Where was God?

The tsunami that wreaked havoc in Japan on March 11 raised the same question that every other natural disaster brings to the fore: Where was God? People want an answer in twenty-five words or less. God’s answer encompasses the entire Bible from Genesis 1 through Revelation 22, so any summary is necessarily something of a distortion. Nevertheless, I will try to point out a few biblical truths that are sometimes left out of the discussion. (I explore these concepts more fully in chapter 3 of The Beauty of God for a Broken World -- click for a summary of the book.)

1. When God finished creating the earth and its inhabitants, He pronounced the result “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Nevertheless, the creation was not yet in its final state, for God told Adam and Eve to “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:28). The word translated “subdue” means to subdue by force. God placed the first couple in a perfect garden, but the world outside was wild. Men and women were given the task of taming the wildness, not only for their benefit, but for the benefit of the whole creation.

2. Hebrews 2:8, quoting from Psalm eight’s description of man, says, “You have put all things in subjection under his feet.” Then in a massive understatement the verse continues, “But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him.” Because of sin, Adam and Eve and their posterity were not able to fulfill the divine command of Genesis 1:28. As God said to the man after the fall,

Cursed is the ground because of you;

In toil you shall eat of it

All the days of your life.

Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you.

Genesis 3:17-18

3. “The whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth,” but when Christ returns “the creation itself will be set free from its slavery corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:21-22). So the final redemption of lost men and women will result in the transformation of the world. The creation will become all that it was meant to be.

4. In this present age earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis and droughts bring much misery and destruction. Both the good and the evil suffer such things, and no one is entitled to point a finger and say, “They must have been worse sinners than others” (Luke 13:1-5). We suffer individually and corporately because sin has alienated us from God, and God’s curse has prevented us from exercising benevolent dominion over the earth.

5. For the most part, scientists are able to describe the physical mechanism behind natural disasters. In the case of the Japanese tsunami, the Pacific plate of the earth’s crust is gradually moving under the plate beneath northern Honshu. When the stresses became great enough, the earth fractured and the sea floor rose by several meters.

6. The physical mechanism, however, is only part of the explanation. Behind everything that happens is the concurring power of God, “who works all things after the counsel of His will” (Ephesians 1:11). God does not set aside the laws that He has built into His world (at least, not very often), but He works in and through them. He is the judge of all the earth, and if He chooses to settle accounts with human beings one by one or in larger numbers, that is His prerogative.

7. While we are rightly disturbed in mind and heart by the massive devastation of March 11, the Bible, with full awareness of such disasters nevertheless proclaims that God’s mercy is greater than His judgment (Exodus 34:6-7). That mercy is available to all who will repent and trust in His crucified, risen Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:4-9).

The Greatest Gift

Several years ago on one of my trips to Siberia I taught the Old Testament to prospective pastors.  The gratitude and responsiveness of my students were very rewarding, but my most affecting experience occurred outside of class.

After church one Sunday I had lunch with a refugee family from Kyrgystan.  The couple have five children, ten years old and younger.  I think that if the wife had not looked so worn, she would have been a handsome woman.  These people have virtually nothing.  The man picked us up in a car that had to stop three times in twenty minutes for the radiator to be filled.  He cannot get a regular job because he has no working papers.

His wife had cooked a pot of pasta.  There was a little sauce on it, and I think I found two tiny specks of meat.  Our hostess gave me a big bowl of pasta.  A student with me received a little less, and my translator had about half as much.  The parents stood and watched us eat, but did not eat themselves.  I hope they and the children had something earlier, but I am not sure.  The children were in another room, so I only saw a two-year old boy for a few minutes.  He held his hand up for me to shake, but after a while he began to cry and was removed.

After the pasta, the hostess poured us some tea and put two kinds of homemade jam on the table.  I had already told the hostess how full I was because I wanted her to know that the lunch was more than adequate.  Now I praised her jam.  It was very good.  When we left, the lady presented me with a liter jar of homemade strawberry jam.  A few days later, I sent them a small gift bag provided by a family in my church.  The bag contained some toothpaste, a matchbox car, some granola bars and a few other odds and ends.  I wondered if that car was the only toy the children had to share.  Afterwards, their pastor told me with evident emotion that they were very grateful. 

