Over the last 72 hours or so, bad things have been happening.
There's been rapes and unexpected deaths. Miscarriages and illness. Of course when bad things happen to believers, non-believers seem to always come out with the same tired quip: "If God loves you so much; why is this happening?"
They stand there, judging, badgering, probing for a response. Well, I've got one.
There's been rapes and unexpected deaths. Miscarriages and illness. Of course when bad things happen to believers, non-believers seem to always come out with the same tired quip: "If God loves you so much; why is this happening?"
They stand there, judging, badgering, probing for a response. Well, I've got one.
In my life (as many of us have) I've had a fair few of those "shit happens" moments. The thing that non-believers can't come to grip with is Christians who continue to take a stand for and serve a God that doesn't intervene and prevent shit from happening.
It's almost as if they assume that the role of God and the role of our relationship with Him is for Him to act as a giant fishing net, catching minnows of misfortune and ill-fated circumstance before they have a chance to affect us. For non-believers, religion seems to be some type of contract whereby the believer is spared from the results of us all being sinners and us all living in a sin-riddled, wicked world.
It makes sense, yes. So much of religion (Christianity especially) is about what God can do/does for us. The face of Christianity that many non-believers see is of God as the everlasting vending machine. We saunter up and hit Him up for a blessing at will. We don't advertise the struggle or our brokenness. As soon as tragedy strikes, everyone waves the "God bless" flag. Think of the aftermath of 9/11. Nobody seemed capable to utter a sentence without ending it with God bless America. Celebrities clip onto the ends of their award acceptance speeches. After they've thanked this ultimately benevolent God for letting them win a golden statue fashioned in their own likeness.
Non-believers hear us interject with a shout of surprise "Oh my God!" after both good and bad things happen. Christians dial God's number before sporting events, before tests, before traveling. And how many of us automatically default to thinking that "perhaps no one prayed beforehand" when a terrible event occurs?
Yes, it makes sense, then, that non-believers point accusatory fingers and question the consistency of God when bad things happen. They've only ever seen us invoke Him for something good. We're at fault. We are to blame for this skewed view of God. We have created a one-dimensional St Nick of Christ, expecting Him to rain down the good and having the gall to admonish Him when things don't turn out our way.
Even if it's not Christians asking the questions, if we had relayed an accurate picture of a relationship with Christ, non-believers would get it. The next time someone questions the loyalty and holiness of God in the wake of a trauma, we should gently remind them (and ourselves) of a few things:
It's almost as if they assume that the role of God and the role of our relationship with Him is for Him to act as a giant fishing net, catching minnows of misfortune and ill-fated circumstance before they have a chance to affect us. For non-believers, religion seems to be some type of contract whereby the believer is spared from the results of us all being sinners and us all living in a sin-riddled, wicked world.
It makes sense, yes. So much of religion (Christianity especially) is about what God can do/does for us. The face of Christianity that many non-believers see is of God as the everlasting vending machine. We saunter up and hit Him up for a blessing at will. We don't advertise the struggle or our brokenness. As soon as tragedy strikes, everyone waves the "God bless" flag. Think of the aftermath of 9/11. Nobody seemed capable to utter a sentence without ending it with God bless America. Celebrities clip onto the ends of their award acceptance speeches. After they've thanked this ultimately benevolent God for letting them win a golden statue fashioned in their own likeness.
Non-believers hear us interject with a shout of surprise "Oh my God!" after both good and bad things happen. Christians dial God's number before sporting events, before tests, before traveling. And how many of us automatically default to thinking that "perhaps no one prayed beforehand" when a terrible event occurs?
Yes, it makes sense, then, that non-believers point accusatory fingers and question the consistency of God when bad things happen. They've only ever seen us invoke Him for something good. We're at fault. We are to blame for this skewed view of God. We have created a one-dimensional St Nick of Christ, expecting Him to rain down the good and having the gall to admonish Him when things don't turn out our way.
Even if it's not Christians asking the questions, if we had relayed an accurate picture of a relationship with Christ, non-believers would get it. The next time someone questions the loyalty and holiness of God in the wake of a trauma, we should gently remind them (and ourselves) of a few things:
- Christianity isn't an arrangement where, after confessing our belief in God, He picks us up and puts us in a bubble where nothing bad will ever happen to us
- The purpose of Calvary wasn't so that Christians could live a life void of suffering and pain. The nails, the whips, the vinegar, the thorns should remind of us that.
- Some of the strongest, most durable materials are forged through fire.
- God has His hand in the good and the bad. It is up to us to examine the situation and find something that is edifying, to find a way to praise because healing comes through praise.