What’s Happening?
Here lately, I have been looking at a lot of bad things happening around me. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of good is happening too…I’m not trapped in some pessimistic worldview. It made me reflect back on a post I had done for another blog.
Many around me are struggling and suffering right now. Many around the world are living in struggles and suffering that are beyond my wildest imagination. Sometimes, you sit back and wonder why God doesn’t do something. Is he already doing something but we just haven’t seen it? Is he ignoring us? Is he somewhere else? I wrote this post as a way to get some of my thoughts out and a way to have conversation with others.
I offer it to my small reading audience in the hopes of conversation. Here is the post from September 19, 2007:
I have received quite a few questions about human freedom and how that affects the loving relationship between God and His creation. It seems that the questions stem from dilemmas that people find in the world around them.
- Why does this all-loving God not intervene with suffering?
- Did God author evil?
- Why pray?
- What’s happening?
I would like to address these questions in this post. I am open to comments from anyone about the theology being presented. I know that it will not appeal to everyone (especially my Calvinist friends). These responses are no slam on Calvinism. Up front, however, it’s best if you know that I am not Calvinist.
Why does this all-loving God not intervene with suffering?
This is a great question. Turn on the television and you’re bombarded by a world that seems to be falling to pieces. Suffering exists because humanity has free will. We can choose to do good or choose to do evil.
Also a great question! Think of it like this. I have a lovely wife whom I love dearly. Now, lets say I place a computer chip inside her brain. This chip will cause her to make my favorite foods, tell me she loves me, and make her kiss me passionately (it’s my fantasy)! Does she do any of these things on her own accord? The answer is no. Is she doing these things because she loves me or because the chip tells her to do them? She obviously does them because the chip tells her to do them.
In the same way, God did not create a race of robots. For true love to exist, humanity must be free to choose or reject God. Humanity must have freedom to know love. This, however, only answers part of the question.
A man rapes a young woman (horrific example but, sadly, all too common). The question posed is why does God allow the raper to have freedom when it means that the one being raped is being robbed her freedom? My response would first be a pastoral one of showing love and mercy to this poor victim of such a heinous crime.
The theological side of it, at least for me, runs something like this. Again, I will return to my wife. Let’s say I tell Allison (my wife) that she can paint the bedroom any color she wants. I set her FREE to do the work. Then, I follow behind her and choose the paint color for her, tell her where to paint, tell her to make my favorite foods, etc. Was she ever free?
The answer is no! In a world where true love can flourish there is also the possibility for true hatred to exist. Freedom is not freedom if the one exercising that freedom is only free to do good. Does this sound callous…yes, in a way. But, if you and I didn’t have freedom, what would be the value in being good? It would mean nothing from our perspective. We would just be programmed to do good.
Did God author evil?
I don’t just say no to this one, I say NO [passionately] to it! God did not author evil. In His creation exists a will that is free to choose. The world is fallen because the choices made have been to the detriment of God’s desires. Is it worth it? I think God would say yes.
Imagine if you will a child. As this little child learns to walk, mommy and daddy hold his/her little hands and help them walk. As time goes on, though, that little child learns to walk on their own. Now, imagine the joy that comes over those parents when their child walks to them because it can, on its own! Their hearts are elated that this little child responded to their voice and walked to them on their own accord.
Much the same is true from God’s vantage point. Is there crap in the world? Yes, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see it. But, is there still a good God who has the best plans for His children. Yes, His children just need to make smarter choices!
Why pray?
This is a terrific question that I think we need to ask ourselves. What happens when we pray? I believe prayer changes things and [controversially] I believe prayer can change the mind of God. We have inherited a very pagan origin to our understandings of God’s omniscience [God's all-knowingness]. Greek [pagan] philosophy argued that the gods not only knew all but that they were immutable [meaning they were unphased by the suffering of humanity]. So, if people were hurting the gods did not care.
Throughout Christianity’s history, it ended up inheriting some of this pagan understanding of God’s “all knowingness”. Before long, theologians were arguing that God was not affected by humanity’s suffering and that God knew in sequential detail all that would ever happen. Arguments for God’s sovereignty and reign became associated with His need to know the precise details of everything that would ever happen.
