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Tuesday, August 23, 2011

For better, for worse

Many Christians take the position that God is responsible for all the good things that happen to us, but not for any of the bad things that happen to us. Indeed, their primary objection to Calvinism is that Calvinism makes God responsible for the bad things as well as the good. From their viewpoint, that’s self-evidently wrong. They can’t think of a worse thing you could say about God. They can’t imagine how some Christians actually believe that.

Because this is so obvious to them, they don’t give it a second thought. Or if they do give it a second thought, they spend their time elaborating how unspeakably abhorrent that would be. They never stop to question their assumption.

Speaking for myself, I have just the opposite instinct. Of course, I believe that God is responsible for everything that happens. But suppose, for the sake of argument, that I had a choice: either God is only responsible for the good things that happen to me or else he’s only responsible for the bad things that happen to me.

If push came to shove, I’d opt for the “evil” alternative. Given a choice, I’d rather that God be responsible for the bad things rather that the good things.

Where the good things are concerned, I have nothing to fear. Nothing to lose. I'm safe. They pose no threat to me or my loved ones. The good is risk-free. 

But evil can do me harm. Evil can harm my loved ones. Where evil is concerned, I’d have everything to fear, everything to lose–unless God is behind the evil. Unless God limits the evil. Unless the evil serves an ulterior good.

If God is responsible for the evil that befalls me or my loved ones, then no matter how bad it gets, it will never get as bad as it could. It will never involve irreparable harm or irremediable loss. If God is responsible for the evils in my life, then there’s a floor beyond which it won’t go. If everything, including every evil event, unfolds according to God’s wise, beneficent plan and providence, then evil is not a bottomless pit. Not for his children.

Every evil that befalls me as a Christian, however horrible, will be a redeemable evil. There is hope. There is good awaiting me on the other side of the ordeal–in this life or the next.

Many of us come to a point in life, sooner or later, where life closes in on us. Where, despite our best efforts to avoid it, our worst fears come true. Sometimes we can see it coming, and we feel helpless to stop it. We hope and pray that it will turn aside at the last moment, but it doesn’t.

Instead of waking up from a nightmare, you wake up to a nightmare. That awful sinking sensation. To know you’re cornered. Everything that could go wrong went wrong. All the dice line up against you.

It’s in times like these, as we cling to a windswept rock, that knowing God is behind our ordeal is a source of hope and strength and consolation. Indeed, the only source of hope and strength and consolation. In knowing this, we know that this is not the end. This is not the epitaph. If God is behind it, then God is also in front of it. To bless us. To do us good.

For better and for worse. But not for the worst–but for the best. 

10 comments:

  1. If what you described here was true for everyone, I don't see how anyone could object. But the objection to Calvinism is that, for some people, God does in fact intend and bring about irreparable harm and irremediable evil, at least for them. It may serve some greater, collective good, but how is that supposed to comfort the non elect? Or the Christian who feels for them?

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  2. By definition, Christian comfort is no comfort to non-Christians. And they don't feel the lack. Or so they say.

    Why should it be comforting to those who reject the source? How is that defective? That's true for any insider/outsider perspective.

    It's always certain Christians who presume to speak on their behalf. Who impute to unbelievers a sense of loss which only makes sense from the viewpoint of the Christian, not the unbeliever.

    So that's the paradox.

    BTW, your objection is hardly limited to Calvinism. With minor variations, that's applicable to any position short of universalism.

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  3. I take it you are using "responsible" as a synonym for the idea God ultimately causes evil rather than that God is blameworthy for it?

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  4. Thanks Steve,

    That was incredibly true.
    And incredibly comforting.

    Keep up the great work!

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  5. Calvinism makes God the Author of Evil and impugns His character by painting Him as a moral monster who does not give humans libertarian free will which is the basis of authentic true Love.

    Arminianism: For better!

    Calvinism: For worse!

    /sarcasm off

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  6. Ryan,

    Short answer: correct.

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  7. Very good word. Understanding Christ is sovereign in my darkest times, is better than the brighter moments is very encouraging.

    I thought of how Jesus said to Paul, "Why are you persecuting ME." Jesus is with us, isn't He. What a Savior and a Friend we have.

    This helps me take Gal. 6:14 into my heart in even a greater way. hank You Lord for Your grace and love.

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  8. "It's always certain Christians who presume to speak on their behalf. Who impute to unbelievers a sense of loss which only makes sense from the viewpoint of the Christian, not the unbeliever."

    But don't the relatives of an alcoholic or compulsive gambler take a similar stance? Is there anything wrong with empathizing with the lost, even if they have no sense of it? Christ died for us while we were still his enemies. I agree about the difference between insider/outsider perspectives, but I still think the insider's sympathy and worry is justified.

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  9. JD,

    You're conflating two different things. One is how Calvinism can be any comfort to the reprobate. It can't. And there's no reason it should.

    In the nature of the case, the hope and promise of the gospel is something that only a believer can appreciate. You can't be comforted by a promise you disbelieve.

    Where Christians are concerned, that ultimately comes down to how Rev 21:4 plays out in the life of each individual believer. That's not something we can foresee.

    Nothing prevents us from praying for an unbelieving relative, or doing what we can to bring him into the fold.

    There's a certain emotional tension at this stage of the journey. We haven't arrived. We don't know the outcome for all our traveling companions.

    But that itself gives us direction in life. To be strong for them. Be faithful for their sake as well as our own.

    If they fall behind, we go back for them. We try to pull them through.

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  10. I've long tried to explain this to one non-Reformed friend of mine. His practical objection is that you can't tell that to someone who just had a dear loved one die because it offers no comfort. "I can't believe that God was responsible for my [fill-in-the-blank]'s death." I explain that it is comforting for me to know that the eternal condition of my departed loved one is in the hands of a righteous and gracious God and was not taken under the auspices of some random non-rational event. That's truly comforting for if the event was greater than God, then what can I expect from God?

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