Evil's Stealth Weapon
By Rev. David Wilson Rogers | June 29, 2013
There is an evil force lurking in the background of many lives. It weaves its deadly influence throughout our relationships, infiltrates our families, permeates our workplaces, and casts its deadly shadow in our churches.
Frequently this evil is wielded by well-meaning and highly motivated Christians. In our desire to do what is right or perhaps out of our intense frustration of what we feel powerless to control, we quickly reach for this weapon because, in spite of its evil qualities, we also see it is highly effective and seek its immediate, observable, and measurable results.
Part of our willingness to resort to this evil weapon comes from our own experience of having it used on us. As odd as it may sound, many of us (quite likely almost every one of us) have had this destructive weapon wielded against us many times. It is how our parents raised us. It is how we have been motivated to do what is right in our own lives. It is how we have learned that we can influence others to get on board with what needs to happen.
For all its apparent usefulness and common applications in life, the workplace, parenting, and even in the work of the church, one would not necessarily think of this weapon as a tool of evil. This is, perhaps, why it is so frighteningly destructive. It acts as a stealth weapon or Trojan horse that infiltrates our lives before unleashing its deadly poison.
Humanity is unavoidably vulnerable to this weapon because we fundamentally know the difference between good and evil. From the moment the first humans ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden, our eyes were open and our hearts fully aware of that which is right versus that which is wrong.
In becoming aware of this, the first humans saw their nakedness and hid themselves in fear. The nakedness referred to in Genesis 3:7 is more than a physical state of having no clothing. It is a symbolic reference to all our human vulnerabilities, weaknesses, and flaws. It is an acute awareness of one’s own sense of shame. An unavoidable consequence of knowing good and evil is that we are very venerable to shame and that vulnerability makes shame one of evil’s greatest weapons against us!
Riddled in shame, the first humans hid from God. This is shame’s catastrophic effect on faith. It raises such doubt and fear in our hearts that we replace trust and faith in God with questions about what God will do when God sees the real me. Will God hate me for who I am, and how can God possibly love me after the mistakes I have made?
Separated from God by our sense of shame, we may shift blame much as the first humans did when confronted by God in the Garden. Another consequence of shame is a hardness of heart that manifests as arrogance or even violence. Again, Creations first family tragically experienced the destruction that comes when shame, rather than faith and trust, takes over.
Shame renders its power through fear. Once shamed, we become afraid that we will be disgraced, mocked, or rejected as inadequate. Like a cancer, when shame takes root and fear results, the consequences spread and destroy all that is good, holy, and worthwhile.
The poisonous power of this evil force unleashes its destructively deadly venom when the people of God give into the easy temptation to use it for our own well-intended purposes. We want children to behave so we shame them. We want coworkers to pull their weight so we shame. We want our spouse to see things our way so we shame. We want people to live a Godly life so we shame. Yet, to do so is not the work of our loving God. It is a cruel act of pure evil!