You have wearied the Lord with your words.


“How have we wearied him?” you ask.


By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?” (Malachi 2:17)



Imagine wearying the Lord? That seems like it would be difficult to do, long-suffering lovingkindness and all. But here the people of God manage to do it not just by engaging in evil acts, but by calling this evil good and then loudly wondering why justice was taking so long. God was tired of it.


Do we have the temerity to call evil, evil? Yes, within certain lenses we are very happy to ascribe evil. Structurally we are quick to identify evil, or with people who are our socio-political opposites. Yes, we are bold enough to call things evil if they are outside of us or the things we cherish.


But what about personal evil? What about among the people we call friends, or who seem to be on "our" side of the fence? Are we wearying God by calling evil good? By excusing our own evil or that of the people we otherwise like? And are we further wearying God by wondering where justice may be when we are actively engaged in things that he has called unjust?


I lost friends once by preaching about both systemic and personal sin. It was at a justice gathering, and everyone was fine with the systemic take down. The problem was that we had a hard time identifying ourselves as part of the system, with our personal licentiousness contributing to the sin.


I say none of this lightly, nor from a position that is immune from prophetic denouncement. I am part of evil systems, and I have compromised and contributed personally. I don't say that with justification or resignation, but with contrition and the hope of repentance and amendment.


But I will also say that someone is not loving me if they call my evil actions good, or justifiable, or not so bad, or ambiguous. They are not helping me, but rather enabling me to walk further into disobedience and away from the Lord. Let's love one another better.