Exalting Evil?

One of the challenges of living a godly life in an ungodly world, is the pressure we face when the world perpetually exalts those who are evil, and expects the rest of us to applaud. As with Isaiah, we live in a culture filled with “those who call evil good and good evil” (Is.5:20). Jesus made it clear that “what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God” (Lk.16:15).

Making appraisals from a biblical perspective will not be popular, but necessary for those who walk with Christ. God’s heroes are not hailed by society. They never have been. They are those who are “afflicted and mistreated,” and yet Scripture extols them as those “of whom the world is not worthy” (Heb.11:37-38).

There are many spiritual reasons the world exalts those who defy God’s rules. Not the least of which is their sinful desire to mitigate the pangs of conviction. Members of society can feel better about their transgressions when their heroes are avant-garde sinners. Though they know “that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them” (Rom.1:32). Sin is shameful. We should be remorseful when we fall. And we should certainly never applaud those who defiantly make sinning their habit.