A New Devotion - The Lesser of Two Evils

Here's a new devotion that I wrote. You can find a recording of this devotion at the bottom of the page.

Luke 13:22-30

Jesus went through one town and village after another, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few be saved?” He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able. When once the owner of the house has got up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then in reply he will say to you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will say, ‘I do not know where you come from; go away from me, all you evildoers!’ There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrown out. Then people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God. Indeed, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last."

The Lesser of Two Evils

In the United States, we had our presidential election a couple of days ago. And when I asked a friend of mine about the factors that shaped his vote, he told me that he voted for the lesser of two evils. Now that’s what he said. And even though I have all kinds of problems with that being your guiding principle in making an important decision, his response got me thinking. You see, I started wondering how often those words apply to our aspirations as people, even Christians. I mean, although we’d never admit it out-loud, I think we often strive to be the lesser of two evils. In other words, our goal is to be not as bad as those other guys. And so instead of working to be humble, honest and loving, we’re satisfied with being less arrogant and telling fewer lies and being a little less callous in dealing with others. You see, although we’re probably not good and righteous, we certainly not the worst. We’re simply the lesser of two evils. Now I believe that’s often how we think.

But this mind-set flies in the face of what Jesus taught in the passage we just read. I mean, he didn’t say strive to go through a door that’s not as board as the one some pass through. Instead he commanded us to seek out the narrow door. And instead of equating acceptable humility with elbowing our way to the second spot, Jesus told us to go to the end of the line intentionally, because the last will be first and the first last. As a matter of fact, if we want to be able to look into the future with peace and confidence, we need to accept that our Lord and Savior expects us to be better than the lesser of two evils.