Paul Stewart

The Book of Job and the Problem of Evil

The problem of evil is if God is all good and God is all powerful, why is the world full of evil? Why is their pain and suffering in a world created and ruled by a loving and good God? No single theological problem has occupied more intellectual energy, time, and ink than this one.

moralism and cynicism

When suffering hits there are two basic ways that people respond. The more religious person says “Why is God punishing me? What am I doing wrong? Maybe I should have prayed more. Maybe if I just had a little more faith.”

This response is essentially moralism. In order to avoid suffering I must be more diligent, more holy, more worthy of God’s protection.

The other approach to suffering is not moralism, but cynicism. Whereas religious people tend to see suffering as a punishment from God, secular people tend to see suffering as proof that there is no God. Or if there is a God he is either incompetent or indifferent.

Moralism is based on the idea that God is actively causing all pain and suffering in the world as a part of his purposes and his glory. Cynicism is based on the idea that nobody is in charge. Life is random. It is all a matter of chance. There is no one good and powerful God in charge.

The book of Job was written to tell us that both of those approaches are absolutely wrong.

the book of Job

There is no book of the Bible (no piece of literature) that addresses the question of suffering with the intellectual and philosophical integrity and with the emotional and dramatic realism as the book of Job.

The book of Job is an epic poem. It consists of, first of all, a dialogue between God and Satan, then a long dialogue between Job and his friends and then a climactic dialogue between God and Job. 

In the prologue, Satan (the adversary) randomly appears at a heavenly council meeting with a challenge - “Does Job fear God for nothing?”. Satan’s charge against God is that he is running a Machiavellian universe. God is a manipulative deity who only blesses those who worship Him and who withholds blessings from those who don’t.

Are human beings really free? Is there such a thing as free will?

The charge in the prologue is a literary device and, in the context of this epic poem, can only be answered one way. If God were to destroy Satan, it would prove Satan’s point. If God simply dismisses Satan, it would prove Satan’s point. The only way the challenge can be answered is for it to be put to the test - and that’s where Job comes in.

The central point of the prologue is that arbitrary things happen behind the scenes that affect us, about which we know nothing. There was a random event that happened in the heavenly realms, and Job gets caught up in the middle of this, and all that he goes through is a result of this. Job never learns about this and that is part of the essential point of the book.

Throughout the book Job’s friends take a moralistic approach to Job’s suffering. They believe God is behind everything that is happening to Job and he has a reason for bringing on all of the afflictions he is bringing. Job takes on an increasingly cynical approach. He still believes God is behind everything that is happening to him, but he has no reason for it. It is all arbitrary and God is indifferent to it. 

But when God shows up He gives us an alternative to both of these. It goes beyond both moralism and cynicism. God says two things that, on the surface, don’t seem to make much sense. First, God talks about the unfathomable vastness and complexity of creation - “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?  Tell me, if you understand.” Then God talks about forces of evil within the universe (Behemoth and Leviathon) as a way of portraying that there is a whole lot going on in the universe that we don’t know about.

The point of the book of Job is that the mystery of evil is a mystery about the unfathomably complex, war-torn creation. It is not a mystery, first and foremost about God but a mystery about creation. A creation that has been seized by war.

free will

Every aspect of creation that does not reflect God’s loving character ultimately comes from some will other than God.

God gave humans and angels free will so that we could truly worship and love Him, but what we do with this free will is up to us. If I genuinely have free will, than I can choose to align myself with God’s will or go against it. God has the power to stop me – but if he always prevented free wills from doing the evil they are capable of than he has not really given us free will and therefore genuine love is impossible.

We are all free to make decisions and these decisions have ripple effects on the rest of creation. Today we are experiencing the sum total of the ripple effects of every decision made in humanity. 

Adam went one way and we’re still under the ripple effects. Lucifer went one way and we’re still under the ripple effects. Your parents went one way we’re still under the ripple effects.

The world is interdependent. Everything affects everything else. So the mystery of evil has to do with all of the free decisions of both human and angelic beings. 

You are free. You are responsible. Your choices matter. And yet...

God’s sovereignty 

Paul says in Romans 8v28-39 we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose

Every single thing that happens as a result of those choices, God is working out for our good. It’s not that God foresees everything you are going to do. But what you do, the ripples you make, God works together into the plan He wants and the course He wants history to take.

Even though God does not cause all things, He can work in and through all things, and He is able to bring good out of it. He is infinitely intelligent. He has prepared a response.

On the one hand your choices belong to you. They are yours. You are free and you are responsible. And yet, in the end, the result will be exactly what God wants.

