When Good Men Do Nothing

“Darkness does not overtake light, but light overtakes darkness. And if there’s darkness spreading through the land. Guess what, it is not because somebody went out into the middle of Kansas and opened a box of darkness… If darkness is spreading across the land, guess what. It is because somebody is hiding the light.” (Del Tackett; Focus on the Family’s “The Truth Project”)

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus told us: You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:14-16).

When Christians fail to be the light of the world, darkness spreads. To be light, one must do good works; the Lord commands His people to do so (Luke 6:35; Eph. 2:10). Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good” (Titus 2:14).

As Edmund Burke said "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Good men must take action and let their light shine; darkness must be opposed. God commands those who are good, not just to avoid evil but actively oppose it. Christians are to not only to “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them” (Eph. 5:11). Those who do nothing about the darkness, help the darkness to prevail. A person who sits idly by, when there are others around them in sin becomes a partner of their sin (Eph. 5:7).

Jesus warned “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.” (Matt. 12:30). In the fight against darkness there is no middle ground, no fence sitting allowed. Those who are not actively and zealously fighting against darkness are assisting its spreading.

When a person’s light is hidden, it is of no use to anyone, not even to themselves. Many have the false belief, that being the “light of the world” is simply the absence of doing what those in darkness are doing. Not so! One is light not simply because they do no evil, but because they are actively shining their light into the darkness, by their good works. “He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it.” (1 Pet. 3:11). James explained, “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins” (James 4:17).

Those who stand on the sidelines of life and do nothing but watch the darkness spread, they cease being innocent bystanders and idle spectators. Their failure to act not only allows evil to triumph, but makes them just as guilty as those actively involved in promoting the darkness they refuse to reprove and rebuke. In God's words, “On the day you stood aloof while strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them” (Obadiah 11).

“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows” (Gal. 6:7). Those who refuse to let their light shine into the darkness are sowing some dangerous seeds. They are doing nothing good as Jesus commanded them to do; they are helping the spread of the darkness by hiding their own light, and have become partners of the darkness they did nothing to stop. Do not allow the darkness to spread. Do not sit by and do nothing. Stand up and be counted, speak out against the darkness in this world. As Jesus said, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16).