WHEN CHRISTIANS GET IT WRONG When Bad Things Happen

Sometimes a Christian’s faith is challenged trying to reconcile a loving God with the suffering they experience as well as see in the world around them.

The author says that Christians really get it wrong when they begin to diagnose the suffering of others as acts of God’s judgment.

Sometimes when people are going through a bad time in their lives, well meaning Christians say things to offer comfort but actually have the opposite effect. Some of what is said is based on assumptions about how God works in our world. Many people accept these assumptions without question.

When Christians say things like” it must be God’s will”, it assumes that everything happens because God wills it. When a Christian says everything happens for a reason”, it assumes that a predetermined plan in place for everyone and that everything that happens is written in the script and serves a purpose we cannot see now. Some people going through a bad situation believe that God is punishing them.

Some Christians believe that God sent hurricane Katrina to punish the heathens in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. What would you say to a person who believes that? By believing this, they have to justify that the French Quarter was spared while thousands of Christians lost their homes and some their lives.

People of faith have struggled with viewing suffering as God’s judgment since Biblical times. The Old Testament view is that if you suffer it is because you have sinned. Do you believe that you suffer because you have sinned?

What is your view of Job in the Bible? The book of Job is about a man who is righteous yet suffers greatly. His friends come to comfort him. Read Job 2:11-13

His friends sit in silence with him. They don’t try to explain. They don’t presume to have all the answers. Then after 7 days, they begin to speak. They say the problem is that he has sinned, God is punishing him, and he should repent. The book ends with God chastising the friends and blessing Job.

Read Job 1:18-19 Read Job 42:10-17 Despite all of his suffering, Job comes out really well in the end. How come no one ever talks about what happened to his children. The suffering of one person sometimes has effects on those around them.

Sin signifies turning away from God’s intention for our lives. One of the ways is to miss the mark. Sometimes there is a connection between sin and suffering, but the connection is not God handing down punishment. What is the connection?

The connection is not that the consequences of sin are punishments from God, they are the natural result of doing the wrong thing. Give some examples.

CHRISTIANS WHO EVALUATE THE SUFFERING OF OTHERS AND PRONUNCE THAT IT IS A RESULT OF THE OTHER’S SIN ARE GETTING IT WRONG!!!

On a scale of 1-10, does God micromanage and control everything that takes place (10), nothing that takes place (1) or somewhere in between?

Some people think that God controls every dimension of creation. This is often referred to as determinism. What are the positives and negatives of this view?

If God controls every cell in the body, determinism would imply that He determines when that cell becomes cancerous. Do you believe this?

The author is not saying that God cannot control each cell, but questions whether or not He does. If God does exercise this kind of control, it raises a lot of questions.

Why would God create a universe that requires constant control? Does this make sense? Why would God create people with the appearance of free will if He is going to control every thought, every word, and every action? Does this make sense?

Another assumption often heard is that history unfolds according to God’s predetermined plan. How do you feel about this assumption?

If this assumption is true, then we only have the illusion of making our own choices. We really don’t have that choice since God has already predetermined what will happen and we can’t change it. Any choice you make, right or wrong, good or evil must be the choice God wants you to make. Do you feel that God is controlling all of the choices you have made in your life? How do you like the choices He made for you?

How would you like to live a life where you don’t have to take any responsibility for your choices?

People become troubled when they believe God controls everything and they encounter something really evil, for example terrorists flying airplanes into buildings on September 11. If you believe that God controls everything, and that God is loving, compassionate, and merciful, how could He plan and will this kind of evil?