Right now in America we are seeing a crazy amount of propaganda from educators, politicians and media hacks trying to dress up immoral agendas in the clothing of love, tolerance and social virtue. To help facilitate this fashion makeover, a liberal arm of our society has actually seized control of the dictionary in a sly attempt to undermine God’s holy design with reworked definitions that display evil as the latest trend in goodness.
Nowadays, for example, abortion is defined as “reproductive justice,” sexually-charged drag shows are called “family-friendly entertainment,” pornographic books in school libraries are labeled “educational materials,” and body mutilation surgeries performed on children are considered “gender-affirming care.”
Moreover, they claim, a man can be a women, a woman can be a man, and that famous vaudeville joke has been reimagined with the hot new punchline: “That was no lady. That was my husband!”
They’re Trying To Pull The Ol’ Switcheroo
Quite simply, the world is still trying to pull the “ol’ Switcheroo,” a satanic wardrobe change that boldly attempts to refashion unrighteousness as a prevailing virtue in society. As touched upon in Isaiah 5:20, the prophet exposed this scam a long time ago and denounced anyone trying to redeem evil’s bad look. “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil,” he proclaimed, “and who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.”
Here Isaiah lays out the classic con job utilized by wicked quick-change artists who “endeavour to confound both the names and the natures of virtue and vice, of piety and impiety; commend and applaud what is evil, and disparage and discountenance what is good” (Benson Commentary).
The latest willing victims of this flimflam are the same ones found in Isaiah’s day: the desperate masses who are all too eager to conceal their moral imperfections with the flattering shadows of the world (John 3:19-29; James 4:4). By limiting their exposure to the Light and accessorizing their look with good deeds, they hope to erase the hard wrinkles of their sins. But according to Scripture, their beauty regimen will fail them when they find themselves in the polluted garments of their self-righteousness (Proverbs 28:13; Isaiah 64:6; 1 John 1:8).
Sadly, there are even professing Christians who have taken off the armor of God to join with the world’s consumers, forsaking the holy pattern of Scripture and stitching together a cheap knock-off from the loose fabric of moral relativism (Proverbs 14:12, 26:4-5; Colossians 2:8). Some do this to earn “likes” and “retweets” from fashionable society, while others would rather question the Bible’s clear stand against sin than have to admit that their dear friend or relative is going to hell if he doesn’t repent and come to Christ. Yet whatever the reason, it eventually boils down to someone who loves the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God (John 12:43).
Why Are People So Confused About Evil?
The scary truth is, everyone says they hate evil, and yet evil will rarely come to us wearing a screen-printed t-shirt that says in bold letters, “THIS IS EVIL. PLEASE HATE ME.” The great evils of our day are often cloaked in such a way as to remain hidden from common, everyday perception and many times come into our lives as a specter of virtue for the secret purpose of deceiving us. This deception is especially potent when we try to judge something as good or evil based on the shifting ethics of this world instead of judging with godly spiritual discernment.
This fundamental truth about evil is one about which the Bible has frequently warned us. From the very beginning of creation, evil has appeared in the guise of goodness in order to fool mankind into ruin. Indeed Satan, that serpent of old, tricked Eve into believing that transgression against God had its benefits, and she was thus convinced that the forbidden tree was “good for food, pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise” (Genesis 3:6).
Many centuries later, of course, Satan would try in similar fashion to tempt our Lord to turn stones into loaves of bread as He fasted in the desert, but Jesus sharply rebuked the trickery and exposed the hidden evil with the powerful spotlight of God’s word (Luke 4:1-4).
The strategy of evil to appear in comely attire, in fact, was always a pressing concern for Jesus and His apostles. The Lord himself warned that false prophets would come “in sheep’s clothing” while in fact being “ravenous wolves” (Matt. 7:15). In Matthew 24:24, He tells the disciples that false christs and prophets “will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.”
Likewise Peter warned of false teachers who tell fabricated stories and promise “freedom” when they themselves are “slaves of depravity” (2 Peter 2). And Paul alerted the Church to the presence of false apostles who would disguise themselves as apostles of Christ, just as Satan often masquerades as an “angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15).
As John Newton wisely noted, many centuries before the popularity of glitzy cross-dressing:
“Satan is never more a devil, than when he looks most like an angel. But let him look and talk as he will—he is Satan still; and those who are experienced and watchful may discern his cloven foot hanging below his fine garment of light.”
Fast forward thousands of years and we see that evil in our modern day is still trying to pull the rhinestone skirt over our eyes. In a Biblical perspective that should hit close to home for today’s morally-challenged world, Dietrich Bonhoeffer noted before his death in 1945 that evil can come in the guise of modern ethics and easily confuse a society void of spiritual guidance. Said Bonhoeffer:
“The great masquerade of evil has played havoc with all our ethical concepts. For evil to appear disguised as light, charity, historical necessity or social justice is quite bewildering to anyone brought up on our traditional ethical concepts, while for the Christian who bases his life on the Bible, it merely confirms the fundamental wickedness of evil.”
When we see the current attempts by cultural robber barons and worldly fashionistas to raid the storehouse of our society’s golden Bible-based ethics and replace them with the costume jewelry of social justice and designer morality, we can appreciate the prescient bombshell of Bonhoeffer’s sober words of warning in our tragic age of spiritual confusion.
