But that claim is false. In fact, Christians ought to have the most accurate perception of reality of anyone on earth. While we see people’s ugliness in graphic detail, we also have access to visions of the heavenly.
Christians are certainly not ignorant of evil. We understand the nature of sin far more extensively than the secular world does. What sets Christians apart is our understanding that good is a major part of life. We also know its source. We will inevitably have hope, regardless of how dark the age appears.
G.K. Chesterton observed, “But if it was a chief claim of religion that it spoke plainly about evil, it was the chief claim of all that it spoke plainly about good. The thing which is resented, and, as I think, rightly resented, in that great modern literature of which Ibsen is typical, is that while the eye that can perceive what are the wrong things increases in an uncanny and devouring clarity, the eye which sees what things are right is growing mistier and mistier every moment, till it goes almost blind with doubt” (Chesterton, Heretics, 9). Being ignorant of God or heaven, the world at large knows only this life and what the naked eye can behold. It can’t discern God working in humanity. It has no hope of divine intervention. Psychoanalysts can interview people suffering from psychosis but offer no real remedy. Talking with troubled people day after day convinced Freud that all of humanity was battling demons with varying degrees of success. He had difficulty perceiving the true nobility and majesty of people created in God’s image.
G.K. Chesterton suggests that “To us, as to Milton’s Pandemonium, it is darkness that is visible. The human race, according to religion, fell once, and in falling gained knowledge of good and evil. Now we have fallen a second time, and only the knowledge of evil remains to us” (Chesterton, Heretics, 10). The reason the world continually reports evil is because it is largely oblivious to beauty and good. Because society rejects God, it jettisons God’s ideals. Because it does not believe in God, humanity cannot embrace the hope God alone offers. The world is prone to calling evil what God labels good, and calling good what God declares to be evil. It is clearly confused about what good even is.
How should Christians respond? We, of all people, should not be naïve! We have a knowledge of both evil and good. We readily acknowledge the reality of evil and suffering. We understand its source, remedy, and end. As believers, we also know God. We have been granted visions of heaven. We know God has not given up on people. Just as Jacob witnessed the heavenly ladder upon which angels were dispatched to earth to accomplish God’s bidding, we know that God is actively at work today in the midst of humanity’s carnage. That knowledge gives hope. It helps us identify the beauty amid the ashes.
It is well and good for Christians to remain informed about world events and society’s ills. But we cannot fixate on them. For, like Stephen, we have knowledge of things the world doesn’t understand. It would be foolish to binge watch the news but neglect God’s Word. It is fine to study the evils of Good Friday, but we must move on to the triumph of Easter.
Whether we are at home with our children or interacting with colleagues at work, we should be messengers of hope. We ought to be purveyors of beauty. We must boldly proclaim what others have failed to notice. Yes, we know there is evil in the world. But we also celebrate the good.