To me this jar of jam represented the life of that poor woman's family.  I felt guilty, as if I had personally taken food out of the mouths of her children.  I wanted to dump the contents of my wallet on the table, but that would only have shamed her and her husband.  She gave away the little she had, but she did not simply give it to a strange preacher from a distant land.  She gave it to God.

One day as Jesus sat in the temple, He "began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums.  A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent.  Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, 'Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on'" (Mark 12:41-44).

I have never in my life received a gift as great and as precious as the gift of this Kyrgystani woman.  It humbles me because I have never given so much to anyone either, not even to God.  Her gift teaches me to be thankful, not for my comparative wealth, but for the lesson that God humbles the rich through the poor.  I, as an American, am by that very fact one of the rich people of the world, and I certainly need to be brought down.

No!  I must take back what I have just written.  I have received a greater gift than that jar of jam, but the greater gift came from an even deeper poverty.  On the first Christmas, the Son of God left the glories of Heaven for the pigsty of Earth.  He left the adoration of angels to be stigmatized as an illegitimate son of Mary.  He left eternal blessedness to bear God's crushing curse on our sin.

The Bible says, "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9).  Because He became poor, the now risen Christ is able to offer you the greatest gift of all, eternal life.  Will you humble yourself and receive Christ that you may be rich?

Once a Year or Never

This is a bit of poetic drivel I wrote several years ago for my own entertainment. Perhaps it will entertain you as well. It is intended to be read aloud--but not too loud.

Once a Year or Never

(Being a poor poet’s imitation of Ogden Nash)

Most people think windows ought to be done in the spring and in the fall,

But I think they ought to be done once a year or not at all.

Cleaning windows is an awful chore and a terrible laborium,

And the space between the panes is a natural laboritorium—

An entomologist’s delight and Miss Muffet’s sorest fright.

What are those glass menageries

With plants and smallish creaturies?

They might be called terrariums.

Perhaps they’re planetariums.

I think I’ll call my viewing ports my little spiderariums.

If I cleaned my windows in the spring and in the fall,

I would say I do it by the semi-annu-all.

If each four years I try to do them sorterly,

May I say I clean my windows quarterly?

My neighbors are ashamed.  With me they are quite vexed.

I’ll start my annual cleaning in the year that’s after next.

                                                             John K. La Shell

Our Sense of Senslessness

The vast sufferings of humanity provide a strong argument for the existence of God.  Yes, I did say “for the existence of God,” not “against” His existence.  How so?

The thing that needs to be explained is our sense of moral outrage at suffering.  When a baby dies of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, his parents cry out, “What did we do to deserve this?”  When the mother of two young children is killed in an automobile accident, we ask, “Why now, when her family needs her so much?”  When floods leave hundreds dead and thousands homeless in Central America or Madagascar, we shake our heads in bewilderment.  It seems so unjust.

If we were only intelligent animals, we would not feel this way.  We might feel sorrow at the passing of a loved one.  (Dogs miss, and apparently mourn, their dead owners.)  We might even be angry, but sorrow and anger are not the same thing as moral outrage.  Moral outrage depends on a particular view of the world.  It has no place in a world governed by chance and survival of the fittest.  Gazelles do not lie awake at night pondering why a particular member of their herd was killed by a lion.

Whenever we call something a senseless tragedy, we imply that somehow life ought to make sense.  We are suggesting that there is a rational order to the universe.  If there is no such order, then no aspect of our lives has any meaning.  Falling in love, enjoying a beautiful sunset, building houses for the homeless and shoving an old lady out into the traffic are all equally senseless.

Many voices do insist that we are only animals and that the only meaning our lives can have is the meaning we ourselves give to them.  The problem is that the people who most loudly proclaim the absurdity of life are often the very ones most disturbed by the senselessness of suffering.  If they were being true to their theory, they should just shrug their shoulders and say, “Well, well.  The lion got another one.  Maybe I should join a different herd to save my own skin.”  No matter what our lips may say, the idea of ultimate rationality seems to be hard-wired into our psyches.  From where did it come?

The Bible says that our sense of moral order comes from God.  Even people who have never read God’s written word nevertheless “do by nature the things of the Law. . . in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them” (Romans 2:14-15).  Irrationality entered the world through sin because sin is an irrational rebellion against God.  Sin is the direct cause of senseless work place murders by disgruntled employees.  It is also a more remote cause of natural disasters and disease because sin has taken away our ability to obey God’s command to rule wisely over the earth and its creatures (Genesis 1:26).  When Adam sinned, God cursed the very ground so that it would not easily yield its fruit to his labors.

