angry and with reason

tonight I had a pretty substantial experience. Romans 12:9 says simply "hate what is evil; cling to what is good." This verse is something that I've understood for a long time, it's pretty straightforward and I've certainly been taught and exposed to the idea that we're not supposed to understand evil, but through the holy spirit we are able to recognize it and hate it. My experience with hating evil had, until tonight, been in a rather ... third person sort of sense. As in, it was all occuring to someone else in a way I couldn't fully comprehend because I wasn't experiencing it. I still hated evil, but in a rather mild way, not spending too much time dwelling on it. I had other things I had to focus on at that point and certainly needed significant growth in my faith (take the log out of my own eye before i try and remove the speck from my brother's, that sort of idea).
Over the past week and 1/2 God has reminded me of just how far I've come. I've heard some interesting ideas about faith from old friends and one new acquaintance, a guy at summer fellowship. My old friends, the UU friends, talked a lot about pluralism. And God gave me the strength and boldness to openly disagree with them, that we were not headed in the same direction on different paths, something I wasn't able to do in the past. Probably from a lack of faith, or simply not wanting to be uncomfortable, and those lies just sounding so comforting (because if everything gets you to God, I don't have to worry about my friend's souls. but that's not true, so I do worry.) And from summer fellowship guy, i've heard all kinds of lies. Excuses that because we're saved, it doesn't matter if we shoplift from the store, and it's okay if we do drugs if we're seeking God through that experience. And tonight, I hated the lies that I heard. I hated the whisperer of those lies and I had to fight the urge to fall to my knees in the street and pray against the evil working on this guy's mind (it's hard to pray for someone when you're unconcious from being hit by a car). I don't know how to describe it, other than I'm ready and anxious to take up the arms described in Ephesians 6 and fight the battle against the evil. My prayers are the best weapon I've got, yet they feel inadequate. I guess I really identified with where this guy is, seeing how I used to believe so many lies about God, and it just infuriates me. It nearly cost me everything, and I don't want to stand by idly while satan claims souls with these lies. If I ever wondered whether or not Crash Team was where i should serve IV, tonight has solidified that's where i'm supposed to be.