I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot.

—Revelation 3:15

Often, we know why some people are evil, but do you wonder why people do good? For some, it is to make others (or themselves) feel good. Often, it is to try to become a better person. And, of course, some do so to try to make the world a better place. What happens when we step back and do nothing? We are being passive and leaving the world to its own evils. Desmond Tutu said, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”

Jesus told his followers that they have only one reason to do good: to mirror the character of his Father into the world. In order to understand Jesus’ approach to doing good, we need to see that there are two huge differences between the way the world looks at good and evil and how God does. Most people have strong opinions about what are good actions and what are evil actions, but most will remain neutral. They may recognize good and evil, but they do nothing to stop the evil, and often do nothing to elevate the good. Most of the time people are just living their life, doing neutral things, and then every so often a situation comes up where they have to choose whether to do something good or something evil; both of which require about the same amount of effort.  Think most people believe it’s hard to be evil unless you really mean to be.  Most of the time we are basically average people, neither good nor evil, but we are capable of doing good when the right situation comes up.

I’ve told this story before, but it was the first day of school, and I was in seventh grade. A group of guys were calling me names and bullying me. There were several new students that year, and everyone seemed to be trying to show that they were cool or whatever and were doing this by picking on me: the quiet, shy one. As I was being taunted, one of the new guys spoke up and told the other guys to leave me alone. He stuck his neck out and risked losing his “cool factor” by not being neutral or joining in on the bullying, but by telling the bullies to stop. I’ve always thought that took real courage, but this guy also had a lot of charisma, and unlike me and many others at that age, he seemed to be so confident. He never lost his “cool factor.” In fact, he was always one of the most popular guys in school. I never once remember him allowing anyone to bully me if he was around. He was a genuinely good guy, and though I’m friends with him on Facebook, I really don’t know what kind of person he is these days, but I hope he’s still a good guy.

The Bible does not recognize there being three categories of being: good, neutral, and evil.  Instead, it recognizes only two: good and evil. If one is not doing good, then one must be doing evil. Psalm 34:14 says, “Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” In Mark 3:4, Jesus asked the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do harm, to save a life or to kill?” The question is: what is one’s orientation toward others—good or evil? He didn’t give them the option of being neutral, even though the world says that’s what most of us are. What the world calls neutral the Bible calls evil. Why?  Because doing the neutral thing of living as if you and your concerns are the central reality of your existence necessarily makes God second.

The word the Bible uses for that is “evil.” In Matthew 12:30, Jesus talked about the unpardonable sin, “The one who is not with Me is against Me; and the one who does not gather with Me scatters.” If we do not actively seek to choose good and combat evil, then we are not being neutral, we are, in fact, doing evil. LGBTQ+ people are facing attacks from from people across America. It may not be a new thing, but that doesn’t diminish the evil that it is. For nearly the last decade, since Donald Trump came to dominate the Republican Party, bullying and selfishness have become the rallying cris of Republicans.

During the 1920s and 1930s, Martin Niemöller, a once prominent Lutheran pastor in Germany, sympathized with many Nazi ideas and supported radically right-wing political movements. However, after Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, Niemöller became an outspoken critic of Hitler’s interference in the Protestant Church. He spent the last eight years of Nazi rule, from 1937 to 1945, in Nazi prisons and concentration camps. Niemöller is perhaps best remembered for his postwar statement, which begins “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.” However we identify ourselves,, we can’t sit on the sidelines and do nothing. We have to actively work to better this world for everyone. While it’s never a time to declare neutrality, there are times when neutrality can do so much more harm than good. We are in one of those times.speak up, vote, do anything you can to help make this world a better place for all. We don’t have the luxury of being neutral and watching the world from a distance, because the evil that is building steam may not be directly affecting you right now, but it will. Right now, it’s probably only harming people you do not know. Eventually though, it will harm the ones you love, and it will harm you as well. Don’t declare neutrality and sit back and watch until it’s too late. Do something now!