Still we may wonder why God does not do something about the mess we have made of His world.  The Bible’s answer is that He has and He will.  God sent His Son Jesus into the world to undo the damage caused by sin.  By His death, He paid the just penalty of sin.  By His resurrection, He gives eternal life to believing sinners.  When He returns visibly to Earth again, He will reverse God’s curse on the natural world.  The Bible says,

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.  For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:18-21).

Finally, we may ask, “If God is going to end all suffering in the future, why doesn’t He do it now?  Why has He waited for so many years?”  Again, the Bible has an answer.  The day that Jesus comes to renew and redeem will also be the day He comes to judge.  God is waiting until human sin is fully ripe for judgment; He is also waiting to give men and women an opportunity to repent and receive Christ.  The Bible says, “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4).

Friend, are you outraged by the vast sufferings of humanity?  When you face God, He will say, “Your very outrage is a testimony to My righteous Law.  Why, then did you not repent of your sins?”  If you are not yet ready to answer that question, perhaps you should not be too anxious for God to set things right in the world.

Cold Despair

You wake up in a cave, shivering and barely kept from freezing by a tiny fire. A howling wind drives a mixture of sleet and snow past the mouth of the cave. You want to stay where you are, but you cannot. You must reach the next traveler’s shelter before dark, and it will take you all day.

The day turns out to be much like the one before it and the one before that. You start out walking through slush, slipping and stumbling up the hills, falling and sliding down the worst of them. By late afternoon the temperature has dropped, the snowfall has picked up and the wind has increased to gale force, engulfing you in a terrifying whiteout. If you had been in your own front yard, you would not have been able to find the door to your house. Fortunately, your GPS keeps you on the right track.

Just before dark, you stagger into the next travelers’ shelter. You make a small fire with the wood stacked inside for emergencies and eat a meager supper from the dried rations on the shelf. Sitting on the floor, you lean against the wall and hope to read a bit of Scripture before you fall asleep. But you are too tired, and when the book slips from your hands to the floor, you don’t even stir.

In your dreams, you waken to find yourself bathed in light. The One you love is near, though you cannot see Him, and your heart cries out. “O Father, I feel so guilty. I feel like such a failure. I used to spend half an hour, sometimes an hour, reading Your word, praying, and journaling about my walk with You. You were so close to me then, but now I’m not doing those things, and You seem so far away. I’m so alone. Please don’t leave me. I’m sorry.”

“I haven’t left You, and I never will,” says the Voice. “During the whiteout did you sense the polar bear I turned aside before he could devour you?”

“No” (softly).

“When you took your worst tumble, did you see how I put My hand between you and the boulder that would have crushed your head?”

“No” (with hesitant wonder).

“I have been with you every step of your journey?”

“Why didn’t You make my road easier. I am so sore and bruised. Don’t You care about that?”

“Of course, I care. I love you, my child, more than you can comprehend. The hard road you travel is My road, and it has purposes that extend far beyond you and your family, so you must not think that I am putting you through this only for yourself. There, now. I have told you enough. Go to sleep. Rest in My love.

“Perhaps tomorrow or the next day or the next I will give you the quiet time with Me that you crave, but until then remember what My apostle wrote at the end of Romans 8: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Is the Bible just a beautiful story?

(This is the text of a video by the same title. I guess I shouldn't be frowning. Oh well!)

Hello again. I’m holding a delightful collection of stories called Tales of the Arabian Nights. In order to save her life, the beautiful Sheherazade tells her husband the Sultan a string of wondrous stories including “Sindbad the Sailor,” “Aladdin, or the Wonderful Lamp,” and “Ali Baba and the Forty Robbers.” Is the Bible just a story, like the Arabian Nights? Some people claim that it is.

Sometimes critics of the Bible describe it as a collection of fairy tales. If they want to sound a little more sophisticated, they say the Bible contains the mythology of the Hebrews, and they will point to a few story elements common to the Bible and ancient near-eastern myths. Other critics bypass the mythological accusation and say that Christians are naïve because they choose to believe a story with a happy ending—at least for themselves.

