Suffering and the Divine Secret

If God is all-powerful, and if God is all-loving, then why doesn't God stop suffering, evil, and pain in our lives? Many people wrestle with this question. It is really a question of God's character. What is God like?

To answer that, the best place we can look is to Jesus Christ. When Lazarus died, Jesus didn't go to the tomb with a smile on his face because he knew the purpose for Lazarus' death. Instead, Jesus wept. Whether there is a purpose to our suffering or if it is just part of life and free will, we can be confident that God hurts with us in the midst of it.

Jesus' response to evil, pain and suffering wasn't to create more, but rather, to rid the world of it. And if Jesus is the fullness of God in bodily form, then we know that God is also at work, not to create evil and suffering, but to rid the world of it.

Many people wonder why God would even create the possibility for sin. Why did God put the forbidden tree in the Garden in the first place? The answer must be found in God's love.

Love requires a choice. For us to experience God's love fully, we must choose God. Forced love is not love at all, it is rape. Therefore God's love required there to be a choice to either love him back or not. True love requires free will. Free will runs the risk of choosing against God, and the choice to disobey God has brought about a fallen world where we experience pain, suffering and evil.

Now God is at work restoring all things. We see that in Jesus. But to intervene in every situation all the time and take away all pain and suffering and evil would be a violation of God's love because it would violate free will.

So perhaps the appropriate question in the midst of suffering isn't "Why is God doing this to me? or Why is God allowing me to experience this?" But rather, "What does God's love mean for me in the midst of this situation?"

God wants us to be united to his perfect love. And one day when we are in the presence of God, and there is no more pain, suffering or evil, his love for us will lead us to a secret. It is a divine secret between you and God. No one else will know it, only you and God. Out of his intimate and personal love for you, God will give you a new name that only you will know. As a father and mother name their child, so God will give you a name that nobody else will know, a name chosen just for you.

So I encourage you this day...live in God's love.

"To everyone who is victorious I will give some of the manna that has been
hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the
stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who
receives it." (Revelation 2:17 NRSV)

Look forward to the divine secret.

God bless you all!

See you next week at the Gathering!

-Tim

Many paths. One truth.

Pluralism. It's a word that is becoming more popular in our culture. It basically means that there are many different viable religious options available for you.

Syncritism. It's a word that is a little less commonly known, but frequently practiced. It basically means that all religions are good and you can take bits and pieces from each religion and blend them with your own.

Religious pluralism (that is, religions co-existing together) isn't necessarily dangerous in an of itself, as long as the religions can live peacefully with each other. Syncritism, on the other hand, is a spiritually dangerous condition.

It's becoming more and more popular to assert that all religions are good and they all ultimately discuss the same thing and lead to the same thing in the end. On Sunday I discussed the fallacy of this argument, particularly through a discussion on Buddhism. There are many similarities between how Buddhists are prescribed to behave and how Christians are, particularly in acting and speaking with honesty and integrity, doing good to others, etc. But the motivation for doing good, and the foundational beliefs of each, couldn't be more opposite from each other.

Ultimately Buddhism does not worship a god. Christianity claims to worship the one and only true God. Ultimately the destination of an enlightened Buddhist is parinirvana, which is an escape from all desire, and essentially nothingness. The destination that Christians proclaim is a conscious fulfilling reality with God forever. The "lay" Buddhist, or non-monk, really has no hope of Nirvana. The best that an ordinary Buddhist can hope for is to follow the Four Noble Truths and the eight steps well enough to build enough good Karma to be reincarnated as a monk, who can then, if the steps are performed well enough, enter Nirvana. Protestant Christians, on the other hand, believe in the priesthood of all believers. The one who believes is saved by grace through faith, not works.

To me it seems clear that these are two different paths to two very different destinations. Buddhism and Christianity don't even try to answer the same questions. Buddhism tackles the question of suffering. Christianity talks about suffering, but only within the context of sin and death, and separation from God. Buddhists want to escape suffering. Christians embrace it, and have even been saved through it (the suffering of Christ). If Christ would have tried to escape suffering, there would be no salvation for us.

So I say this all not to bash Buddhists, but to show the logical fallibility of claiming that all religions essentially teach the same thing and lead to the same ultimate destination. If those destinations are the exact opposite of each other, I don't see how that can be true.

It was great to worship with you this weekend!

God bless you as you seek Him, and I will see you next week at the Gathering.

In Him,
-Tim

Doubt

Doubt is a word we never like to talk about. Everyone has questions, but no one asks. We don't ask questions or express our doubts because we're afraid of a number of things. We're afraid of what people will think about us and our faith, we're afraid that if we question God he might get angry, or not listen to us, or even worse, take away our salvation.

