Not long ago I saw a picture on Instagram (a picture sharing app on iPhones) that said "Everything happens for a reason." and underneath it said "(American Proverb)."* I don't know if this saying is one that is unique to the America's but I've certainly grown up hearing it. For a long time I believed it. Many of my friends still believe it. However, I've come to believe that it isn't true, at least not in the way it is often employed.
The implication of the saying is that everything that occurs, even our choices, are the result of some divine plan which is essentially a blue print (as Greg Boyd illustrates it) for the cosmos throughout eternity. Some people call this fate. There are several problems with this belief. Some of these ideas come from reading the work of pastor Greg Boyd.
It's true that everything that happens can be somewhat explained. In that sense there is a reason for everything. However, it'd be more correct to say there is an explanation for everything (even if we can't quite reach it yet). This is why science and history are so valuable for humanity to embrace as much as possible. If we can explain and understand what has already occurred we can better plan for tomorrow. Much of the time we can easily look at our life situations and, if we are honest, discern why things are the way they are. We are able to say "I am late on rent because I spent money on junk food and video games instead" or "I don't have a father because the man who is half responsible for my birth was afraid of the commitment and abandoned my mother." Our circumstances can typically be explained by our behavior and the behavior of others.
This is why the popular cliche is so dangerous. It can sweep responsibility under the rug. If everything happens because it has been previously determined to happen by God then I'm not truly responsible for anything. The choices I make were never truly choices and thus my circumstances are never anything but the work of God who is puppeteering all his creation. The Bible does not paint this picture though. While God has sovereignty and will bring his plans to fruition through working in the world he is not a forceful God but a serving God. God will never be truly thwarted. Don't be fooled, just because everything doesn't happen as a result of God's direct action doesn't mean that some things don't happen for this reason. For example: Because Jesus commands, the storm was hushed (Matthew 8:23-27). God has a plan but he has given his people free will so that they may choose to live or die (see Genesis 3). God does not desire for us to make poor choices which go against his will for the cosmos but he allows it. This is a reason for everything. God has taken the risk of giving his creation choice. Such an existence has the potential for good and bad. As we all know, both exist because both are chosen by all people. If we were not given choice we could say everything happens because God made it happen and thus our responsibility would cease to exist but this is not the case.
We can safely conclude that God has plans and desires for his creation and that his creation has the freedom to choose between living in or out of his will. Everything that occurs or exists does so because God has allowed it to occur or exist, even if it was brought about through our own exercising of freedom. We can conclude not only that God has allowed an infinite amount of things to happen due to our freedom but that he is able and willing to work all things for the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28). Yes, God has a plan for everything that happens, even if he did not desire for it to happen. Many things happen that God does not desire (read the Bible if you disagree and you'll quickly see this is true). This is called sin. But God has a plan for all things because he is concerned with redeeming this fallen cosmos. He is working to reconcile all things back to him (Colossians 1:19-20).
It may be defeated at first to realize that God is not fully responsible for everything that happens but soon, with meditation, it becomes a great relief. What good is a God who is responsible for a creation without free will in which all abortions, wars, rapes, deaths, beatings, divorces, betrayals, abandonments, and evils thrive? Isn't it much better to know we are responsible for what is wrong with the world and to know that a good God is working to fix what we have twisted? Isn't it encouraging to know that even if we make mistakes or if others purposefully do evil that God has a plan for all those evils, that they may be used for his good plans? I certainly think that is far better to have a redeeming God who rescues than a control obsessed god who wants evil to flourish among his creation.
*It turns out the image is from quotablecards.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment