The Real World
and that we may be delivered from perverse and evil men, for faith is not in all. 2 Thessalonians 3:2
Perverse and Evil Men – Christians tend to think the best of people. They are often more forgiving, more tolerant and more embracing than non-believers. That’s usually because the character of God’s goodness modifies their natural suspicion of others. When we experience the grace of God and the transformation of life’s perspective and attitudes, we project that experience of peace and goodwill onto others. Sometimes it’s a big mistake.
The biblical assessment of this world never discounts the Fall. The real world is tragically broken, and there are a lot of very broken people occupying this shattered planet. While believers know the uplifting reality of peace and grace, there are plenty of God’s rebellious children who operate from the dark side. No Christian should ever underestimate the influence of the opposition. That’s why Paul is quite specific about his prayer concerning evil. He asks God to deliver us from the power that these rebels really have. It’s well worth considering.
What are the characteristics of “perverse and evil men?” The first Greek word is atopos. This is a bit surprising. Do you see the word topos in this term? Topos is Greek for “place” as in topology or topographical. By adding the negative (a) in front of the word, Paul renders a literal meaning of “not in place.” What does it mean to say that perverse men are “not in place?” It means that these men are not in proper alignment with the Word of God. They are without correct hierarchy. They attempt to stand apart from God. They want their own world. They refuse to submit to the rule and reign of the Most High. Of course, there are a host of synonyms for this word, like evil, bad, lawless, foolish, absurd and mindless. Perverse means a lot more than wicked. It applies to anyone who refuses to stand in proper relationship to God.
Evil men is the translation of the Greek poneron anthropon. We might have expected the Greek word kakos (bad character), but Paul has something else to show us. You see, poneros comes from the root word ponos, a word that means to toil, to labor in pain under intense demands. Paul chooses a word that reminds us of the Hebrew ‘atsav, the word that describes the toil in sorrow that accompanies the Fall (Genesis 3:17). Why are these men evil? It is not simply because they do bad deeds. It is because they are sons of the disobedient Adam. They have acted independently of God’s command and consequently, their lives are saturated with the same result. These men have no spiritual joy in work. Read that again. God’s design is that work should be a reflection of worship (the Hebrew word avod), but when I no longer serve the living God, work becomes something else. It becomes toil. No matter how successful I am, my work will not reflect my service to God and cannot be a form of worship of the Most High. That makes me an evil man.
Do you see what this means? The perverse man refuses God’s authority. He wants a world of his own making. The evil man not only refuses God’s authority, he works without a sense of worship. His objective is self-gratification. No matter how noble the task, it is part of the system of this world and under the power of the enemy. This means that there are a lot of perverse and evil men out there who could claim that they were morally upright. They might fool those without a biblical point of view, but they should not fool us. Nevertheless, their sin is so subtle that Paul prays we will be delivered from such men. It’s a prayer worth remembering – and repeating.
Topical Index: Sin