God is fixing everything, all of creation, into the way He wants it to be. But He doesn’t do that despite our choices, but through them. Our choices become a part of his plan. 

risk vs. reward 

Why did God give us free will? Why take the risk? Why, when we screwed up in the Garden and walked away from Him did he not just end it all?

The answer is simple. Love. 

At the center of the universe is an all-powerful, all-good, all-knowing, God who is head over heals in love with you.

And so despite all of our choices and despite all of the opposition and despite all of the havoc we have wreaked upon His creation God is determined to restore us. He is determined to love us.

The New Rebel

"The new rebel is a skeptic, and will not entirely trust anything. He has no loyalty; therefore he can never be really a revolutionist. And the fact that he doubts everything really gets in his way when he wants to denounce anything. For all denunciation implies a moral doctrine of some kind; and the modern revolutionist doubts not only the institution he denounces, but the doctrine by which he denounces it.

As a politician, he will cry out that war is a waste of life, and then, as a philosopher, that all life is waste of time.

A Russian pessimist will denounce a policeman for killing a peasant, and then prove by the highest philosophical principles that the peasant ought to have killed himself.

The man of this school goes first to a political meeting, where he complains that savages are treated as if they were beasts; then he takes his hat and umbrella and goes on to a scientific meeting, where he proves that they practically are beasts.

In short, the modern revolutionist, being an infinite skeptic, is always engaged in undermining his own mines. In his book on politics he attacks men for trampling on morality; in his book on ethics he attacks morality for trampling on men. Therefore the modern man in revolt has become practically useless for all purposes of revolt. By rebelling against everything he has lost his right to rebel against anything."

- GK Chesterton, Orthodoxy

Jesus on Being Single

On Sunday, we looked at Jesus’ words on Marriage, Divorce and Singleness in Matthew 5:31-32 and 19:1-12. You can listen to the message HERE. Unfortunately I did not have time to get to singleness in my message. It is the last thing Jesus says in this passage and it is very puzzling.

Matthew 19v11,12
Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.

What in the world does Jesus mean about this eunuch stuff? Essentially Jesus is saying that just as some people are constitutionally unable to marry, some people are spiritually called not to marry. And the power of the kingdom of God in their life enables them not to be married.

Jesus says this in response to the disciples question. He has been talking about the essence of marriage (vv. 4-6) and divorce (vv. 6-9) and the disciples respond, If this is the situation between a husband and a wife, wouldn’t it be better not to get married at all? 

Jesus says, you don't get it. The only people who can be unmarried are those who accept it as a calling from God.

Now, some people are permanently called to be single. Which means that the power of the Kingdom works in their lives so that they do not want to be married. They are not depressed by loneliness. They are not sexually burning.

Of course, many people who are single know that this is not a permanent calling for them. In that case, singleness is still a temporary calling and the only way you can endure it is if you look at it as a calling from God.

How do you do that? The Apostle Paul puts it this way...

I Corinthians 7v27 
Are you pledged to a woman? Do not seek to be released. Are you free from such a commitment? Do not look for a wife.

Are you married? Do not seek a divorce. 
Are you unmarried? Do not look for a wife.
Are you married? Don’t try to become single.
Are you single? Don’t be to eager to get married. 

Marriage is a lot of work. Singleness can be tough. Don’t be too eager to change status.

This was shocking in that day. In ancient society there was no such thing as individual success or achievement. It was about your family becoming successful. You had to be married. You had to have children. Essentially there were no single adults except for widows and prostitutes. But Paul says that singleness, as an adult, was a perfectly acceptable way to be. This was revolutionary!

Stanley Hauwerwas says, “One of the clearest differences between Christianity and all other relgions was Christianity’s idea of singleness as a paradigm way of life for its followers.”

Church historian Rodney Stark recounts how in first century Rome, Caeser Augustus would have widows fined if they didn’t get remarried within two years because single adulthood was absolutely illegitimate. You had no significance if you did not have family. You were nothing if you did not have heirs. There was no future.

But the church took care of widows. Gave them the choice if they wanted to get remarried or not. The church, the family of God, became their significance.

So the New Testament provides the highest view of marriage the world has ever had and then says its quite alright to live your entire life without it. Why?

1 Corinthians 7v29
What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short. From now on those who are married should live as if they were not; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep.

We live in the overlap of the two ages. In Christ we have a foretaste of the new age to come. We’ve been brought into the divine community of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  And we can experience that right now! The Church is designed to be a foretaste of our future love, future grace, future family.

