When Your Good Is Spoken Of As Evil
Aaron Beard
It is a wonderful blessing to have people within a congregation that are the type who are great at motivating others. It is these people who are always searching for things to do in the Lord’s service. They may be those who organize Bible studies, personal evangelism efforts, singings, or times for Christians to get together simply in a social manner. They could be those who work to send cards or make needed phone calls, do physical work for others, or are always lending the encouraging words. Not only do they just organize these efforts but they motivate others to get involved. A local congregation would quickly become “dead” without people such as this. The sad thing is that when these people step forth and try to push for opportunities to grow there are some who will have no part of it. However, they do not stop at just not participating; they can go so far as to oppose them by speaking evil of them or the good they are doing.
Why Do Some Insist On Doing So?
Why do some people insist on speaking evil of those who labor in the Lord’s work? Each person may do so for various reasons but there are a few factors that are generally common among all those who would do such. One reason some Christians will oppose others who are doing good is because their good exposes their evil. Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Whenever one lets their light shine in doing good works in the Lord’s service, it is possible that the faults of others get exposed in the process. This may be completely unintentional on the part of the one doing the work. Jesus spoke about this situation by saying, “For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed” (John 3:20). Instead of admitting their faults when exposed, some people will stay away from the light and even speak evil of those who are doing the good works.
Nehemiah faced a similar situation to what Jesus warned against. He heard how the city of Jerusalem was in horrible shape and the people were greatly distressed. After much prayer and introspection he decides that he will take action by going and leading the reconstruction of the walls and cleansing the people morally. When he did he met up with Tobiah and Sanballat who proved to be great oppression throughout the whole process. They were “deeply disturbed that a man had come to seek the well-being of… Israel” (Neh. 2:7). Come to find out they had a controlling thumb in Jerusalem they should not have had and intermarried among the people. With time running out to stop Nehemiah’s work, they begin to attack him by speaking evil of the work he was undertaking. They spread rumors around saying of Nehemiah that “you are rebuilding the wall that you may be their king” and that “you have appointed prophets to proclaim concerning you… ‘There is a king in Judah!’” (Neh. 6:5-7). Sometimes the strongest opposition people face in doing the Lord’s work is when others speak evil of them attacking their motives.
There are some who speak evil of those who are striving to work for the Lord because of jealousy. It seems quite possible that this was the case with Paul. Men may have been attacking his apostleship, his intentions, or some other aspect of his work. He wrote, “Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains…” (Phil. 1:15-16). The exact details of what was taking place here is uncertain; however, it seems that there were certain men who grew jealous of Paul and were going about preaching to add to the problems with which Paul was already dealing. Whenever one steps up and organizes some good work and possibly gets attention that others want, some would oppose them and the work they do by speaking evil of them and undermining all of their efforts.
How Should One Handle Such Opposition?
What is one supposed to do when others insist on tearing them apart when they attempt to do things that are good and promote spiritual health? This can be one of the most difficult things to handle because of the discouragement that follows since this type of opposition normally comes from one’s own brothers and sisters in Christ – People who ought to know better and instead be holding up one’s arms!
First of all one must remember not give anyone a reason to speak evil of their good. Some people look for reasons and ways to oppose those who are steadily doing the Lord work - They do not need any more help! Romans 14:16 says, “Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil.” While Paul is specifically addressing misusing one’s liberty to eat and keep days, the application of this point can still be made. One must always strive not to give anyone a reason to speak evil of the good they are doing.
One should also remember the example that Paul left. When those men were going about in envy and strife, Paul always kept a wonderful attitude. Evidently these men were going about preaching either trying to promote themselves and destroy the name of Paul or in some other manner add to the chains in which Paul was bound. Paul was greatly bothered by this but instead of constantly worrying about what they were saying or sulking in the situation they were causing, he was looking for something positive his circumstances. Summing up the situation he says, “What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice” (Philippians 1:18). While good may not be found in every case of opposition, or it is very difficult to see, when one can find something positive it is always good to focus on that.
Finally, Nehemiah leaves a wonderful example for how to handle the great opposition of others speaking evil of one doing the Lord’s work. Nehemiah first of all did not allow the problem to go unaddressed but cut to the heart of the matter. He said, “No such things as you say are being done, but you invent them in your own heart” (Neh. 6:8). Next he considers their motives and says, “They all were trying to make us afraid…” (Neh. 6:9). He then takes his problem to the One he knew could offer real help and says, “Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.” (Neh 6:10). Nehemiah finely crushes his opposition by continuing to do the Lord’s work like he knew he should. Nehemiah 6:15 records the results of this by saying, “So the wall was finished… in fifty-two days.”