5/14/16 Lavon late 20's
If we want to share the hope we have as Christians we
need to be able to speak to some of the questions people will have for us. The good thing is we don't have to be learned
theologians or Bible scholars. In fact,
to try to give an academic, in-depth answer to simple questions in a
conversational setting would only turn people off. We need to find a way to provide short,
simple, yet reasonable responses.
Yesterday, we had shared much of the Gospel with a man
on his bike named Lavon, and his question at the end was "That all sounds
well and good, but I just have some basic questions that keep me from believing
it. For example, if a God of love
exists, why is there all this evil and suffering in the world?" It was a question that bugged him, but not
enough for him to read, say, the book of Job in the Bible, or the works of a
theologian like Augustine.
Lavon had a simple question for which there is no
simple answer, but we can find ways to show that we have given these questions
some thought and consideration, and that the Christian faith is not a blind
faith but a reasonable faith with reasonable answers to these questions. My time with Lavon on the sidewalk was
limited, just like my time here online, so this is a good place to write the
relatively short but, I hope, reasonable answer I gave him. Here's pretty much what I said:
"I'm sure
you realize that we humans freely choose to do the evil that happens in this
world. But what would God's alternative
be? To make us like robots that act
perfectly all the time with no ability to choose right or wrong? There's something about our ability to choose
that is important to God, even if it affects other people in the process. We choose to do the evil things we do, and we
choose to avoid doing much of the good we ought to do. We make our choices in a world that isn't
completely evil, in fact there is a lot of good in it too. The truth is that some people look at the
evidence around us and conclude that God exists, and others see the same
evidence and conclude He does not care or must not exist. Is the glass half full or half empty? We see the same evidence, a world full of
both good and evil, but the difference depends on our perspective. If we think we are so good we deserve a full
glass, then all we will be able to see and think about is the half that's
missing, the half we feel we deserve.
But if we understand that we are sinful people who deserve the just consequence
for our sins, then we will see the half glass we have been given as a precious
gift we don't deserve. If we know that a
good God would love justice and punish sin, then every day of life, every
breath we take, will be seen as a sign that God is willing to love us despite
our sins."
I had already explained to Lavon that we all have a
God-given conscience so that every time we choose to sin is like the original
sin of Adam all over again, and my short explanation of the problem of evil was
now pointing back to Jesus as the only One who can save us from the punishment
we do deserve, and that He is the precious gift we do not deserve. My explanation is incomplete and full of
theological holes I'm sure, but it was enough to satisfy Lavon’s idle complaint
against God's existence and help him focus back on his need for Christ.
1 comment:
What a great, simple and reasonable answer. Thanks, James
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