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Editorial
September 2001– Week #2
The Tragedy:
An Evangelical Christian Perspective
As
tragedy once again strikes, Americans are asking the age-old question, “Why do
innocent people suffer?” or
rather, “Why is there evil in the world?”
The
philosophical answers to this question fall into one of three categories:
(1) God is good, but impotent to stop evil
(2) God is not good or He does not even exist
(3) God has a good purpose for allowing evil.
Although answers one and two have many followers, most people find comfort in
the third answer--the genuine Biblical answer that God has a good purpose for
allowing evil.
The Christians Scriptures declare
“God causes all things to work
together for good to those who love God to those who are called according to His
purpose.” Even though God is not
the creator of evil, God shows His power by thwarting evil to fulfill His good
purposes for mankind.
Therefore, the Jewish Patriarch, Joseph, could say to evil men
“You meant this for evil, but God meant it
for good to preserve many people alive.”
Yes, even Bin Laden cannot thwart the sovereign plan of God.
Neither is Bin Laden exonerated because God will turn evil into a greater
good. Jesus profoundly states,
“It must need be that offenses come
but woe to that man by whom they come.”
If
we acknowledge that this national tragedy is for our good, this still leaves us
searching for what that good actually is.
Of course, we see families brought together, national unity, brotherhood,
patriotism; but it is petty to
ascribe only these purposes to this awful carnage.
According to Christian theology, the ultimate purpose of God is far
greater--the eternal salvation of the souls of mankind.
God’s constant desire is that individuals would repent of evil and be
saved from further sin, death and damnation.
The Christian community hopes that this event will lead people to place
their faith and hope in the Jesus--not just as a good teacher, but as the Son of
God who was foretold from the
beginning of time to be mankind’s deliverer from the condemnation and pollution
of sin.
This message, that tragedy is to lead men to personal repentance, may sound
strange to modern man; but it is a message that is consistent with reality.
Evil always results in personal and national devastation which becomes
the impetus for social change.
In
ancient times God spoke to King Solomon about what a nation should do when
disaster strikes
“If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust
to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and My people who
are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from
their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will
heal their land”
The
Christian tradition is clear that
tragedy and devastation are commonly the result of national sin.
It is not unlike God to remove His hedge of protection from a sinful
people in order to reprimand a sinful people, and we are a sinful people!
Americans are guilty of engorging themselves with everything that God
detests--immorality, sorcery, violence and religious apostasy.
But it is not just the Americans who bear guilt; the Islamic world must
also repent of using other people groups as a scapegoat for their hatred and
jealousy. In fact, all nations
should view this tragedy as a call to repent.
God does have a purpose in permitting evil to touch the world--not to
destroy the world, but to hinder the world’s slide into self-destructive
behavior.
One
very important clarification,
Reverend Jerry Falwell sorely
misrepresented the Christian truth when he shocked the nation by laying the
guilt for the destruction of the
One
may mistakenly ask, “What is this strange Christian theology that seems to turn
the guilt from Bin Laden onto the American people?”
No, the Christian community is not turning any guilt away from the
terrorists, but Christians recognize that God may be permitting evil from
without to heal our evil within.
God
will certainly judge Bin Laden and his terrorist organizations, and God may use
the
Isaiah 33:1
Woe
to you, O destroyer, while you were not destroyed, and he who is treacherous,
while others did not deal treacherously with him. As soon as you finish
destroying, you will be destroyed; as soon as you cease to deal
treacherously, others will deal treacherously with you.
And
God will cause all things to work together for good so that His Kingdom will
come and His will would be done on
earth as it is in Heaven.
Rev. Bradford E. Winship