“From the beginning we Christians have made singleness as valid a way of life as marriage. What it means to be the church is to be a group of people called out of the world, and back into the world, to embody the hope of the Kingdom of God. Children are not necessary for the growth of the Kingdom, because the church can call the stranger into her midst. That makes both singleness and marriage possible vocations. If everybody has to marry, then marriage is a terrible burden. But the church does not believe that everybody has to marry. Even so, those who do not marry are parents within the church, because the church is now the true family. The church is a family into which children are brought and received. It is only within that context that it makes sense for the church to say, ‘We are always ready to receive children. The people of God know no enemy when it comes to children’” - Stanley Hauwerwas

Therefore singleness is not inferior or superior to marriage. Jesus was a single person and He is the paradigm of true humanity - so it can’t mean to be single is to be subhuman. 

Paige Benton Brown in her article “Singled Out by God for Good” puts it this way: “I am not single because I am too spiritually unstable to possibly deserve a husband, nor because I am too spiritually  mature to possibly need one. I am single because God is so abundantly good to me, because this is his best for me.”

If you are single and you accept it as a calling - either permanently or temporararily - If you say, I am not going to fear or despise marriage. Nor am I going rage against my singleness. Instead I am going to use the freedom I’ve got as a single person to serve people and to serve God.  I’m not going to use my singleness to indulge my desires, I am going to use it for the kingdom... If you die in that way - it will be resurrected and turned into something beautiful.

Brown puts it this way, “Let’s face it: singleness is not an inherently inferior state of affairs... But I want to be married. I pray to that end every day. I may meet someone and walk down the aisle in the next couple of years because God is so good to me. I may never have another date... because God is so good to me.”

Singleness is not an inferior or superior calling - but it is a calling - and it can only be survived if you accept it as a calling and surround yourself with a community of believers who will love and support your calling as brothers and sisters in Christ.

The Elephant in the Church: Divorce

This weekend we began a conversation at Gateway. We talked about several “Gray Elephants” in the church - everything from alcohol, tattoos, music, birth control and even cosmetic surgery (You can listen to the podcast HERE).

During the service I took questions via text message, but unfortunately was only able to respond to a few. Several of the questions that came in had to do with divorce, so I thought I should deal with those here.

First of all, the Scriptures teach that marriage is a God-ordained, public covenant between a man and a woman that results in a “one flesh” relationship (Genesis 2:24; Proverbs 2:16-17; Ezekiel 16:8; Malachi 2:14). God’s design is that every marriage be faithfully permanent. God loves covenant keeping, and His strength is sufficient to enable husband and wife to be faithful. His redeeming grace gives us hope that even the most broken marriage can be restored.

However, in a broken world, marriages will fail and the church must be ready to respond with grace and truth.

Scripture allows for divorce and remarriage for either of two valid causes: sexual immorality (Matthew 5:31-32; 19:9) or desertion by an unbelieving spouse (I Corinthians 7:15).

1) Sexual Immorality: Jesus said, “whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another commits adultery” (Matthew 19:9; see also 5:32). The exception clause (“except for sexual immorality”) refers to adultery and probably covers all the cases of sexual sin that deserved punishment in the Old Testament.

It’s important to remember that while the New Testament allows for, it does not require divorce for sexual unfaithfulness. God’s grace encourages us to forgive and have hope that God’s transforming power can redeem even the most broken marriage. However, when there has been sexual unfaithfulness, divorce and remarriage are allowed, and do not constitute adultery.

2) Desertion: One further exception is found in I Corinthians 7:15. In a marriage of a believer and an unbeliever, the believer should seek to preserve the marriage (1 Corinthians 7:13-14; 1 Peter 3:1-2). However, if the unbelieving spouse deserts, the believer, after patient prayer, may divorce and remarry.

There are many destructive behaviors that can threaten the safety of family members and jeopardize the health of a marriage. Even when sexual addiction does not include physical adultery, it is still a form of evil destructive lust (Matthew 5:27-28); the abuse of a spouse or children cannot be tolerated; and refusal to provide for one’s family (1 Timothy 5:8) is also a form of desertion.

Finally, the Bible teaches that if someone divorces without a valid cause, they are still married in God’s sight. If one of them remarries, their new sexual union is adultery against their former spouse, and the first marriage is ended. Their union forms a new marriage. The new couple should repent of adultery, receive God’s forgiveness, and seek to make their marriage faithfully permanent.

Be Born Again

 

"Dr. Kim Plastic Surgeon. 3F"
HT: Peter Rollins

The Church: Good Intentions in a Coma?

