“For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Corinthians 5:10).

When I was a kid, this is the passage of scripture used by my Sunday School teachers to keep me on the straight and narrow. This verse may the be the reason I tried not to “cuss, drink, chew or go with girls who do.”

And maybe this is what keeps me on the straight and narrow today.

However, the older that I get, and the more I study the scriptures, I have learned that there are more evil things we can do in the body than saying a curse word.

If loving our neighbors as ourselves is the highest good, as Jesus said it was, then refusing to love is the lowest evil.

It was Jewish Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel who reminded us that the opposite of love is not hate. It is indifference. Evil can be silence. Evil can be refusing take a stand. Evil can be refusing to take a knee. Evil can be looking the other way, tuning something out, refusing to understand. Evil is not giving a damn.

When I get to heaven and appear before the judgment seat of Christ to receive payment for the good or the evil I have done with my body, I hope to be able to say:

“Do you remember your command for us to love one another?”

“Do you remember the stories you told about accepting those who have been marginalized by religion and culture?”

“Do you remember your sermon about blessing the poor, the meek, the mourners, the peacemakers, and the oppressed who hunger and thirst for justice?”

“With my heart, soul, mind and body, I gave a damn.”