Avoiding The Ol’ Switcheroo With Scripture
Thankfully, in Bonhoeffer’s critical assessment of this modern masquerade, he rightly presents the ageless antidote to such shape-shifting evil: the word of God. Indeed the Bible is the official manual for avoiding the designing fads, fashions and fabrications being promoted by the legion of Kim Kardashian wannabes emerging from the quagmire of social media.
It is a misnomer, in fact, to think that Bible-believing Christians are so focused on their humility and piety that they are ignorant of the various vogues of evil around them. As believers going forth in the world, we have been called by our Lord to be “wise as serpents, innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16). This we do because the Bible’s teachings have made us aware of the wicked designs of Satan, and thus we cannot be outwitted by him when we use the razor-sharp sword forged by the Holy Spirit which can cut through false veneers to the marrow of truth (2 Corinthians 2:11; Hebrews 4:12; John 14:26).
It is imperative for the Christian, therefore, that one is ready at all times to discern such deception, and clearly see the reality through the power of the Holy Spirit and God’s word, which is given so that we may divide darkness from light and observe the pure truth of God. Regardless of evil’s handsome profile, the believer should immediately recognize and reject the twisting of Scripture, the promotion of manmade philosophies, and the vain deceit of Satan that comes in a designer dress and matching clutch to dazzle the world.
So what does the Bible say to these issues that are currently being presented as virtues in the world? And how do we identity the evils of our day? Even if we study God’s word superficially, the evil can be stripped of its pretty disguise and its corruption exposed for all to see when our eyes are opened by the Holy Spirit.
Regardless of what the world might tell you: God has established His perfect order on earth by creating men and women to be fruitful and multiply as His godly representatives in this world (Genesis 1:27-28, 2:24-25; Matthew 6:33; Romans 1:18-32); our precious children are to be trained in godliness, not groomed for the flesh (2 Timothy 3:15; Proverbs 29:17; Matthew 18:6); and the premeditated killing of an unborn child, made in the image of God, is nothing less than the shedding of innocent blood in the eyes of our Creator (Genesis 1:27; Exodus 20:13; Psalms 139:13-16; Psalms 127:3; Jeremiah 1:5).
But if you really want to boil down these issues to their essence, here’s what the Bible says is the surest way to identify evil and abstain from it: “The fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10). Thus, with this humble acknowledgment and reverence of a just and holy God, a person will wisely join with his Creator to hate the scourge of “pride, the way of evil, and the perverse mouth,” and gladly turn away from the things that grieve the Lord (Proverbs 3:7; 8:13).
The Believer’s Duty To Clear Up The Confusion
Despite the efforts of Satan and his followers to confuse people with their appeals for “peace and love” as they promote sexual sin and the destruction of the family, the experienced and faithful Christian knows that true peace and love are the “fruit of the Spirit” which has been secured through Jesus Christ and an abiding faith in His righteousness (Romans 5:1-5; Galatians 5:22).
As one found in Christ, you don’t need an article like this to help you see the evils of our time. The Holy Spirit has already informed you of God’s view on the matter, often reminding you of what the written word of God clearly teaches (John 16:13; 2 Timothy 3:16). Therefore, this article encourages you to trust in the Lord to protect you as you seek to reach others for Christ by promoting His righteous truth and denouncing the fashionable lies of this world.
Perhaps now more than ever, there are people in great spiritual confusion who need the clarity that is found in the Bible and specifically, in the Gospel message. They are blind to the disguises of evil, vulnerable to its temptations, and they need their eyes spiritually opened to see God’s righteousness, their sinfulness, and their need of salvation, which is only found by faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:15).
In this process, the world will try to make Christians feel ashamed of the Gospel and to question their ability to discern the difference between good and evil. The godless critics will say we are arrogant in our beliefs, judgmental, unloving, and hurtful. But if we truly understand in our hearts that the wages of sin is death, then how can it be anything other than loving and kind when believers, as ambassadors of Christ, make a respectful appeal to sinners to be reconciled with God before it’s too late? (Romans 6:23; 2 Corinthians 5:20).
No doubt the perishing world will still call the Christian’s message offensive and ugly, but we know from God’s word, as it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” (Romans 10:15). This, then, is true beauty.
Sadly, our Western society may still crash and burn in its arrogance to dress up their evil. And no matter what we do, many hell-bound people will still persist in calling the Gospel an evil thing and say that evil is the sassy, more chic virtue for today. But Scripture has already exposed this wicked deceit and it will not stand before God much longer. Jesus Himself has already testified to this sobering fact:
“Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by its gates. But outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. I, Jesus, have sent My angel to give you this testimony for the churches” (Revelation 22:14-16).
One day soon, evil and all her wicked designers will be thrown into the lake of fire, and God’s beautiful, shining righteousness will be the reigning fashion of eternity. (Revelation 20:10, 21:8; Matthew 25:46). Indeed how sweet it will be for His faithful believers when they are clothed in the righteous robes and eternal Light of Jesus Christ to dwell with their God forever and ever (Revelation 21:3-8, 22:1-5).
Until that glorious event, God’s word encourages the believer to continue with the task at hand: “Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the Lord, that He may come and rain righteousness upon you” (Hosea 10:12). And this we are compelled to do, knowing that our lives, graciously redeemed by God, may be reflections of the loving Light that strips sin of its beguiling clothes and opens the worldlings’ eyes to see the true ugliness of evil and the stunning beauty of God’s triumphant goodness (Romans 12:9).
