Would you believe in an addictions councilor who was arrested for drug trafficking? Would you believe in a marriage councilor who was getting divorced? Would you believe in a fireman whose house burned down or farmer who never harvested a crop?
Would you believe in a God who does not always do what you would expect him to do? Would you believe in a God who allows some people to choose eternal separation and torment (i.e. hell)?
Would you believe in a God who created some people destined for destruction…all so that he could demonstrate to you and I the blessing of a relationship with him and the peril of lacking that relationship? The apostle Paul asks this question of the church in Rome.
This line of questioning has become quite popular these days especially within the writing of Rob Bell and others and I think that it is having a damaging and confusing impact on our faith. These questions play on our natural sense of morality as they cause us to question what WE think is good and loving…which leads us into dangerous grounds.
I once thought that our natural sense of morality was evidence of God’s fingerprints on our lives. I think we can all agree that things like violence toward children is one of the most depraved things a human being could engage in…God would agree. But I now see how cursed even this seemingly good moral sense is for it tricks us into being sympathetic for the things that WE deem moral with no regard for whether God has said it is moral or not.
I dare say there are many in the church today, even good God fearing people, that when pressed on some areas of morality in our society today would find it very conflicting in their spirit to uphold God’s morality when our own morality seems to just make more sense.
Some Christians and other well meaning people wonder why we are so down on same-sex marriage and abortion; can we not just go with the flow on these issues? What is so wrong with loving whom you want to and choosing to have a baby (or not to) when you want? Is not the right to personal choice and unique personal expression a fundamental aspect of human freedom?
The problem with this line of questioning is that it puts us in God’s place and makes us the supreme judge of what creation was made to be and what potential it has to become. Do we really think that we know enough about love and enough about God to fill in for him from time to time?
Paul says to the Roman church, “But who are you, a mere human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who form it, ‘why did you make me like this”. (Romans 9:20) God speaks through Moses in the Old Testament when he says, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” (Ex 33:19)
God did not say we would always understand everything about this world and everything about Him. However, he did say that he would always be good and in that we can have faith.
Romans 8:28 “And we know in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
If you are ever confronted with the “how can you believe in a God who…” line of questioning you can tell them that your faith in God does not mean that you can always understand all of God’s ways. Having faith in God does not always mean that what seems logical and good to you is what is best for creation.
Instead, our faith is such that we trust that God’s ways are still good even when we cannot understand them!
Proverbs 14:12 “There is a way that seems right to man, but in the end it leads to death”.
But usually the questions themselves are not valid. God did not create anyone for destruction. My Bible says, “That the whole world might be saved through him,” and again, “That every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.” If we don’t, why is that God’s fault?
-Michael
The Fiction Side: The Storyteller http://mgkizzia.wordpress.com/
The Non-Fiction Side: Word & Spirit http://michaelkizzia.wordpress.com/
You are certainly correct: the issue is with the question and not the answer not matter what it shapes up to be. Paul’s line of questioning in Romans 9 does not suggest that God ‘did’ create some for destruction…he is just asking the Romans to plumb the depths of their faith in God to see if they could still stay true to a living and breathing God who at time may be liable to surprise them (and our) finite minds.
This is of course treading closely to the predestination/free will debate within Christian theology however I think the larger picture is of merit here. This line of questioning is being used both in and out of the church to attempt to justify everything from universalism (although it is not being called that) to various deviant aspects of morality. It truly is a day when the gospel is being reinterpreted to suit what we want to hear.
I agree that many are taking God’s words and interpreting them in ways that benefit their own lifestyles and beliefs. Many are also blaming God for things that are happening and questioning others faith in a God who allows such horrible things to happen in this world. I try to look at my faith and understanding in God the same way I have viewed my parents. When I was a child I would get upset when punished for something I knew I did wrong. I would try to blame them for my own mistakes and choices. Now that I am an adult and have a child of my own I see that they gave me the freedom to make my own choices growing up, but also let me know that there were consequences that I would have to face if I made the wrong choices. Did I ever stop believing that they loved me, did I ever stop believing that they had my best interests in mind, did I ever lose my faith that they would always be there for me….NO! So I know that even though I may not always undertand Gods plan or reasoning behind the things I’ve had to over come, I know that he is always there for me, loves me and will let me make my mistakes so that I may reach out to him and say “wow, thank you once again for that lesson learned!” It’s my faith in God that also makes me stop more often than not to think about what He would want me to do and that makes all the difference!!
Great thoughts Heather! I am glad that your faith in God is able to withstand the notion that things on earth today do not always go the way that God would like them to go.