In the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing
Monday afternoon, two explosions detonated near the finish
line of the Boston marathon, killing at least three people and wounding over a
hundred others. It left many people, including me, shocked and depressed about
the state of the world. How could people do this to one another? How could people
become so emotionally numb that they would intentionally harm or kill other
people for the simple purpose of sending a message? Do they not realize that
people are people wherever they live, having the same concerns and dreams and
hopes of their friends and neighbors?
And, in all of this, where is God? How can a loving God
allow such suffering and evil to happen, when knowing all things, he knew it
would happen and could have prevented it but didn’t?
One might argue (in fact, many have) that this supports the
idea that there is no God, or at least not a loving one. But this is not true.
On closer look, this paradoxically fits exactly with a loving God - the same
God of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.
God created man out of love, and in creating him, part of
what He gave man was free will. God does not force anyone to choose good.
Without the choice of good and evil, making the choice to be “good” is
meaningless and says nothing about your heart – only about your ability to
follow orders. God does not want people to be robots. He is a God of love, and part
of love is allowing people to freely choose Him and His ways. That is the only
meaningful way on which people can be judged on the individual level. So God
often lets people do what they will, even when their actions would be
considered evil, without stopping them, though He has the power to do so.
But this lack of stepping in does not mean that God does not
care. Since the days of Adam and Eve when
sin entered the world in the Garden of Eden, the world has chosen its own way
in place of God’s. Yet often, sin does
not seem that bad to us. How many of us haven’t told a lie when it was
convenient, or found ourselves caught up gossiping about someone who wasn’t
there? Why is it that many non-Christians will frame Christianity as “So
basically you could do whatever you want all your life and then on your
deathbed convert to following Christ and still go to Heaven?” as something
desirable, or street preachers who emphasize the gravity of sin fall on deaf
ears? It’s because most sin doesn’t
sound that bad to us. Sometimes, it even sounds fun. Murders or Rape? Sure,
those are bad. Lying? Uncomfortable but sometimes unavoidable. Selfishness?
Greed? Hmm, no comment. And doing what we want instead of putting God first in
our hearts, especially when he calls to something we don’t want to do or keeps
us away from something we desire? Well, sorry God, but I’m going with my way on
this one.
The Bible tells us that the ways of God are not the ways of
men. “For you, O God, delight not in wickedness…you hate all evildoers; you
destroy all who speak falsehood” (Ps 5:5-6) “for the Lord is just, he loves just deeds”
(Ps 11:7). Hear that? God finds lying so detestable that he would destroy all who lie. The New Testament is filled with calls to
repent, to turn away from sin and towards God. To God, sin is ugly – no, even
beyond ugly. Abhorrent, rotten, and utterly detestable. And yet to a lot of
people, sin just doesn’t seem that bad.
Monday’s tragedy, and all others like it, are caused by sin
in the world, and should be a clear reminder that no matter how okay sin seems
sometimes, in reality sin is always horrible and results in terrible things. God is angry and filled with grief every time people
sin, yet He allows it to give people the power of choice. In giving us our
freedom to choose, He gives us the freedom to do great evil and to hurt
ourselves and others, though it causes Him great sorrow.
The Bible tells us, “A man will reap only what he sows. If
he sows in the field of the flesh, he will reap a harvest of corruption; but if
his seed-ground is the spirit, he will reap everlasting life.” (Gal 6:7-8).
Today, we have seen what sin has reaped. Today, we will weep with God.
Today, we have seen what sin has reaped. Today, we will weep with God.
Prayer: God, give us a heart like yours. Let the evil in the
world be used as an experience to open our eyes to how terrible sin really is,
and let us draw closer to you in response.
Scripture for Further Meditation: Psalm 51
