Christians, don’t call only some people evil

“Those people are evil!”

I frequently see comments like that posted by Christians on social media.

It’s often in reference to abominations not only committed but celebrated in this nation. The targets are usually those on “the left,” particularly in government and media. Our enemies in the culture wars.

To be clear, the sexual deviancies that are often the topic of these comments are indeed evil, in disobedience to God’s will, expressed in Scripture with overwhelming clarity. And the fact that those deviancies are promoted and celebrated by the culture, and sometimes enforced by law, warrants Christians’ response. We’re not obsessed with sex; the world is.

However, that response often crosses the line of propriety not only in rhetoric, but in theology. 

Let’s look at the theology first, starting with an acknowledgement that this may not be the theology that’s intended or actually believed, but what is heard.

We’re all evil

Calling only certain sinners evil because of certain sins implies that only they are evil, which flies in the face of what the Bible teaches about all humanity.

“The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?”

Jeremiah 17:9

As it is written:
“There is none righteous, no, not one;
There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one.”

Romans 3:10-12

In Matthew 7:11, Jesus said, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” He called His entire audience evil.

This is the doctrine known among reformed Christians as total depravity. All sin is evil; therefore, all sinners are evil. We’re all corrupted with a sinful nature, making us all enemies of God (Romans 8:7). 

Ironically, the rhetoric of “evil” often comes from that theological camp, undermining their own beliefs.

‘You will all likewise perish’

Those who use that word also often imply, if not outright state, that the “evil” people are more deserving of judgment than the rest of us. But Jesus refutes that line of thinking in Luke 13:1-5.

1 There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

Notice how the Lord uses the phrase “worse sinners.” That’s our language. We send the message that certain people who commit certain sins are worse sinners than others. 

But Jesus equalizes us all under the judgment of God. Whatever we think someone else deserves, we deserve it, too. Therefore, there are no “worse sinners.”

That’s not to say some sins aren’t worse than others. Murder is worse than stealing a pencil. But the basis of God’s judgment is not the severity of the sin, but the fact that all sins are sins against a holy God. 

James wrote, “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all” (2:10), because, he then reasons, all of the commandments were given by the same God. That’s why there are degrees of sins, but not sinners. That’s why both the murderer and the pencil thief will likewise perish.

The only way not to perish is if the judgment we all deserve has already been exacted on Someone else who satisfied it in full. The dividing line is not between “good” people and “evil” people, but evil people who trust in Christ’s righteousness to be saved, and evil people who don’t. The wrath of God due to you either has been poured out on Christ, or will be poured out on you. 

“And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15). There’s only one lake of fire for all unforgiven sinners.

Love your enemies

No one who deserves the same condemnation can condemn others. The command of Christ is to love our enemies, and He based that teaching on the fact that God had mercy on us when we were His enemies: “But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful” (Luke 6:35-36).

Mercy must always be our first instinct, not condemnation. Grace must govern the rhetoric we use toward the sinful world. 

That love and grace are manifested in what Scripture calls gentleness. The Bible has a lot to say about gentleness:

“The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth ...”

2 Timothy 2:24-25

 “Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.”

Philippians 4:5

“So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”

Colossians 3:12

“Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.”

Titus 3:1-2

“But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame.”

1 Peter 3:15-16

In that same letter, chapter 2, Peter talks about our conduct under suffering unjustly at the hands of evil people. He writes, “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: ‘Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth’; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously” (1 Peter 2:21-23).

What spirit are you of?

For so many of us, our first instinct is to revile in return – which demonstrates that we’re just as evil as those we revile. We see that evil in Jesus’ own disciples in Luke 9:51-56. 

They went to “a village of the Samaritans,” who were already hated by Jews. They went to prepare the way for Jesus, but the Samaritans refused Him. Pile that rejection on top of the already simmering animosity, and the disciples’ rage was burning hot: “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?”

They reviled in return. Those wicked people deserve the wrath of God!

But Jesus rebuked them: “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.”

That can be said of many disciples today. When we condemn our enemies, we do not know what manner of spirit we are of.

Instead, every word we utter must serve the mission that Christ stated there, which is the mission He gave us: save men’s lives. That’s our prime directive, the reason we’re all still here on earth.

There’s a time to contend for the faith, and a time to preach righteousness, as Noah did. But we preach the depravity of not just some, but all mankind, to convict the world of sin and drive sinners to the Savior.