suffering

Christ, Suffering & Punishment

~ brandon ~ Leave a comment

As a Pastor, I’m often confronted with Christians who wonder if God is punishing them.  Sickness, or unemployment or other difficulties and tragedies make them wonder.  They often ask, “Why me?,” and wonder what God is trying to teach them.  While books are written on such subjects, I generally answer with three key points.

First, there is ‘no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,’ (Romans 8:1).  If they are a follower of Jesus Christ they need not fear that God is attacking or punishing them for some mistake they’ve made.  To illustrate, we look at 2 Corinthians 12 together.  There we read of Paul’s thorn, given by God to keep Paul dependant upon the Lord.  This wasn’t as a punishment, but as a tool to help Paul and glorify Christ.  As the Lord says, “My power is made perfect in weakness.”

So, tragedy, suffering or difficulty is not alien to the Christian life.  Like everyone else, we experience hardship.  Yet, we can safely say that these experiences are not God’s wrath against us, nor are they a cosmic punishment.

Second, we turn to Hebrews 12.  Here, we find that God, like a father, disciplines His children.  Of course someone will say, “But I though you said we aren’t punished!”  To which I would reply, “Punishment and discipline aren’t necessarily the same thing.”  Punishment is retribution, it is paying for a crime.  Discipline is training, seeking to improve the targeted person.

Now, the Hebrews 12 passage compares God’s disciplines to a father’s.  This comparison ought to give us great comfort.  This is doubly true if we’re wondering, “what did I do?” or, “what lesson am I supposed to learn?”  You see, when I discipline one of my children, I never hide what they’ve done wrong.  I also do not make them guess.  I explain very clearly what they’ve done wrong, so that they can learn and grow.

God does the same.  If He intends the circumstances of my life to teach me some lesson, then I don’t think He will let me miss it.  To do so would be like spanking a child without explanation.  The child is hurt and confused—and learns nothing.

Finally, we turn to 1 Peter 1:3-9.  Here Peter encourages Christians in persecution by reminding them that persecution refines their faith.  While persecution may not be our hardship, all suffering can produce a similar effect in us.  When faced with suffering we either turn from God or to Him.  When we turn to Him, casting our anxiety upon Him, we learn to love God more and this life less.  Over time, that develops a heart which treasures the things of God.  Romans 5:3-5 explains how enduring suffering develops character and hope.  So even when life seems endlessly frustrating, when sickness or tragedy hits, even when we cannot see why—we can know it will develop our faith.

Why does God allow suffering like we’ve seen in Haiti?

~ brandon ~ Leave a comment

Through out history theologians and pastors have tried to answer such questions.  Evil and suffering are very hard to synthesize with belief in a loving God.  I don’t pretend to have the answers, but let me share some key thoughts.

First, God is a loving, powerful God but not just a loving, powerful God.  He is also wise, all-knowing, holy, righteous, just and wrathful.  Any adequate answer about suffering must deal with all of God’s attributes, not just one.  For example, while preventing all suffering from happening might seem loving, it might also violate other aspects of God’s character.

Second, because God is all-knowing, He sees not just the immediate suffering, but how that suffering connects to every other event—past and future.  Jonathan Edwards’ perspective is quite helpful in this regard.  He suggests that God sees through a microscope and a macroscope.  In the microscope God sees each event individually.  In this regard He rightly hates suffering.  In the macroscope God sees each event as it connects to all other events.  In this way, He may be inclined to allow that which He hates, because of outcomes we can never fathom.

Ultimately our response to tragedies like Haiti’s comes down to trust.  Can we trust God enough to say, “While I may never understand, I trust God’s reasoning in allowing this tragedy.”  Having trusted His reasoning, we are then free to respond with His love.

One takeaway

~ brandon ~ Leave a comment

As I wrote earlier, we cannot expect to understand every instance of suffering in our world.  Yet, with each tragedy there is one clear take away.

Luke 13:1-5

There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.  And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way?  No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.  Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?  No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Here Jesus deals with a similar tragedy–two in fact.  He uses both cases to make the same points.  The first point is simple:  those who experience calamity are not worse sinners than those who don’t.  To apply it to Haiti, we cannot say that Haitians are worse sinners than Dominicans, or even than us.

One point often overlooked in tragedies is our common guilt.  ‘All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,’ Romans 3:23 reminds.  So, not one of us is innocent in God’s eyes.  Romans 6:23 adds, ‘The wages of sin is death.’  So, everyone who sins deserves nothing but death.  Now we understand Jesus.  His audience was just as deserving of calamity as those at Siloam.

The better question for tragedy is why God would ever prevent any tragedy or suffering?  Why, if we all deserve His just condemnation, would He not dish it out upon all?  The answer, of course, is grace.  Each moment we live is a moment of grace, a moment where we are not getting what we deserve, but receiving a wonderful gift.

Jesus second point is the real take away–repent.  Never one to miss an opportunity, Jesus seems to understand the frailty of life.  One moment you are going to work, the next you’re involved in a car accident and clinging to life, or worse.

Since this life is short, and there is much more to come, we are wise to reflect upon Jesus words.  Are you repenting from the sin for which God could justly condemn you?  Are you trusting in Christ’s perfect sacrifice as the only ground for God’s forgiveness?  Are you ready, right now, to face His Holy Judgment, if calamity should befall you?

Understanding Suffering

~ brandon ~ Leave a comment

From Newsweek:

I just got to a point where I couldn’t explain how something like this could happen, if there’s a powerful and loving God in charge of the world. It’s a very old problem, and there are a lot of answers, but I don’t think any of them work.

The suffering in Haiti has reminded us of an age-old question:  If God is loving and all-powerful, why does He allow tragedy and suffering?  Like the article points out, there are myriad ways we answer this question.  I, like Job, don’t have a complete answer, but I do have some questions about how we view God.

In the article quoted above we find a typical description of God–loving and powerful.  That’s all.  But, is that all God is?  Is He only a heavenly Santa supposed to use His power to prevent any form of suffering and pain?  And, if so, then shouldn’t we all be living in some form of Eden, right now?

Perhaps, while God is love, He is also much more.  Perhaps He is also just, righteous, holy, pure, jealous and wrathful.  Perhaps He is also all-knowing, able to see each event as it connects to all other events.  Perhaps, in His perfect knowledge and wisdom, He is able to see good, righteous reasons to allow calamity to occur.  Thus, while He might hate suffering and calamity, He might be inclined to allow it because of the bigger, eternal picture.

Let me give you an example.  Earlier I wrote:

The second is a young girl, dying from cancer.  This little girl didn’t just want prayer she also wanted answers.  I tried my best to answer her questions, and we prayed for her and her family.  Now, this little girl was not healed.  However, something even more amazing happened.  Before cancer claimed her, Christ claimed her.  This little girl accepted Christ, and even asked to be buried with one of the letters I wrote—so she could show it to God!  The peace with which she died, and this request led her parents—non-Christians—to ask their own questions.  Even though they lived two states away (they were in our area for her treatment) we prayed for them and put them in touch with a good church.

A few months later I received a letter from that little girl’s mom.  In it was a picture, which still sits on my desk, and a note.  That note shared how she and her husband came to know Christ, and how they could see God’s mercy.  She understood that her little girl died so that the girl, the mom and the dad could find eternal life.  She believed that it was a part of God’s plan, and though painful, worth it.

While God never promises to tell us what good end He achieved through allowing suffering, we can know He does not allow anything without a good, perfect and pleasing purpose.  The story of that dear little girl is evidence that God does not bring calamity where God does not send grace.

Perhaps God is not 2D after all.