Hold up one hand. Look at both sides. It has a front, and it has a back. Yet, both are on the same hand. We can’t look at one side and say, “You are good. I will keep you,” and turn our hand, only to say, “You are bad. I do not want you.”
It’s like a criminal interrogation. Two cops are in the interview room. One plays the authoritarian, no-nonsense stickler, and the other offers to bring the interviewee a cup of coffee. A strategy is in place, Good Cop, Bad Cop, in order to effectively win the trust of the suspect.
The guy in the chair can’t look at one cop and say, “You are good. I'll keep you,” and turn to the other cop and say, “You are bad. I don't want you.” The two are a team. When we have one, we have the other. They are a pair. We can only choose which one we will align with.
Good and bad in this world are the same. We will have good, and we will have bad. We cannot say, “I will keep only good things around me, and I want the bad things to go away.” The world doesn’t respond to our desires that way. We can only choose which we will align with.
Ezekiel 18:20 gives us a clear example of this principle:
“The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.”
We have a choice. Good. Bad. Both are there; both will continue to be there. We have to decide where our affinity lies, and we will receive consequences—good or bad—in line with our deeds.
1 Timothy 1:8-10 encourages us not to discount the advice of our forebears:
“Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine.”
We can find wisdom in the advice of those who have gone before us. Our duty is to use it wisely, determining what is of good quality, and what is not. The laws we have on the books are to encourage those without direction to walk after the Lord.
Matthew 7:1-2 advises us to be careful in our view of others.
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.”
When we choose what’s good, and others are still struggling with Good Cop, Bad Cop, we must be patient with them. Just as Christ called us gently until we were ready to make a decision for him, so must we be patient with those who still feel his call, even if their readiness to move after him is unclear to us.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 is the voice of our Victory Cry!
“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”
Good will win out over bad. God will win over the devil. Christ will triumph over sinful man.
In this life, we will face the challenges of good and evil, for we will always have both with us. That we cannot change. Our responsibility is to look at both and say, “I choose you,” and to make sure our finger is pointed at the good cop. After all, the good cop is Jesus, and he’s the one who’ll bring us that steaming cup of coffee—which is our salvation at the cross, by the way!
When we choose Jesus, we’ve made the good choice.
Amen.
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