Be A Peacemaker, Not An Evil Proclaimer

by Eric Elkin

“Don’t judge, and you won’t be judged. Don’t condemn, and you won’t be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”

— Luke 6:36

“Silence in the face of evil is evil itself.” These words attributed to Dietrich Bonhoeffer often haunt me as I read the news of the day. Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran pastor, theologian, and pacifist. He spent his life resisting Hitler and Nazi German leaders. A fight that cost him his life. What am I doing to fight oppression and evil? Am I too silent?

The oppression of Nazi Germany and the epic battle to defeat them define the 20th Century. The intentional and systematic attempt to exterminate Jewish people from the planet opened our eyes to a level of evil never conceived possible by our ancestors. The Holocaust continues to leave us asking, how was that possible? And what could have been done to prevent it from ever happening?

The answer for many is found in this quote by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. We must speak out against evil. Many people feel we are once again slipping into an evil regime. The problem is I have difficulty keeping up with all the evils threatening our lives. There are liberal evils and conservative evils. Often, these two contradict themselves. There are cultural evils, financial evils, and government evils. Some even think Taylor Swift is evil. (For the record, I am not one of them.)

Thinking about all the evil in the world leaves me praying, “Lord, I want to speak out against evil, but I just can’t keep them all straight.” Hopefully, God will send me a sign to help me know when to speak and when to be silent. However, amid this prayer pattern, I run into Luke 6:36. “Don’t judge, and you won’t be judged. Don’t condemn, and you won’t be condemned.” Now, what am I to do?

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”

— Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

A funny thing happened on my way to find this Bonhoeffer quote. It turns out he never said it. Not only did he not say it, but he never wrote it or thought it. Bonhoeffer is praised for abandoning his pacifist beliefs to join a plot to kill Hitler, but even that point should be questioned. The evidence that Bonhoeffer abandoned his pacifist beliefs is suspect.

As I navigate the problematic landscape of hatred and loud voices proclaiming evil, I see Dietrich Bonhoeffer in a new light. The new light is made possible by the words found in Luke 6. If you want to resist evil, practice the teachings of Jesus; be a peacemaker, not an evil proclaimer; and look for ways to be a spoke in the wheel.

The people who genuinely transform society and culture are not the ones who condemn it. Those who transform the world around them practice the art of loving both their neighbor and enemy. When confronted with hate, they practice grace. The world does not always see the power in being gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. But it is the way to overcome evil with good.

Click to read Luke 6: 36-38