I want to argue, though, that God does not see the future the way you and I do. God does not see life as a linear stream of thought. God, instead, has identified with us and sees things not so mechanically but relationally. God lives in the land of possibilities…God’s future is open because of His partnership with us.
Think of it like this. If we are given more than one choice for a meal, a car, whatever…we feel overwhelmed. We get nervous when we think of God having to deal with options. But, we are finite human beings trapped totally in time who can only deal with a few things at once (especially if we’re men). God is infinite…therefore, God can deal with an infinite amount of possibilities at once.
For true freedom to exist, I argue, God has designed the universe this way. You and I have immense responsibility in this world. Not only do we covenant with God but He covenants with us. A covenant cannot exist with just a single party being bound to the terms of the agreement.
Look throughout Scripture and you find examples of this open future occurring often. Two of these examples are as follows:
- God wants to destroy the Israelites and Moses intervenes. The Lord had planned on destroying Israel, but after Moses prayer “the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.” (Ex. 32:14).
- Hezekiah’s prayer changes God’s mind. God prophecies to Hezekiah through Isaiah: “Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover” (Isa. 38: 1, cf. 2 K. 20: 1). Hezekiah earnestly prays for God to spare him. The Lord responds:
Turn back and say to Hezekiah prince of my people, Thus says the Lord, the god of your ancestor David: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; indeed, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria(2 Kg. 20: 5-6; cf. Isa. 33:4-5)
Some will argue that the writers are simply trying to use human language to explain something about God, this is called anthropomorphism (another big word). But in each of these cases the texts offer nothing to suggest such an interpretation. On the contrary, these texts are describing a characteristic of who God is. If He’s not changing His mind, what is He changing?
This comes around to the power of prayer. If everything is already determined long before you and I come along, what is the power of prayer? Prayer seems to purely be an act of worship (no doubt) but its power is not so much in the ability to change outcomes as it is in the transformation of the one praying by God.
This is a wonderful reason to pray. God does change us through our prayer lives. BUT, I want to argue that some of us, myself included, lead weak prayer lives. We do not realize the power of prayer because we do not understand the incredible relationship God has with us and with this world.
Prayer matters, I would argue, because prayer DOES change things. It’s not just about setting and forgetting or simply hoping and waiting. We always hope and wait but sometimes we need to pray in the power of the Holy Spirit because it is our prayers that supernaturally change the future [crazy thought]. And, our prayers connect us with the one(s) for whom we’re praying.
What’s happening?
This is the question. May I suggest that in a world of failing economies and wars and rumors of war that bad things happen…we don’t need to theologize them to somehow justify their occurence. But, may we never lose sight that the God at work in us and through us is just as real. That He has granted us freedom to love Him and to love others. And, because of this supernatural love, we are granted the opporunity to be powerful prayer warriors and help in the ongoing process of creating, renewing and restoring the world that God has created and loves dearly. That, to me, is a lifetime mission in the making!
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“powerful prayer warriors” On the battlefield, is prayer the weapon of choice? I pose a different question: It is appear ant that the old testament has lost all meaning in today’s younger generation…. truth is relative because of political correctness, empathy and the niceness model; God’s warrior spirit—as it came upon David, Samuel and don’t forget Samson: was prayer the weapon, the cause or the effect in the spiritual battlefield?
Mike:
Great comment. My response is not one you’re going to like. If I asked you what you do to a rebellious child, how would you respond? You would more than likely say that you would discipline, still love the child, and pray for correction…I’m guessing.
But, I would argue otherwise. Using your Old Testament lens, Exodus and Leviticus both command us to stone these children to death (Ex. 21:17; Lev. 20:9) Why wouldn’t you stone your child? Why is wrong to do so? Does Jesus make a difference in this conversation? Of course he does!
Your comments are a little dangerous, if you don’t mind me saying. You seem to read from my post that I’m saying either prayer OR violence. Many would argue both and that’s a different argument.
Ultimately, however, our war is not against flesh and blood but the principalities and powers of darkness (Eph. 6:12). Until we recognize the spiritual warfare that is taking place all around us, we will never address the key issue.
The Old Testament is chocked full of prayer on the battlefield. Sometimes, God even wins the battle for His people as they pray.
