Posted on 09/17/2001 12:48:19 PM PDT by RnMomof7
WHY DOES GOD ALLOW EVIL?
Pastor Rick Warren
Saddleback Church, Lake Forest, CA.
Tuesday’s horrific mass murder of innocent Americans leaves all rational people shocked, angry, grief-stricken, and numb. Our tears flow freely and our hearts carry a deep ache. How could this happen in our nation?
As mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, friends, neighbors, and co-workers begin to share their stories of the horror, this tragedy will be become even more personal. As this tragedy becomes more personal, it will become more painful and as our pain deepens, so will the questions. Why does God allow evil to happen? If God is so great, and so good, why does he allow human beings to hurt each other?
The answer lies in both our greatest blessing and our worst curse: our capacity to make choices. God has given us a free will. Made in God’s image, he has given us the freedom to decide how we will act and the ability to make moral choices. This is one asset that sets us apart from animals, but it also is the source of so much pain in our world. People, and that includes all of us, often make selfish, self-centered, and evil choices. Whenever that happens, people get hurt. Sin is ultimately selfishness. I want to do what I want, not what God tells me to do. Unfortunately, sin always hurts others, not just ourselves.
God could have eliminated all evil from our world by simply removing our ability to choose it. He could have made us puppets, or marionettes on strings that he pulls. By taking away our ability to choose it , evil would vanish. But God doesn’t want us to be puppets. He wants to be loved and obeyed by creatures who voluntarily choose to do so. Love is not genuine if there is no other option.
Yes, God could have kept the terrorist from completing their suicidal missions by removing their ability to choose their own will instead of his. But to be fair, God would also have to do that to all of us. You and I are not terrorists, but we do harm and hurt others with our own selfish decisions and actions.
You may hear misguided minds say “This must have been God’s will.” Nonsense! In a world of free choices, God’s will is rarely done! Doing our own will is much more common. Don’t blame God for this tragedy. Blame people who ignored what God has told us to do: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
In heaven, God’s will is done perfectly. That’s why there is no sorrow, pain, or evil there. But this is earth, a fallen, imperfect place. We must choose to do God’s will everyday. It isn’t automatic. This is why Jesus told us to pray “Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”
The Bible explains the root of evil: “This is the crisis we're in: God’s light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness...because they were not really interested in pleasing God.” ( John 3:19 Message Translation) We’re far more interested in pleasing ourselves.
There are many other questions that race through our minds during dark days. But the answers will not come from pollsters, pundits, or politicians. We must look to God and his Word. We must humble ourselves and admit that each of us often choose to ignore what God wants us to do.
No doubt this weekend houses of worship across America will be packed.
In a crisis we cry out for a connection with our Creator. This is a deep-seated, universal urge. The first words uttered by millions on Tuesday were “Oh God!” We were made for a relationship with God but he waits for us to choose him. He is ready to comfort, guide, and direct us through our grief. My prayer is that you will attend a house of worship this weekend and reconnect with God. But it’s your choice.
Dr. Rick Warren is founding pastor of America’s second largest congregation, Saddleback Church, in Lake Forest, CA.
May God bless this article and use it as a springboard that we all might know Him better!
According to The Bible, these are also the result of human sin. When Adam fell the Universe fell with him. If you don't like the notion of sin, think of it rather that Adam broke the Universe. It was clean, now it's dirty. It was straight, now it's twisted. It was right, now it's broken.
We broke creation, and all of creation groans for the completion of the redemption begun at the cross.
Shalom.
FWIW, I believe covetness was the first sin. It is the primary reason for all other sins. The shoe fits.
Oh wait, that’s the answer to the other question.
Actually I think you misunderstood me. If you had understood me you would have rather asked, "Why does G-d allow little babies to be born into this broken world?"
I'm going to let you into a little secret. G-d is much bigger than I am and I will never understand all of the whys. I focus, instead, on the what. In this case the question is, "What did G-d do about the broken world."
The answer is: He stretched out His arms on the Cross and offered Himself a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
For G-d so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to the end that all who believe in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.
G-d made the world perfect. G-d made man capable of choosing sin and then put man in the world. Man exercised his choice and sinned, and so broke the world. G-d fixed it at the price of His own life.
"Could it be that [G-d] would really rather die than live without us?" -Michael Card
Shalom.
According to Warren, God just sits back and lets us bash each other with no hope of His intervention. In other words, evil runs amuck and "heaven help" anyone in its way (except that "heaven" isn't going to "help").
This has to be seen as the logical result of an Arminian theology that grants man a form of "free-will" that not even God possesses.
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