Good God, Bad God

Recently, I was talking with my father.  He is a hard-working, self-employed salesman of industrial metal cutting machine tools.  These tools are not your ordinary hand tools, but rather room-sized, computer controlled, fully mechanized manufacturing machines that can cost over a million dollars.  These are not the types of machine that you sell every day.  During the years following 9/11 and then into the recession, business had taken a turn for the worse.  There were entire years where no company was purchasing any machinery of this type and times were challenging.

But times are changing.  Industry is beginning to see a turn-around in the recession.  Schedules are picking up, orders are increasing and companies are beginning to spend money again on capital equipment.  (Side-bar:  In my business of education, things are economically at an all-time low.  I find it ironic that education is always so far behind industry, even when it comes to the recession…but that’s a thought for another day.)  This is great for someone in the business of selling industrial metal cutting machine tools.  My dad was telling me about how much he loves his job, about the increase in productive sales leads, the newly opened doors, several recent orders, and many positive prospects.  As a summation of his conversation, he said, “…and it’s all due to the Lord.  The Lord has been very good to us…” 

The other day, my wife ran into an old friend at the grocery store.  In conversation, my wife shared that several of her close co-workers had lost their jobs over the past year, but her positions had remained intact.  The old friend responded with, “That’s the hand of God in your life.  God has been good to you.”  

According to many, there seems to be a correlation between good situations and good treatment from God, their anecdotal evidence abounding.  So, I started thinking…if “The Lord is good” some of the time, then doesn’t that mean that He also has to be bad sometimes, too?  And, if God’s goodness is evidenced in our good fortune, does that mean that His bad-ness is evidenced when misfortunes occur?  My father had gone through nearly a decade of poor business prior to the good times.  My wife’s co-workers have lost their jobs and are in very difficult and challenging times as a result.  Why is the “goodness of God” -speak conspicuously absent during those times?

Here are some thoughts and (admittedly over-simplistic) logic…

Logic #1:        If good situations = evidence of a good Lord

Then bad situations = evidence of a bad Lord

Let’s analyze this logic and the traditional Christian responses to it for a minute…

a)  The nature of God is always “good” all of the time; God can not be bad.  It is commonly described throughout the Bible that God is good.

i.e.       - You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees. (Psalm 119:68)

- Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? (Romans 2:4)

b)  If we find ourselves in bad situations, God is still good.  We are just not capable of understanding His ways.  The bad situations are due to our general fallen sin nature and we just can’t possibly understand His sovereignty and omniscience.  We have a failure to understand what is truly good for us.

i.e        - “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

 Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways,

And My thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)

Here is their argument:  As a father, I am sometimes made to bring circumstances upon my children that do not make them happy.  In our home, cell phones and computers are not allowed after 8:00pm.  This is not because of any previous abuse, but rather simply to guard my children against potentially harmful and distracting drama that can occur, especially as fatigue begins to set in.  This is not always a popular rule and can cause some perceived hardship.  Just because my children do not yet understand the value of this “hardship” does not mean that I am not a good father.

Logic #2:        If bad behavior (sin) = punishment by God (bad situations)

Then good behavior = rewards by God (good situations)

Again, the traditional “Christian” responses…

a)  If God does have to behave in a way that looks “bad” it is because we have done something to deserve it (sin).

i.e.       - But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who “will render to each one according to his deeds”:  eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God. (Romans 2:5-11)

b)  But, it would appear that some “evil” (I am not going to define “evil”.  Feel free to plug in the definition that works for you.)  people are being treated to some very good situations.  It seems like, if the logic and formula is correct, that these “evil” behaviors should be punished rather than rewarded.  Here is a traditional “Christian” response…

Sin is pleasurable and feels satisfying, but only for a short time.

i.e.       - …the (fleeting) pleasures of sin (Hebrews 11:25)

“Good” and “bad” falls equally on all people.

i.e.       - That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. (Matthew 5:45)

- As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (John 9:1-5)

I really don’t care to argue the validity of either of these sets of logic: that God is “good” all of the time or that He is “bad”.  Rather, I would like to consider the large gaping hole that remains overlooked by the traditional Christian logic; one that is left underlying and unspoken.  It is an “Emperors New Clothes” of the Christian world; obviously present yet intentionally ignored.  To avoid making themselves look bad, they all agree to pretend it is something else all together, couching it in subtly twisted Biblical logic arguments and glorified pomp. 

What Christians are really believing (but never saying) is…

Logic #3         (My) proper behavior = Good situations (rewards from God) 

But (their) bad situations = (are a result of) bad (sin) behavior

Here, there is a subtle yet monumental shift from that of logic #2.  This places an over-emphasis on personal behavior above God’s character.   This logic has coupled a ball and chain to the Christian world, dragging those who find themselves in “bad situations” to the abyss of guilt and fear while permitting those who find themselves in “good situations” to bob buoyantly on a raft of their own self-righteousness. 

If we are saying, “I have been a really good person, followed all the laws and prescribed formulas for following God and, as a result, He is rewarding me for my good behavior”, this is self-righteous BS.  It only leads to swagger and air of superiority.  If we are saying, “My situation is bleak and meager, so it must mean that I have made bad choices and have spent my time living steeped in sin”, this is self-destructive BS.