With regard to the first accusation, I have to wonder if these people have actually read many fairy tales and myths. I have read many of the ancient near-eastern myths; I’m familiar with Greek, Roman and Norse mythology, and I can say emphatically that the Bible is different from all of these. It is true that there are some points of comparison between ancient myths and the Bible. For example, the number seven is common to the Bible and to several ancient near-eastern myths. There are a few parallels between ancient near-eastern flood stories and the biblical account of the Noahic flood. That would not be surprising if the flood actually happened and if various peoples retained some memory of the event. But Scripture has no tales of quarrelling, murdering, thieving, sexually immoral gods. If anything, the Bible should be described as an anti-mythology. From the creation account onward, it is deliberately hostile to the kind of worldview that lies behind all ancient mythologies. In The Beauty of God for a Broken World, I argue that Jesus Christ is different from all rival gods ancient and modern.

With regard to the charge that the Bible is just a story, I admit—no insist—that it is a beautiful story. Certainly, there is a seductive kind of beauty that corrupts the heart and destroys the soul. But at the deepest levels beauty truth and goodness belong together and depend on each other. Granted, there are some parts of the biblical narrative that seem ugly, especially to modern and post-modern readers, but that brings to mind a line from The Lord of the Rings. When Frodo decides to trust the rough-looking ranger, Strider, he says, “You have frightened me several times tonight, but never in the way that servants of the Enemy would, or so I imagine. I think one of his spies would—well, seem fairer and feel fouler, if you understand” (Lord of the Rings, chapter 10).

When I wrote The Beauty of God for a Broken World I wanted to show something of the beauty of the Bible’s God and the Bible’s story, even in the parts that, like Strider, don’t seem fair at first glance. Because beauty and truth are not enemies, the deep beauty of the Bible’s story is one of the great evidences of its truth.

The "New Atheism" and the Beauty of God

I’ve been reading another of those books by the “new atheists”—the kind of book that the publisher likes to claim will put Christianity into its grave. About the only thing that is “new” is that their voices are more strident than they were a few years ago. Still, I think it is worthwhile commenting in general terms on one of the approaches they use in their attacks.

One section of 23 pages lists about 36 errors, contradictions and myths supposedly contained in the Bible. Some of the charges are so ludicrous that a careful reader of the English Bible should be able to see through them. However many depend on specialized knowledge of the biblical languages, history and archaeology. In most cases, these “errors” are simply listed as well-known facts without any indication of the careful responses made by conservative Bible scholars.

The average reader of such a catalog is simply not in a position to study every accusation for himself, but the authors couple their hit and run attacks with a diabolically clever insinuation: Anyone who cannot answer all the charges leveled against Christianity is engaging in a blind, foolish faith inherited from his culture. If he is not a moron, he is deliberately deceiving himself.

Then comes the cleverly calculated challenge: Practice pretending that you are not a Christian. Just try looking at the world as if you were an atheist. Try it for an hour at a time. Next work up to a day and then a week of unbelief.

What is the likely result of such an exercise? Consider, by way of comparison, what a counselor is likely to tell a married couple who no longer think that they are in love with each other. He will teach them how to listen to each other. He will help them learn how to express love in ways that their partners can appreciate. In short, as they practice being in love, they may fall in love again. So it is too with practicing unbelief.

I have a suggestion for the “new atheists.” Why not spend an hour then a day then a week doubting your atheism. After all, there are numerous intellectual obstacles that a consistent atheist has to overcome. Practice coming to the Bible with a humble, open mind seeking to see what has gripped the minds and hearts of Christians throughout the centuries.

In spite of what the “new atheists” so brazenly assert, the issue is not a lack of intellectual honesty on the part of Christians. Atheism and Christianity represent diametrically opposed views of the world and the meaning of life. The clash between atheism and Christianity is not really an argument over who has the most “facts” to bolster his case—after all both sides are slinging “facts” at each other all the time. It is rather a conflict between opposing worldviews. Which approach provides the most comprehensive, consistent and compelling view of our world and of ourselves?

In my book, The Beauty of God for a Broken World, I did not engage in classical apologetics. I respect those who have capably defended the historical accuracy of the Bible and who have marshaled philosophical arguments for the existence of God. My task, however, was different. I have attempted to answer the charge that the God of the Bible is ugly by applying a Trinitarian understanding of beauty to some of the perplexities regarding Scripture and to the problems of life. I have tried to show that a Trinitarian worldview is ultimately the only truly satisfying answer for a broken world and for our broken lives.