The office kitchen table. (WM = work mate)
WM1: Check out this story – this Baptist church in America protests at every funeral for dead American Soldiers because they believe that every soldier’s death is God’s judgement on America for pro-homosexual legislation.
WM2: That’s unbelievable.
WM1: I know! As if God sits there and goes (with pointing action) zap, you’re dead…and zap, you’re dead…
WM3: Yeah, He does do that!
WM2: And what about all those innocent children suffering around the world? Is God responsible for all that?
WM1: Oh don’t get me started on that…
Me: Why not? I think what those protesters are doing is in bad taste, misguided and utterly wrong. It is shameful for them to be protesting outside the funerals of those who have served their country. You’re right. But to suggest that God is responsible for the suffering of “innocent” people is, I think, just as misguided as those protestors. Yes, God has the power to confront and stop the suffering that we see in this world, and the fact that He doesn’t does not, and should not, call into question His love or mercy. In fact, He has shown great mercy to all of us in that He chooses to allow people to willingly disobey His good and right commands for living. When we disobey His commands we fail to rule our lives the way we want – looking around this world quickly is evidence enough that people fail time and again to live apart from God’s ways. But our own self-destructive patterns will not go on forever and God promises that one day they will be dealt with. If you want an answer for the suffering in the world, look to God’s solution – the cross: where God enters our world and suffers at the hands of those He had created. God is not immune to our suffering. He is, in every way, touched and moved by it.
My italicised bit was added mentally to the conversation approximately 3 hours after lunch had concluded. I always feel that, because of my age, I don’t have enough ‘wisdom’ to add anything to a conversation like this. “You’re too young and don’t know better…I’ve been around longer which therefore makes me more knowledgeable…” or something like that.
Proverbs 1:7a – the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge…
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