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Ramblin' Dan
Dan Roloff is the editor of TheHighCalling.org, and his blog, Ramblin’ Dan, has a little bit of everything. At times, a theologian, philosopher, comedian, publisher, sports enthusiast, and businessman, Dan offers a transparent look at the high calling of one man’s work.
subscribe to this blog >Subtle Evil II
10.22.09
In a continuing vigilance toward the workings of subtle evil and its insinuation in our daily lives, there are some concerns to note. There are many good causes in the world . . . all of them are worthy of our time, money, and efforts. Yet, we don’t have unlimited time, resources, or energy to help everywhere.
What are we to do?
To start, we stay in prayer. Communication with Christ helps us discern our proper path. Study the gospels and see Jesus’ clear plan for his life’s mission. He wasn’t dissuaded from his path of obedience. The temptations in the desert are the clearest examples, but there were other opportunities to veer from the mission set before him. Jesus stayed the course.
What often happens with us is that we get busy doing the next thing. Our focus on the big picture of our mission gets blurred. Someone comes to us with a great idea or an emotional plea, and we find it difficult to resist. It is a worthy cause or good idea after all. So we incorporate a new idea into our mission. It distracts us just slightly. But over time, we begin to devote more time, more money, and more effort into the new idea. Slowly, it becomes part of our mission, and we adjust.
Another idea or cause comes along and the cycle repeats itself. Now we find ourselves still doing great work but not exactly the work we were called to do. We adjust our mission to include new initiatives. Without stopping to analyze how each new idea, appeal, or initiative fits our overall mission, we find ourselves in a situation where we have several slightly differing missions, which are all good but not the one mission we were called to carry out.
This is how subtle evil works. There is nothing bad about doing good. However, if we allow outside issues, no matter how worthy, to distract us from our mission, we’ve given in to the temptation that Jesus resisted. Gradually we ask ourselves, “Why haven’t we accomplished more?” or “How did we get here?”
Reviewing our mission, whether personal or professional, requires vigilance.
READER'S COMMENTS
Hi Ramblin' Dan,
I don't disagree with you on your point about keeping focus with God's help. I guess I have a question for you: are you implying that evil can be masked as good? If this is true, then our job to keep on the straight and narrow is even more difficult than I had imagined. But, we have Jesus! Everything that is truly good leads back to the Lord.
Barbara
Interesting discussion. And while I think your post is about not spreading yourself too thin and about staying focused . . . can't our mission sometimes change, grow, expand . . . God calls us to move forward a different direction. Maybe? This brings us back to your comment about staying in prayer . . . iti is necessary for discernment.
Barbara, I think that a wolf in sheep's clothing is an appropriate metaphor for what I'm saying, but I'm really going a bit beyond that also. I'm not trying to say that people with good intentions are spreading evil, rather that anything, no matter how well intentioned it may be, can cause us to divert from our given path. This diversion is subtle evil.So staying grounded in our faith in Jesus helps us to remain focused on how we should proceed. But the dangers, which can divert us are everywhere and require diligence in prayer and discernment.