We all need to free ourselves from the burden of behavior = treatment, good or bad.  Both are equally destructive and over the years I have watched them tear many souls apart. 

If God simply is and and we simply are, where do we go from here?  

Search hard for your true freedom…

To Celebrate or to Mourn

On Monday morning, I turned on the radio to see what was happening in the world and instantly heard the news;  Osama Bin Laden was dead.  When I first heard the report I had no strong feelings, but simply received the news as fact.  It seemed beyond belief that a man has been able to elude the most powerful nation in the world for over a decade.  I guess my first thought was, “Well, that puzzle is solved.”  It was a curious bit of news, but no more than that. I found myself with mixed emotions, but no strong sense of anything profound.

Then I began to hear the coverage…the endless news coverage on the story.  The coverage of the celebrations, the analysis of his compound, the details of the secret mission, the possible impact on future safety,….  But what began to strike me most profoundly was the spirit of celebration that had over taken all aspects of this story.  Over the course of the day, I heard many news reports from many angles, but one was conspicuously missing. 

As the week went on, I waited to hear the voice of opposition, any perspective of critique, but that voice was never aired.  It was as if we had become united as a nation for the celebration of this event.  But, as the week went on, I began to feel less celebratory and more concerned.  For, as we have come together in celebration, have we in actuality convened a celebration of our hatred and prejudice?  I fear for a nation whose rallying cry is punishment, judgment, retribution and death, when we can not even agree upon caring for the health of our own people.  I fear for a nation whose mutual hate is our rallying cry.  I fear for a nation whose hands can collectively slam down the gavel and readily issue a death sentence before the evidence has even been unequivocally considered. 

Is this a time for celebration…?  Celebration over the death of another never seems like the correct response.  Is this a time for mourning..?  I do hurt for those who have lost, both for “us” and for “them”.  For that reason, I find it so very hard to celebrate.

I am a public school teacher in a suburban high school.  I see a lot of pain.  I see a lot of lost souls and confused identities.  I see a lot of misdirected emotions.  I see a lot of hurt and fear that is disguised as anger.  I see a lot of pain that manifests itself as bullying.  I see most students daily don their masks just to fit in.  I see people struggling to find their place in this world.  I watch people struggling to find their identity.  I watch smart kids pretend to be ignorant and struggling kids pretend to be cool.  I am asked to face this all with grace and love.  I am asked to look deep down inside each soul and find that spark that motivates each child.  I am asked to view each child as an individual, as a human, as the most important life on this planet at this moment and at this time.  I am asked to work and continue to work until I find that which connects with this child, because no child is a number, no human life is worth less than another, no one can be allowed to slip through the cracks.  I am never asked to give up on anyone. 

But it seems to me that we have given up.  I am not saying that this was an unnecessary action.  What I am saying is that our response to this action concerns me greatly.  That we, as a “Christian Nation” have taken the low road rather than the high road.  We have been so quick to serve as police, judge, jury and executioner…to draw blood and to smile, rather than to mourn.  Where are the voices to the contrary?  Where is the sympathetic heart?  Where is the doubt?  Where is the value of life over death?  Where is the solemnity over celebration?  Where is the pain in the action?  We have become a mob, driven by our ignorance and our hatred.

Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.  (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)

We celebrate this victory as retribution for the 1,500 lives lost on September 11.  Each individual loss pains me to the point where it is difficult to write this in such a flippant manner.  Each lost soul represents the extended pain of so, so very many.  Each number was a friend, a lover, a mother, a father, a brother, a sister, a son, a daughter,…  But, when does that justification end.  At last count, since the beginning of the war in Iraq, as many as 100,000+ Iraqi civilians have been killed , with an increasing number of civilian casualties being added in Afghanistan.   When did “our” lives become 100 times more valuable than “their” lives.  When did we become so self-absorbed to believe that we can, with immunity, destroy 100 innocent lives for every one of ours and still audaciously celebrate?  When do we cease to be the hero and become the villain?  When the civilian death becomes 500/1, 1,000/1?  Each of “those” innocent lives also represents the extended pain of so, so very many.  .  Each number was a friend, a lover, a mother, a father, a brother, a sister, a son, a daughter,… 

I am glad this man’s reign of destruction is over, but one more death is not reason to celebrate.  I can take no pleasure in the death of another person, even the death of an evil terrorist.  I fear that, in our celebrations, we have ourselves become more like the terrorist.   

Over the past few days, I have pondered this question… If I found myself in the presence of a bound Osama Bin Laden and, on the floor in front of him, lay a loaded 9mm Glock and a basin of warm water, would I place the gun to his head or the basin to his feet..?  

^{Matthew 5:38-42}"Here's another old saying that deserves a second look: 'Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.' Is that going to get us anywhere? Here's what I propose: 'Don't hit back at all.' If someone strikes you, stand there and take it. If someone drags you into court and sues for the shirt off your back, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. And if someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.

^43-47"You're familiar with the old written law, 'Love your friend,' and its unwritten companion, 'Hate your enemy.' I'm challenging that. I'm telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill person does that.

⁴⁸"In a word, what I'm saying is, Grow up. You're kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you."   (Jesus)