Comforting the Oppressed and Punishing the Wicked

The word "Narcissism" comes from the Greek Mythology, but the concept of the narcissistic mentality came long before Greek Mythology existed.

God told all about the mentality of extreme selfishness in the Bible and that in the end times it would increase so exponentially that nearly everyone would be like this.

I have encountered many people who have narcissistic tendencies who could turn into these monsters if they didn't feel a sense of restraint from the people around them.

The passage in the Bible that describes this mentality is 2 Timothy 3:1-5. Whether it is a continuum or not doesn't really matter, the tactics are still devastating to those who have to endure them.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 "3 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these."

Wickedness unrestrained by cultural acceptance will always grow out of control. Pretending to love these people by ignoring their sin does not cause them to change, nor does it do anything for the one who ignores their sin. Rather those who ignore the sin of wicked people often causes the sin to grow in the heart of the one who ignores.

Usually when we ignore sin to be friendly with the one who is wicked, we serve only to strengthen their sinfulness while increasing our own. This is why "lifestyle evangelism" is so devastating, it tends to coddle the sinner while diminishing the pain of the victims.

Isaiah 26:9-11 "…9 My soul longs for You in the night; indeed, my spirit within me diligently seeks You. For when Your judgments come upon the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. 10 Though grace is shown to the wicked man, he does not learn righteousness. In the land of righteousness he acts unjustly and fails to see the majesty of the LORD. 11 O LORD, Your hand is upraised, but they do not see it. They will see Your zeal for Your people, and be put to shame. The fire set for Your enemies will consume them!…"

Psalm 147:6
"6 The Lord supports the afflicted;
He brings down the wicked to the ground."

We are not to comfort the wicked and punish the righteous. We punish the righteous when we pressure them to forgive an unrepentant wicked man.

We should do as God does, that is comfort the oppressed and punish the wicked. That's how it works in God's economy.