The Asian Tsunami: How Can Christians Make Sense of This Disaster for People Seeking Answers, and What Kind of Answers Won't Help
There are few responsibilities that Christians have that are as important as being truthful witnesses to an unbelieving, confused and sometimes searching world about who the Lord really is. It's crucial, and there are few things than make me as angry as when people misrepresent God.
So when I hear Christians say things like: "Well, Indonesia was the most populated Islamic Country in the world, and the tsunami might just be God's judgment of them. That's what happens when you worship idols." Well, that just sets me off.
I'd like to remind Christians everywhere that simple answers will not help people make sense of this tragedy. Saying that those who died deserved death because of idolotry makes God not only a tyrant, but a hypocrite because certainly Indonesia is not the only nation with folks who don't believe in Christ. Such simplistic answers ignore the fact that of the 144,000 dead, most were small children who could not have reached the age of decision or reasoning. It ignores the fact that of the 144,000, there were undoubtedly some followers of Christ. And it ignores the fact that painting God like a tyrant, unleashing killer waves on people who upset Him, is nearly a blasphemous picture of God.
As a Christian, here's what I would say:
This world is broken, all of it. Even the natural world is broken. And we are a part of the natural world, and we too, are broken. Everything in this world is not as it should be. We are stranded in a world ruled by powers and principalities that are foreign and hostile to the way that God originally planned. And God hates all death, all destruction, all pain: which is why He sent Christ.
And as Apostle Paul said in Romans 8, "We know that the whole creation has been groaning, as in the pains of childbirth." Every bit of Creation longs for home, and these tsunamis remind us not only that we are not in the world we know we should be in, but that this world is dangerous and we are in desperate need of God's help.
To read other far more articulate theologian's perspectives on this, you can read David B. Hart's column here.
John Piper , a famous Christian thinker also responded to the tragedy recently in his blog.
If you have any thoughts on the tsunami and how it's affected (or affecting) your faith (whatever that might be), I'd welcome a post.
posted by David Tieche at 6:11 AM
4 Comments:
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
3:08 PM
I think it's going to be difficult to explain this destruction in any way that's going to grip the heart of a non-believer. Natural destruction tends to make us see the world as hostile, and therefore, God as hostile toward us.
The key, I think, is to remind ourselves and an unbelieving world that God loves and his character is one of unparalleled magnamity and grace. The tough part, as detailed in Job, is believing in God even when all the evidence seems to contradict that. The end of Job finishes with God defending Himself, especially His amazingly generous character. "Who cares for the goats on the mountains that no one sees? Who gives water to flowers in the middle of nowhere, just because? Who cares for the ostrich, even though it's a terrible mother. Me, that's who."
I, of course, agree with you that some good can and will come from this Tsunami, but if someone were to tell me that after something tragic happened to me (like my wife gettting swept away), I'd punch them in the face. And if someone said, "God did this to you because He wants a closer relationship with you" then I'd hit him twice.
Also, I think it's a pretty dangerous thing to say that the childen in Asia were spared of a life of idolotry and paganism. I think you could make a pretty strong case based on that logic that if the tsunami were in the US, then at least the children were spared a life of rampant materialism and selfishness. It implies that these Asian nations are somehow more deserving of God's wrath than say, Britian, or France or the U.S. I mean, is that true? Are people in the US more likely to be fully devoted followers of Christ than people born in Indonesia? I suppose you could go with straight numbers (like polls or statistic), but I don't trust those much either. There are a lot of people in the US who identify themselves as Christians, but really are nothing of the sort.
I don't know. What do you think?
3:08 PM
Nice post Dave. This is a chaotic world, and it's a normal human reaction to look for meaning/purpose/understanding in the middle of such chaos. And when there are big horrible events, we have this urgent need to know why it happened. Our neighbor died suddenly a few weeks before Christmas and it's agony not knowing why. However, even when we do eventually find out (even the wife doesn't know yet), that won't necessarily help anything. Yes, I know it will provide some semblance of order to the situation, but still won't answer the "why" question that's on everyone's lips.
So, I think it's normal to want to know why this tsunami happened, and normal to look for spiritual reasons or answers. However, as you point out, that information is not ours to know. More important than God's goodness or non-goodness is the fact that he alone is in control of everything (as Piper says). We get to know that this tsunami happened because of an earthquake, and that earthquake happened because of the movement of tectonic plates. But we're on really sketchy ground, I think, when we start making declarations on God's behalf as to what he is or is not up-to.
Our orders from Jesus are to love one another. In the midst of terrible suffering we are ordered to show compassion, love and kindness, and to share the love of Christ with as many as possible. That's our job, as reiterated throughout the Bible, and most explicitly directly from Jesus. We should be doing that work earnestly and consistently. Our job is not to try and figure out what this all means spiritually let alone to dare speak on God's behalf about the work he is or is not doing. However, our obsessive search for knowledge (traceable to eating the fruit in Eden?) constantly keeps us distracted from our work and focused on God's work instead, and then we end up in these sorts of discussions. Which is not to say they are bad things to talk about on occasion. But honestly, come on, let's quit with the religious talk and just get on with helping out those in need.
As others have said, there are lots of times in the OT when God wiped out large numbers of people in apparently brutal and bizarre ways. And those are confusing things to read and it's good to talk through those issues. But I prefer to keep those discussions focused on events in the Bible rather than speculating at will about the meaning behind current events.
3:34 PM
I think what Jonathan was trying to say is not "let's not talk about religious ideas." I know Jonathan, and that's one of his biggest passion. I think what he's saying is, "When the ship's on fire, don't kneel down and pray, grab a bucket."
It's kind of hard to argue with that.
10:22 AM
Post a Comment
<< Home