Envying Evil That "Works"
Be not envious of evil men, nor desire to be with them, for their hearts devise violence, and their lips talk of trouble. -Proverbs 24:1-2
The stories we tell, tell a story about us.
A young man bends the rules, exploits people, and makes an enormous amount of money. His success brings power, luxury, and admiration. To an outsider, he has everything you could want. People envy his life. But on further inspection it’s built on a faulty foundation. It’s emptiness.
We all know how this story ends. The truth will catch up to him, his empire will collapse, and he’ll be just another example of how foolish it is to build your life on a foundation of sand. It’s a great example of Proverbs 24:1—we shouldn’t envy evil people, because eventually they’ll get their comeuppance and you don’t want that.
But is that really the story that Proverbs 24:1-2 would have us tell?
Try this on for size.
A powerful man bends the rules, exploits people, and makes an enormous amount of money. His success brings, power, luxury, and admiration. If you want something done, you’ll need to go through this guy. He is influential and “holds the keys” to the kingdom you’d love to build. His empire is firmly established, connected on so many layers, that his upheaval would cause more problems than it’d help. He’s not coming off that perch anytime soon.
Wouldn’t it be amazing if you were in a similar position of influence? You know that’s just dreaming, though. Thankfully, this evil man is open to hearing your suggestions. That’s part of what makes him so successful, he’ll give an audience to about anyone. And if your idea will expand his empire, he is happy to listen.
Could you get near this guy, build a relationship with him, and do some good through him?
Anybody with half a brain can look at that first story and say, “I’m not buying. That ship will eventually sink. I’m not going to sell out my morals for emptiness.” But that second one is far more tempting, isn’t it? The ship won’t sink. You’ll be able to accomplish what your heart desires—and at this point it’s a good end.
“At this point” is the operative word in that last sentence. What Proverbs 24:1-2 is telling us is that if their hearts devise violence and their lips talk of trouble, you’ll have to turn a blind eye to that stuff in order to have an audience with such a one. And that’s not a story we tell much these days. Because if we did it’d expose our pragmatism. We’re prone to reject evil on the sole basis that it doesn’t ultimately “work”. But this is challenging us to reject evil men because they are…evil.
Sit with that for just a second. “Their hearts devise violence…” Is that enough to make your blood curdle? Does that prospect horrify you? Or are we numb to that? Are we able to bypass this because the “violence” being devised is against our enemies? When “lips talk of trouble” do we cringe? Or are we just accustomed to this kind of speech?
This proverb is lifting these things up as the very reason why you shouldn’t envy someone who is evil. This is the type of person they are. And that should cause us to shudder and want to run in the other direction. But does it anymore?
Let’s peek into a scene in a Judean wilderness. A man has been thrust into a time of intense testing. He’s been without food and water for days. And the great tempter takes him to a very high mountain and shows him all the kingdoms of the world and all the wonderful things in them. He whispers in the hungry man’s ears, “Think of all the good you could do with this? Consider what would happen if you were in power over all of these! You know the suffering you could cease. Think of the children!”
“Kiss the ring and it’s all yours,” he barters.
“Get away from me, Satan!” is the powerful response from the Son of God.
The stories we tell, tell a story about us.
Jesus was choosing the story He would live. Not the shortcut to power, or the fast track to influence, but a bloody cross. His kingdom isn’t built on coercion or charisma, but on self-giving love. You can’t tell that story and partner with evil. The kingdom that Jesus is building doesn’t need to borrow one particle from the empire of evil.
When you tell a different story, you’ll inevitably kiss the ring. But the story of Jesus will take a knee to none.