The modern thinker likes to think of evil as something beyond oneself or one’s immediate circle of friends. Instead of looking inward, we are more likely to identify some distant group or nation as embodying everything that is evil in this world. And we are just as likely to ascribe naturalistic causes or reasons for the existence of evil.

It is uncomfortable to think of evil as so close that it could be inside rather than outside of oneself. Who wants to think of themselves as being capable of being evil or doing wrong? Even the symbol of all evil in the modern world, Adolph Hitler, undoubtedly believed that he himself was right in his quest to conquer his enemies. He would never have admitted that he was the instrument of unthinkable evil. After all, who willingly recognizes that they are susceptible to inclinations of the heart that can lead them to terrible places?

In Proverbs 30:11-14, Solomon says that people can curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers and still they remain pure in their own eyes; yet he also says they are “not cleansed of their filth.” (v11) When it comes to determining our own purity, are we to be trusted? Or are we blind to the nature of what might lurk within our own hearts? And how do we think God is judging us? Would God agree that we are “really good people”?

We need to be wise in our humility when it comes to pointing our fingers at others.

From Trail Thoughts 3/14