Assessing the Good and the Bad

When we look at the world, we see some good people enjoying happy lives, but we also see many good people leading very difficult lives. More difficult and hard to accept are the bad people who seem to be happy and doing very well, as Job lamented. Privately, we may tell ourselves that they can’t really be happy despite all of the evidence to the contrary. Perhaps we don’t want them to be. We want our full portion and payoff right now, whereas now the payoffs are partial, just enough to give us some peace. I do strongly believe that goodness is its own reward, with foundational joy, peace and abundant life, and that evil is its very own punishment, with ongoing anxiety, restlessness and some form of fear. But the full declaration seems to wait for eternity.

     We express a small and resentful attitude when we proclaim that atheists, evildoers, sinners, and fill-in-the-blank bad people are miserable. We live in the in-between of faith and should not expect perfect logic, retributive fairness, or final judgment in this world.

     We need to focus on our own life and be sure we are all we can be in Christ. Because I have failed countless times in this life, I do not dare make judgments about another’s life, when there is so much more work to be done in my own. And then, just maybe, those who have chosen to turn from Life, might see something in me, a glimpse of the One who gives life and they, may chose Life themselves. 

Tim Hubbell