Just came across an article entitled “Long Live Organic Church: But what do we do if the world isn't transformed?” in Christianity Today. The author, Mark Galli, is concerned that the “organic church” - a renewal movement that focuses on people (vs. programs) and mission (vs. institutional maintenance) - will soon crash and burn… just like every other renewal movement in church history.

Take away the extreme examples, and look at the ongoing, normal, everyday life of the local church, century after century. It is not a bright example of evil, but merely good intentions in a coma. Institutional. Programmatic. And full of people whose lives look anything but transformed. Churches time and again, in culture after culture, look like they are composed of nothing but sinners. We are kidding ourselves if we think, finally, our generation will turn things around.

Seems like a fairly despairing view of the church by a senior managing editor of Christianity Today. Obviously church history is filled with embarrassing blunders and even grim failures - but can anyone imagine what the world would be like without the church? Is this all Jesus was referring to when he said, “I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” - good intentions in a coma?

The Passion/Pop Curve

Seth Godin shared a very intriguing thought yesterday on his blog. Something he is calling the “passion/pop curve"…

The bell curve to the left represents acceptance by the focused/excited/tastemaking community. Those are the people who love independent music and haute couture and Civil War memorabilia.

The bell curve on the right, you'll notice, is bigger. This is a second market, a bigger market, the market of pop. These are the folks who go to the Olive Garden for a nice Italian meal instead of the authentic place downtown.

Seth said that the reason you need to care is that gap in the middle. Every day, millions of businesses get stuck in that gap. They either move to the right in search of the masses or move to the left in search of authenticity, but they compromise. And they get stuck with neither.

A delta blues guy who plays for tiny audiences in Memphis is in the sweet spot of the “passionate.” John Mayer is in the sweet spot of “pop.” Both are great guitarists, neither is too edgy or too trite. Both made a choice. But there are a thousand guitarists who are neither. They're afraid to embrace one curve or the other and end up with neither.

I think churches face this dilemma too. Should you be the most innovative, experimental, artistic church in the world, catering to the edge of the passion market? Some examples might be Imago Dei Community in Portland or Echo Park in Des Moines. These churches return to many of the ancient practices and traditions of the faith. They communicate the gospel with distinctive forms and language, which seems to draw in artists, musicians, and the well educated (early adopters).

Or should you develop a church that appeals to the masses by leveraging pop culture to reach those outside the church. Granger Community Church would be a good example here. They use Beatles songs or a popular television series to translate the gospel into the language of pop culture. This seems to work well for churches in the suburbs with an Applebee’s next door.

The sad part is that so many churches get lost in the gulf between passion and pop. Seth says that inevitably, you'll itch to move to the other curve (cause it's bigger or because it feels more authentic) and he says, “I worry about your ability to do that.”

The best choice is to choose.

Recklessness or Paralysis

When you are in your twenties it is your duty to question everything. Why are we doing this? What is the purpose? What is the meaning? Is it still effective?

We have to be critical, even skeptical. That’s our role in society.

We see things from a new perspective, a new cultural lens, than our parents and grandparents. We grew up living with the consequences of their choices and now it’s our job to point those out. The last thing we want to do is perpetuate systems and programs simply because “that’s the way we’ve always done it.”

But we have to balance this maverick inquisitiveness with grace and humility.

Many of our strongest criticisms come directly from our deepest wounds. We’ve been hurt by the institutions of the past and we see it as our mission to dismantle them. This will often lead to either recklessness or paralysis.

This is why grace is so vital. We need to let God mend our wounds and help us to forgive those people and programs that have let us down. This will guard us from making reckless and impulsive decisions that often cause needless division within the church. It will also give us the strength we need to continue on, even in the midst of our pain.

We also need the humility necessary to learn from the wisdom of our elders. While we do understand the consequences of their choices, we do not always know the reasons behind them. Many of the programs and institutions that we despise were born out of the same passion and enthusiasm that we now possess.

The questions and concerns of our generation are crucial to the advancement of the church. They are not born out of rebellion or malice, but a genuine desire for improvement. Let’s continue to ask questions boldly and listen with grace and humility.

Yes We Can! (sorry, I got a little caught up the moment)

Hmmm...

If you ask someone around the world to tell you what they associate with the United States they'll probably say, "military power, unbelievable wealth, and sexual license." The strange thing is that all three of these are radically anti-Jesus. So how is it that we're viewed as the most Christian country in the world and yet characterized by the least Christian characteristics?

What does the church in America need to do to change this image?