Is God a lightning bolt throwing Thor, or a tsunami summoning Poseidon? Is He the author of natural disasters? Several U.S. cities have been hit by some rather devastating tornadoes in the last several weeks. Im very glad to see that, so far at least, theres been very little chatter amongst evangelicals about these being signs of Gods judgment, or divine harbingers of worse things to come. Maybe I just missed it, but Ive not seen much of this talk going on yet this year. I would still, however, like to address the mindset that God somehow has something to do with devastating events like this, and how this overblown view of sovereignty mars the character of God. You see, we humans are pattern seeking creatures, meaning that our brains are constantly scanning our surroundings, trying to make sense of the senseless. As a young boy, I remember sitting in the bathtub and looking at the bathroom door, which had a few hundred small to medium sized discolored blobs on it from water damage, and seeing a whole scene of cartoon characters fleeing from an exploding volcano. Of course, no such image was actually present, but my mind filled in the gaps and made sense of the senseless, seeing order and sense in what was nothing more than disorder and nonsense. We do this everyday of our lives in various ways which are typically rather harmless. People see images of the virgin Mary on their grass stained pants, the likeness of Mother Theresa on a cinnamon roll, or see looks like a face on the front end of a car (headlights as eyes, etc...). Of course, nothing more is going on than our brains seeing patterns in the natural world, and assigning meaning to things that arent all that meaningful. When done like this, its not really all that harmful. However, when one starts assigning divine meaning to tragic events like hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes or terrorist attacks, thats when things become dangerous. We dont like to believe that we live in a world where tragic things happen inexplicably. It makes us feel unsettled, unsafe, and as though such things could happen again without warning. The truth is that they could, but in order to insulate ourselves from this reality, we assign meaning to such events, like that the tornado happened because of an unjust law passed by congress, or that the earthquake occurred because God is trying to call our attention to our sins and get us to repent. In this made up world, if we avoid behaving a certain way and have a certain disposition towards the divine, we can avoid such events. If we pray, fast, repent, stay close to the Lord and plead the blood over our property lines, we can keep such things from harming us. Time and again, however, weve seen that, while there may be exceptions to the rule, the fact is that bad things happen to good people as well as to bad people, and vice versa. The point Im trying to make, however, is that in our scramble to make sense of the senseless, we ascribe divine meaning to events that are wholly natural, and thus tar the visage of God with the brush of our own assumptions and imaginings. The fact is that there are no genuine images of the virgin of Guadalupe on grilled cheese sandwiches, and there is also no divine meaning behind natural disasters. Tornado alley was slammed by tornadoes centuries before it was as populated as it is today. Whom was God punishing then? Perhaps some gay microbes? Or some liberal voting amoebas? Furthermore, who is God judging on gas giants like Jupiter, where an anti-cyclonic storm has raged for decades now? Is He just practicing? Or are the gases of Jupiter being punished for their transgressions? Anyone would admit that disasters touching uninhabited areas or planets are mere natural phenomenon, but once these things have a negative impact on human life, we assume theyre either divine or demonic - and if theyre demonic, then someone must have done something to open the door for them. Either way, were left with an image of a God who is punitive, and who visits terrible suffering on human beings because of their shortcomings and failures. There is often an exorbitant amount of collateral damage as a result of these wrath campaigns, but, hey, who are we to question God, right? After most every major cataclysmic event, some preacher will inevitably hijack the airwaves and pollute the ears of the faithful with words about a God who has no problem destroying their property or taking their loved ones in the name of punishing evil doers. These men, in their superstitious scramble to make sense of the senseless, destroy the reputation of Jesus loving Abba, and replace it with that of a loathsome abuser. Throughout, the Gospels, however, Jesus represents His Father in a way that is absolutely incongruent with much of what gets passed off as “gospel” today. Jesus’ Abba does not send fire to destroy unbelieving men and women, but rebukes those who desire to see such things done. He does not return evil with evil, or demand an eye for an eye. He sends sunshine and rain – both blessings – upon the just and the unjust, the righteous and the unrighteous. He does not pettily pay men back for their crimes, but forgives before being asked, and casually brushes aside religious law when it does not fit with His mission of mercy. He rebukes storms, but never, ever conjures them up to teach people a lesson. Neither Jesus, the Father, nor the Spirit are involved in the destruction of men’s lives. We want them to be, because it makes us feel safe in a universe that is sometimes chaotic and frightening, but it’s simply not true. God is not a lightning bolt wielding Zeus, nor a tsunami summoning Poseidon. He is Love, and He is in the business of saving men’s lives, not destroying them. Don’t allow superstitions - which often arise when we lack understanding - tarnish your understanding of God. He is love, not destruction.
Posted on: Tue, 13 May 2014 15:31:35 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015