Is it a Christian’s job to expose evil? 

During the pandemic just about everyone has been accused of being evil – politicians, pharmaceutical companies, the medical profession and care homes, the media and its colluding billionaires, those pressuring children to be vaccinated, employers and educators demanding proof of vaccination or loss of job and schooling, and the list goes on – including the “anti-vaxxers” being branded as assassins of the vulnerable. 

The fallout from all this is a massive loss of trust in any respected institution, the polarization of the public into emotional and irrational tribes, violent protests, increasing coercion and propaganda, families being split by opposing views, crippling mental health woes, serious worries about the damage to fragile economies, the unknown long term effects of experimental drugs, the educational system in desperate “catch up,” the huge backlog of pressing surgical and other untreated health problems, and – well, this list goes on too.

So what do Christians do about it, or feel we should do about it? Should we take sides and become vocal judge and jury on who’s right and who’s wrong? Do we denounce those we believe to be the primary evildoers, or steer clear of any involvement since we have no way of knowing what’s really going on behind the scenes? Could we too get caught up in conspiracy theories, misinformation and disinformation, or on the other hand, do we bury our heads in the sand and hope it all blows away soon so life can get back to normal?   

Well, as Christians we obviously look to Scripture – and scripturally Jesus had no qualms about exposing evil. Most of Matthew 23 is his blazing rebuke of the “teachers of the law and the Pharisees who sit in Moses’ seat,” verse 2, who gave the impression they deserved their lofty leadership positions, but in truth they were hypocrites, known for not practicing what they expected others to do (verse 3). So Jesus shamed, blamed, and named them in the most derogatory terms, such as “blind fools” (17), “whitewashed tombs” (27), and a “brood of vipers” who deserved no escape from the condemnation of hell (33).   

But why was Jesus openly branding these people as being evil? Because they were “sitting in Moses’ seat.” It was their job to preserve the law of Moses and be great examples of living it. But they weren’t doing what God had assigned them to do, so Jesus nails them for their hypocrisy. So did Peter, but he nails anyone and everyone in a leadership position who “brings the way of truth into disrepute,” 2 Peter 2:2, and they “will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done,” verse 13. 

So God does not take evil lightly. Which begs the question Jeremiah asked – that maybe we’ve asked a million times too – “Why (then) do the wicked prosper?” Jeremiah 12:1-2. Job asked the same question (Job 21:7), and it really bothered David too “when I saw the prosperity of the wicked,” which he describes in vivid detail in Psalm 73 – and details we’d easily recognize in our world right now too.  

But David also came to realize, after going to God about it, Psalm 73:16-17, what the “final destiny” of evil people is: God “places them on slippery ground” and “casts them down to ruin,” and “suddenly they are destroyed and completely swept away,” verses 18-19. And he “will despise them as mere fantasies,” verse 20. 

So if there really are evil people behind this pandemic, we can rest assured God isn’t going to let any of them get away with it. He is the great avenger (Romans 12:19), making sure that every bit of evil will be dealt with (Luke 8:17, Hebrew 4:13).

Knowing that, then, is it a Christian’s job to expose evil? According to Paul in Ephesians 5:11, yes, it is, because he says, “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” Jesus did. Peter did, and so did Paul. People won’t like their evil being exposed, but David’s Psalm 37 answers that for us….