Cooperating To Do Evil
Cooperation is a virtue of every faithful Christian and Christian leader. But, cooperation in that which is good is not the only kind of cooperation possible. It is also possible to cooperate in that which is evil. Judas cooperated to do evil in betraying Christ (Matt. 26:14-26). Ananias and Sapphira conspired together to do evil (Acts 5:1-12). Felix cooperated with the Jews when he kept Paul bound after determining there was no reason (Acts 24:27). The Jewish council cooperated to do evil in trying to suppress the preaching of the gospel by arresting, beating and threatening the disciples (Acts 4:16-17, 5:28, 40).
You might be thinking that you would never do as these above did. You would not cooperate to do evil. But, it might be that Satan calls upon us to do evil with more subtlety than we know. For example, did you ever stop to think that when you listen to gossip, you are cooperating to do evil? When you hear a man teach truth that proves to be unpopular and you either support others who speak against him (Acts 26:10) or try to remain neutral, you are cooperating to do evil. Consider the attempted neutrality of the parents of the blind man (Jn. 9:19-23). When some unrepentant sin in your life persists (forsaking the assembly, foul language, lying, bitterness, backbiting, etc), you are cooperating with Satan to do evil (1 Tim. 5:13; 2 Pet. 2:2; 1 Tim. 5:14).
We must be careful not to cooperate to do evil (1 Tim. 5:22; 2 Jn. 11).
-Mike Glenn