I grew up in the church. Prior to graduating high school and attending college, my mom made sure I rarely missed Sunday services, choir practice or vacation bible school. As I grew into manhood and developed my own opinions, I started to question life in the church. I never stopped believing in God, but I heard things that made me wonder what people thought about God and how he uses his powers. I see myself as a deep thinker. A man who puts a lot of value in not only what we do, but how we say things. So, there are some things that confound the crap out of me when I hear them.
There are tragedies that occur in this world daily. When you look at the grand scale, you have famine, slavery, genocide, and natural disasters. On a smaller scale, we have traffic fatalities, child abuse, spouse abuse and other individual tragedies. When I hear about someone surviving a tragedy, I usually hear a religious person say something like, "It was God who saved those people." That statement frustrates me because of the opposite end of the spectrum. Is it God's fault when people die or children are abused because He doesn't stop it?
With the Super Bowl coming up, I know we will hear at least one athlete who will proclaim that his great performance or his team's victory was God's doing. Does this mean that God chooses sides in a sporting event or decides which athletes will perform the best? I remember when a baseball player for the Florida Marlins died in a boating accident last year. When his team played after he passed, the leadoff hitter opened the game with a home run. Obviously, this was an emotional event for him and the team. After the game, the player was interviewed and he expressed that God had a hand in helping him hit that home run. What prompts a belief like that?
Some people believe that our lives are scripted by God. Like a gallon of milk, we have an expiration date. George Thompson was born on March 19, 1969 and will die on a date that has already been chosen by God. Does that mean my time on this earth is final no matter what I do? I just found out last year that I have diabetes. Was it already in the plan for me to contract it? What incentive does it give me to live a good life if the details of my life have already been scripted? Am I gonna die at the same time no matter if I go back to drinking eight cans of soda per day or not?
I consider myself a spiritual person, but a very thoughtful person at the same time. Many hours have been spent soul-searching in an attempt to understand why people say some of things that I hear about God and his control over us and what happens in our lives. If you take what some people say at face value, one would think they believe that God arbitrarily steps in and changes the course of human events. I have a hard time with that idea because that means God chooses who lives and who dies. As a parent and father of three children, I could never see myself allowing one child to live over another.
In the Bible, the story of Adam and Eve provides me with a blueprint for how I think God relates to us. Adam and Eve were God's children and He treated them as such when He told them to not eat the apple. He didn't blame the serpent or stop them from eating the apple because he gave them free will to learn from their mistakes. He engaged in tough love (read one my previous posts) and did what we all must do as parents. God had so many opportunities to stop Adam, Eve, Kain and Abel from hurting themselves and each other. He didn't stop them then and I don't feel that he stops us now.
So, why do we say the things we do about God's influence on our lives? I think a huge part of it is designed by church leaders as a way to comfort us in times of sorrow or distress. If you survive a tragedy and are looking for answers as to why, the idea that God pulled you out of the burning building when others died might explain it for you. To simply say, "You got lucky" isn't very comforting nor does it bring you closer to God.
I believe in God and try to live my life in a way that is in line with Christian beliefs. While I disagree with those who do, I don't fault anyone who believes God reaches into our lives and controls the things that happen to us. However, I can't let myself believe that our Heavenly Father controls whether or not millions of slaves or million of Jews die at the hands of their evil captors. Nor do I believe that God cares who wins the Super Bowl on Sunday. God gives us the free will to do right or wrong to ourselves and others. He wants us to learn from all situations, good or bad. For God to decide who should live or die would be like me deciding which one of my three children should stay on this earth. God gives us life and what we do with it is totally up to us.
No comments:
Post a Comment