I stumbled across my good friend James Wood’s old facebook update that said “If god is good, then why do bad things happen?” and it sparked a very good and long conversation attempting to answer this question. This is not a new question by any means, but it was peoples responses that got me thinking…which turned into ranting…which translates itself into blogging. My thoughts are in no way a direct response to any one persons comments, but are just some general thoughts connected to a general feeling I have.

We all ask this question, it’s one of THE questions that human beings ask, it’s a question that must be asked. But I’m not sure it’s a question that should be can be answered in a tidy way…especially by Christians!  The reason I think Christians should be hesitant to answer this question is that sadly (and interestingly enough quite unlike Jesus) Christians are often not known for being gracious but are rather known for being judgemental and critical. Or, to put it another way, unlike Jesus prostitutes, drunks, addicts, “sinners” are not drawn to Christians but are actually repelled by them. So when a well intentioned Christian says something along the lines of “God is teaching you something” or “God is disciplining you” or “God gives us free will” or…fill in the blank…it does nothing to help carry that persons pain. People ask the question because they are trying to reconcile the pain and hurt of life with the God that we want to believe in. Instead of helping to carry that persons pain it instead puts the hurt back on the person because in essence it says “deal with it”. The reality is that Christians have lost their voice. People do not listen and value our response to this question anymore because it no longer comes out of a place of grace, peace, hope, truth, etc. and instead comes from a place of superiority. This may not be true of you specifically, but you’ve got to deal with the reality that where we are in our culture is that our voice has been lost. And if you want to have a voice in this discussion again we’ve got to earn it!

When I look at Jesus I see someone who had every opportunity to give “right”* answers but instead chose to heal, empower, and lift people up.

And getting back to some of our trite answers to THE question, I’m not even sure that they fit some of the real hurts that people often speak of. Sexual abuse, starvation, homelessness, death of a child, catastrophes, etc. In many instances it’s not the direct result of a persons free will, and how can you tell someone who was habitually raped since childhood that God allowed them to go through it so that he could bring them closer to him (or some variation of this same idea)! Sorry folks, that’s neither good, nor holy, nor right!

I think its time we Christians stop trying to answer this question with anything simple, anything trite, anything tidy, and anything that is lacking grace! I’ve been pondering what I think a possibly healthy response might be…and…here’s the best I could come up with: If God is good then why do bad things happen?

I don’t know. I don’t get it. It sucks. I’m sorry.

*This is even making a giant asumption that Christians even have clarity concerning what the “right” answer is to this question!