This is not a younger generation, politically connectedness conversation. The Old Testament has been fulfilled in Christ. We do not look to it to form our behaviors. Paul did not tell Christians to live under the Law…Jesus was the fulfillment of it.
We cannot go to the Old Testament at choice times to support our cases. Many of us wear clothing made of two ore more fabrics, all men I meet cut their sideburns, and women do not get put to the edge of the city during their menstrual cycles. Why? Because that stuff, in Christ, is not applicable. It was part of the story that led up to Christ. In Christ this all has changed.
So, on the battlefield, people may not pray. But, how is a Christian on the battlefield different from a non-Christian? Do we fail to pray because we fail to believe prayer works? Are we so comfortable in our own forms of force and security that we fail to really know what it means to depend on God in prayer?
Again, Mike, you raise some good stuff and I’m not attempting to shoot you down. I just get passionate about this stuff. Keep it coming, buddy.
By the way, how the heck are you doing?
I think you misunderstood me. I am not suggesting that one should choose either prayer or violence, (though I do believe in a good kick in the butt or a bloody nose on occasion), nor am I suggesting that you shouldn’t use prayer as a tool or perhaps a weapon; I am merely suggesting that perhaps we tend to shy away from the warrior side of God in an attempt to teach tolerance instead of victory.
And if prayer is being used as a weapon it surely cannot be the only weapon in the arsenal. In putting on the armor of God we are somewhat protected from the blows of the enemy, though not entirely; and though we are outfitted, we often are not prepared for the fight at hand. The most dangerous game is knowing that we are at war and ignoring the battlefield. Should we expect that God should do the same? Who then will fight on our behalf? Do we expect that prayer will change the outcome? If it is in Gods will that a specific result happen, than it is safe to assume that prayer may change the actual timeframe of the occurrence, but not the actual event. And if God has laid the path before me and knows the move I make before I make it, or the question before I ask it; then He also knows the prayer before it is spoken; which poses the question; why even pray?
Because of His omnipotence; to say that God didn’t author evil is perhaps true, but He did allow for its existence. (I know I’ll get your goat on this one) Though Satin wanted the glory for himself and was cast aside, why didn’t it end there? Why wasn’t he destroyed? God could have ended it; after all He knew it was coming… was His purpose to have us fall from grace simply to be restored? If we continue to focus on good then we must accept that evil is an integral part of it. I just pray that God will continue to fight alongside of us to defeat it.
Hello Again, Mike:
God could have destroyed the essence of evil right on the spot. But, I would argue that would make God unjust. Now, hear me out on this one, it’s tough to have this type of conversation via comments like this.
What if God foreknew the possibility? What if God chose to limit Himself to be in relationship with God. What if God choose to limit His foreknowledge in order that you and I have true freedom. Then, when bad things happen, God genuinely grieves with us.
Therefore, God grieved that humanity had chosen sin but, because He is just, He allowed humanity to experience the consequences of their choices.
God, I would argue, foresees possibilities. I think if everything is pre-determined then you have a difficult time arguing for what exactly prayer does and why evil is in the world. God, I believe, chooses to allow certain things to remain open so that humanity fully partners with God as God partners with humanity.
A covenant ceases to be a covenant if only one party makes sacrifices for its cause. God took great risk to be in relationship with humanity. He became vulnerable and opened Himself up to the possibility of being hurt. The story of Scripture shows this again and again.
What say you?
Ok…I’ll buy that. But in the interest of debate….we should over coffee sometime. Your buying!
As happens frequently, I’m reminded of a quote from Pinnock’s ‘Most Moved Mover’, which addresses the problem of evil rather profoundly:
“If God were all controlling he would be the author of evil, which is a blasphemous thought. The reality of creaturely freedom allows us to say that evil originates, not with God, but with creatures and is the misuse of their God-given freedom. This enables us to think of sin as an intruder which does not belong, and understand that certain natural evils are the result of the Fall of humankind and angels. God sovereignly decided to create a world containing morally free beings who had the possibility of serving God or not. This was something for them to decide, such that sin was a possibility, though not a certainty, at the time of creation. God knew the creature and is, therefore, responsible for the possibility of evil but not for its actuality. It is a good thing for us to have the freedom to choose between good and evil, even though it entails the possibility of making wrong choices.”