Sermonette: August 20, 2018

The Evolution of Right and Wrong

Adam and Eve made a mistake. Obviously, they made the mistake of eating from the tree; but there was a greater mistake in the bigger choice they made. They chose to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Based upon the tree’s title and the snake’s comments, we’re left to assume that prior to their sin, Adam and Eve could not discern between good and evil. For them, life was made up of one choice: obey/follow God, or not. It seems that they were unable to discern between good and evil separate of God. Today we can follow God, and even without direct communication with God, we’re roughly able to sort out good from evil. Jesus references this ability when he states that even sinful people know better than to give their sons snakes when they ask for fish. This, I suspect is thanks to Adam and Eve.

Now, I suspect what some of you might have some questions here. How is that a mistake? Isn’t it a good thing we can discern between good and evil? Shouldn’t we consider Adam and Eve’s rebellion sin, but their attaining of discernment an unintentional benefit?

No. See, here’s the problem: our ability it discern good and evil is badly tainted. Possibly, in the beginning Adam, Eve, and their sons could discern distinctly between good and evil. Possibly Cain knew exactly what he was doing and chose to carry out his murder of his brother anyway. However, since then, our legacy of sin has tainted the ability we gained from the tree. Look no further than the worst humans who’ve existed- Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Jim Jones and the rest who didn’t think they were doing evil. They went to their graves with their discernment, same as ours, telling them that what they had done was OK. Humans may be able to discern good from evil, but the ability is predictably unreliable. Otherwise, how is it that the country with the most freedom is the most divided on the direction it ought to take? If we can accurately sort good from evil, shouldn’t our political ideals be more compatible? But they’re not, because what you think is good and evil and what I think is good and evil doesn’t exactly match up. Let alone the people we judge as good or evil aren’t the same.

God foreknew this problem. He knew that we would have some measure of discernment, but it couldn’t be trusted. Under the Old Covenant, people could seek God’s guidance at the temple. From average Joes to the king could seek simple a guaranteed “yes” or “no” answer from the Almighty through his priests and the mysterious Urim and Thummin. I’ve heard people lament these days, wishing we could still bet upon a guaranteed yes or no. However, we have something better.

The Spirit. Upon Jesus’ departure and Pentecost, followers of God are now filled with the Holy Spirit. A part of God dwells within us. If we ever want to be sure about whether something is good or evil, all we need to do is ask. Ask, and be quiet enough to hear his response. No doubt it’s the second part that’s the hard part; but it’s necessary. Some quick choices are necessary in life, but we cannot depend upon our own discernment. Our discernment is tainted and can’t be trusted. If we’re going to make the right choices, we must seek the almighty. We must do what it takes to quiet our lives and hear his whispering. This is the path to sorting good from evil. This is the only way we’ll ever come close to attaining what Adam and Eve originally desired.