Romans 12 is a chapter of the bible that I have read over and over since summer camp when I was fourteen years old. At camp we focused on the second verse, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but instead be transformed through the renewal of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve the will of God – the good, pleasing, perfect will of God.” I considered this my life verse. I clung to it. I recited it. I used it as a constant reminder that even though the choices I made were often different than the norm, God’s will was good and I needed to rest in that.
Earlier this week I was reading this chapter again with a group of women from my small group. Amid the many scribbles, underlined and highlighted verses of this chapter, one verse had remained untouched and the words hit my life hard.
“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil, hold fast to what is good.” Romans 12:9
To abhor means to: regard with disgust and hatred, to recoil from, detest, or loathe
As we mulled this verse over, we began talking about the line that needs to be drawn between good and evil. I started to think of all of the things that I know are not “good” but I feel aren’t necessarily “evil” either. I began to justify in my head different TV shows I watch, music I sing along to, and activities I have supported because they aren’t really “evil”. I was disgusted in myself. I was disgusted at the list of media and everyday events that I have chosen to condone by foolishly deciding they were “good enough”. I realized this truth – if something is not good by God’s standard, it is evil. Our standard of evil has been set frighteningly low. It is time to rise up and change that.
God does not want you or I participating in that which is not good. We are told to hold fast – cling – to good things. It isn’t up to us to decide what is or isn’t good because the living, breathing Word of God has done that for us. We are not to cling to the same things that the world itself is glorifying. We are to regard with disgust the sexual nature of current media. We are to run in the other direction from profanity and vulgarity.
I think we get ourselves into trouble when we begin to defend anything of this world or when we fall into the trap of comparison. We all know this trap. It gets us when we are talking to our friends about listening to a certain song that is particularly raunchy, and they reply with “It’s really not that big of a deal what we listen to. Why would it be an issue to listen to a catchy secular song?”It gets us when we are watching friends consume ridiculous amounts of alcohol every night of the week and justifying our drunkenness one night with the fact that you are sober most days. It gets us when we decide we can indulge in the secular TV marathon because it’s really just a break from reality and it isn’t affecting our minds or hearts.
We want to believe that human beings are fundamentally good. We want to believe that what we do as Christians must be good, because we are primarily good ourselves. But when we believe in the Word of God, we have to step back from the cultural norms and view our decisions in light of the blood shed by Christ and the path set apart by God. We have to accept the reality of our inability to be fundamentally good. Christ is good. Completely. 100%. He didn’t shudder from sinful people when he was on earth, but he also didn’t dabble in anything remotely bad. If it wasn’t good, he did not participate in it. Through Christ we have the opportunity to represent goodness. We have the opportunity to show hope, beauty, and light. Can we really do this well if the line drawn between good and evil is so unstable and changeable based on our moods and desires? No. I do not think we can. I think Christians need to rise up and draw the line, even though it is uncomfortable and creates distinct differences.
In a beautiful and tangible way this corresponds directly with the verse that pushed me through high school and laid a foundation for many of my convictions.
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but instead be transformed through the renewal of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve the will of God – the good, pleasing, perfect will of God… Abhor what is evil, hold fast to what is Good.” (Romans 12:2 & 9)
Love the people in this world, because God calls us to let our love be genuine – but do not let loving the people God created translate into loving the world itself and it’s cultural norms. Recoil from the evil in your life, hold fast to the goodness laid out in the Word.
Everyday Beauty 