HOW TO DERAIL GOOD WORK

Doing good or seeking justice and serving others—in our faith and church contexts, in our working lives, in our communities, and in creative endeavors, requires hard work. It needs careful thinking, learning, listening, collaboration, and perseverance.

One of the frustrations with seeking to do good work is that it is so easy for good work to be frustrated, subverted, or undone by others.

Those who would oppose good work, for whatever reason, do not need to make a rational case against the work being done. While there are those who work hard against goodness, they usually do not need to work as hard as those who seek goodness.

They do not have to comply with the principles or expectations that come with seeking to promote goodness. All they need to do is create prejudice, confusion, discouragement, or fear. Those seeking to frustrate good work need only to raise questions and foster doubts; they do not need to answer questions or have any courage themselves.

If they can make others afraid—even for no good reason—they will be recruiting others to do their insidious work, and the good work will grind to a halt.

The enemies who opposed the work of Ezra and the people did not need to do anything as hard as rebuilding a ruined temple. If they could discourage the people and create fear, the work would stop. They could bribe officials and send dishonest reports to the kings of Persia, and for a time, they were successful (see Ezra 4:23, 24).

Doing good work in our world requires courage and resisting the temptation to become discouraged or afraid. We must also commit to doing good work without causing contention: “Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Romans 12:17, 18).