I think sometimes we are also afraid that if non-Christians hear about our doubts, then that somehow in their minds proves that Christianity is false. But I must say, as the Bible says, there is nothing new under the sun. Any doubts we have are doubts that Christians and non-Christians have had from the beginning. The ability to contemplate God comes along with the ability to contemplate no God. And any arguments against Christianity are arguments that have been around for centuries. The test of a belief system is whether or not it withstands the test of time while continuing to adequately handle anomalies, and stand up to various criticisms launched against it. Christianity stands.

But that doesn't mean we won't have our questions from time to time. So, as I asked on Sunday night, where do our questions, our doubts come from? And, what do we do about our doubts?

First, I think that doubts can be planted by Satan, just as he played a role in Adam and Even questioning God in the beginning, and Just as he temped Jesus saying, "If you really are the Son of God..." Therefore, doubt can be spiritual warfare, so be praying about your doubts, and have others pray for you. Spend time in the Word and talking to believers who might be able to help answer your questions.

Second, I think doubts can come from social or cultural settings. Some people grew up in homes that taught them to question everything, while others grew up in homes that believed. Various situations in life can work towards training people to doubt. If you have a natural tendency to doubt, embrace that as the way God designed you and use it to go deeper in your walk with God.

Third, doubts can come from misunderstandings. Sometimes we understand that God is one way, and then we experience something that seems to show that God is another way. Sometimes we understand that the Bible says one thing, and then later find out it says another. This is why community and church is so important, so that we can read the Bible together and be encouraged in the truth as we spur one another on in our understanding of, and relationship with, God.

Fourth, I believe that doubts, for many people, if not most, come from insecurity. We feel like we don't know enough about the Bible or about other religions, so we question things. People ask difficult questions, and we don't know how to answer them, so we begin to question the same things. But just because you question something, or can't explain something, doesn't mean you give up the entire belief system. Instead, you seek out answers, ask people who might be able to answer your questions, seek out what the Bible says and what Jesus teaches. These are things that will help us gain an understanding of our faith so that we can be prepared to give answers (or simply listen, depending on the situation) to those who ask.

Finally, sometimes doubt can come from pride. Sometimes we can question certain things about the Bible, not because we truly have doubts, but because we don't want to conform our lives to them, so we use doubt as an excuse.

If anything, for all of these, a very important thing to do is to embrace the way God made you. God designed you to experience him in ways that might be different than others. Some people experience God through studies, others through nature, while others through music. So try not to compare your faith to other people, and wish that you could pray as well as that other person, or knew as much, or whatever. God made you, you. So seek God out the way he designed you to experience him, and let him take you as deep, or deeper, on your walk with him, than anyone you see around.

And don't worry about your doubts. God will still hear your prayers, still forgive you, and still walk beside you.

God bless you all!

It was great to worship with you this weekend. See you next week at the Gathering!

-Tim

The Jesus Sessions: Worry

We live in a world of worry.

So what do we do? Naturally we try to control. The more we try to control, the more we realize things are out of our control, and the more we worry. It's a vicious cycle. Worry leads to control, control leads to worry, and worry negatively impacts our lives and our spiritual condition.

Because of this, we have a desire to compartmentalize our lives so that things are neat and orderly and we have control over them so that we don't have to worry about them. The unhealthy aspect of this is that our spiritual lives get compartmentalized as just another aspect of our lives.

In his book, The Life You've Always Wanted, pastor and author John Ortberg says, "God is not interested in your 'spiritual life.' God is just interested in your life." Our desire to control leads us to compartmentalize our lives, which leads us to try to compartmentalize our spiritual lives. But our spiritual lives cannot be compartmentalized. Every aspect of your life is your spiritual life. We are spiritual beings, but we are limited beings. God is the only one wise enough and powerful enough to be in control. He is also the only one loving enough to trust to have absolute control. This is where things get tough for us.

Worry leads to control, control leads to an attempt to take life into our own hands so that we won't have to worry. But we aren't able to be in control of all things, so we end up worrying even more, or being disappointed in ourselves or others when things that we thought we had under control don't work out.

It is not necessarily easy, but we have to learn how to let God be the one in control, trust him to be at work in our lives, and to provide us with what we need when we need it.

Jesus said, "...your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. See the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today." (Matthew 6:32-34 NLT)

A line in a famous church hymn goes like this:

Yes, 'tis sweet to trust in Jesus, just from sin and self to cease;

Just from Jesus simply taking, life and rest and joy and peace.

I pray that as we grow in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, we would allow him to have control, and find our life and rest and joy and peace in him alone.

Many blessings,

In Him,

-Tim