| THE MOST DANGEROUS PEOPLE IN THE WORLD By: Jerry S. Maneker “And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.” (2Corinthians 5:15) The most dangerous people in the world are those incapable of love and those who feel they have nothing to lose! The former are likely to be sociopaths who are incapable of guilt or empathy with others’ feelings. The latter are those who view their lives in this world to be, for one reason or another, empty. Those incapable of love do violence to others either physically, intellectually, emotionally, or spiritually. Indeed, they might well be called, “evil.” In his book, People of the Lie, the psychiatrist, M. Scott Peck seeks to place “evil” as a diagnostic category, as in his practice he has come across many such cases. One compelling case study is of a fifteen-year-old boy who was picked up for driving a stolen car. He was rather uncommunicative with Peck until Peck asked him what presents he received for Christmas. The boy told him that he had received a gun from his parents. Peck knew that the boy’s older brother had committed suicide with a gun, and so was taken aback by such a gift being given to this boy. He asked the boy if that is what he wanted for Christmas, and the boy said he told his parents he wanted a fishing rod, but the parents gave him a gun instead. It was not only the same kind of gun with which his brother shot himself; it was the same gun. The parents, when questioned by Peck, were extremely defensive and thought they were doing a good thing by giving such a gift to their other son. When Peck asked them if they weren’t inviting the boy to shoot himself as had his brother, the parents became unglued and told him to mind his own business; they were doing the boy a favor by giving him such a valuable gift. Peck doesn’t know what eventually happened to the boy, and the tragedy is that there are a lot of people victimized by such evil people. Frequently, the “evil” is gratuitous, in that there seems to be no payoff for the evildoer, except for the thrill of hurting another human being—even if it’s one’s own child. Evil people are one of the most dangerous people in the world, as can be seen not only in such cases of abuse as just described, but by those who engage in genocide, hate-mongering, and other sorts of predatory behavior that seek to in one way or another “kill” one or more aspects of another human being. In this regard, it is my opinion that proponents of capital punishment are contributing to “evil,” as they abet the blood lust that seems to be exponentially rising in this country that I feel has increasingly become sociopathic. On the opposite end of the continuum of those who are the most dangerous people in the world are those who view themselves as dead! As the Scripture verse that precedes this article states, Christians are literally dead men and women walking! When Christ died, we died in Him, and we are to live for Him to the degree that He graces us to do that very thing. As the Christian martyr Kartar Singh said as he was dying, “The life He gave to me is the life I gave to Him." A clerk in a Christian bookstore told me many years ago, “We are coins in God’s pocket, and He can spend us any way He wants to.” Christians who walk the talk of grace, love, peace, reconciliation, compassion, mercy, and inclusiveness are frequently resented in our increasingly sociopathic society! Most of the world is held captive to the world, the flesh, and the devil; Christians are possessed by God, despite their sins and trespasses, as they were called out to be God’s own possession before the worlds were formed. (Ephesians 1:4) There is no middle ground in this dichotomy! One has either been chosen by God for His sovereign purposes or one hasn’t been so chosen! Being chosen by God has absolutely nothing to do with our merits, as we define them, but has to do with God’s sovereign choice before the worlds were formed. This sovereign choice made by God determines who is viewed as “dangerous” by the world! The value system of the Christian is to do his or her best to fulfill his or her ministry as determined by God, the unseen Master; the value system of the world sees the Christian's value system as mere foolishness, and even dangerous. Hence, the persecution of Christians who do nothing but seek to do good and who seek to preach the Gospel of liberation to those held captive by yokes of bondage that many prefer to that of worshiping their Creator. Scripture clearly shows that the Christian has nothing to lose, as his or her life has already been lost in Christ before the worlds were formed! |