When Evil Tries to Invade Us, What Should We Do?

A Special Note from Pastor Rick...

Last week our nation faced the tragedy of another senseless, hate-filled shooting. As you know, a 21 year old gunman shot and killed nine people who had gathered for a Wednesday night Bible study at the Emmanuel AME church in Charleston, South Carolina.

How do we respond to such evil? The answer is that we must do the exact opposite of what the gunman wanted to accomplish. That way he doesn’t win.

The gunman’s intention was to divide people,
so we must unite in our grief.
His intention was to show hatred,
so we must show love.
His intention was to kill,
so we must protect life – all of it. Every life matters.
His intention was to do evil,
so we must respond by doing good
His intention was to start a race war.
We must be peacemakers.
His intention was to further segregation,
so we must model integration in our churches,
His intention was to do an injustice,
so we must stand for justice.
And his intention was to do harm,
so we must be agents of healing.

When we do the opposite of what the gunman wanted to see happen, evil ultimately loses and goodness wins. Even many of the family members of those murdered have modeled this response, offering forgiveness to the man who took the lives of their loved one, even while feeling gut-wrenching grief and anger. Romans 12:21 says “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Today, hatred is strong in our culture. But love is even stronger, and it is the only thing than can overpower evil.