Questioning God’s Goodness: When Christians ask “Why?”

by Danica Scharlemann

            You crawl out of bed after a sleepless night. You don’t bother taking a shower because last month you were laid off, due to your company’s downsizing in a plummeting economy. You check your voicemail, hoping that you missed a call for an interview from the many applications that you have submitted within the last week. Your heart sinks ask you listen to yet another message from your frantic sister who is continually struggling with the recent news of your parents’ divorce. You make yourself a bowl of cereal, using water instead of milk because you ran out the day before. You consider running to the store, but remember you’ve put yourself on a “spending freeze,” refusing to spend any money outside of the absolute essentials until you are employed. After dragging yourself into the shower, you decide to go spend the day with your sister. Convincing yourself that the company of family will raise spirits, you work up a smile and step outside. Before you take two steps, your 16-year-old neighbor runs up to you in tears, explaining that it was an accident and she’ll fix everything. Your eyes soon move past your hysterical neighbor and discover your dependable old Buick pinned to your mailbox by the girl’s 2014 Ford Focus. You nod politely to her and retreat to the privacy of your own home. You fall to the floor, letting out a cry of desperation, “Why, God! Why?”

            There are times in our lives when we feel as if nothing is going right.  We suffer relationship conflicts and struggle financially. We deal with the deaths of loved ones and try to find reasons behind natural disasters and economic crises. Daily stress drives us to exhaustion -- physically, mentally, and emotionally. We turn to God, as we have been taught, but not in trust. We come in desperation and anger, in doubt and fear. We question God’s plan, his goodness, his love. In some cases, we may even question his existence. All too often we look at the troubles in our lives and ask God, “Why?” We hear the words of Scripture telling us of our Father’s goodness and love, and yet we fail to see them in our own lives. We turn to Scripture and read, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). We read that, but rather than finding comfort in it, we blame God. We accuse God of not knowing our limits and failing to provide a way out. We fall into despair. No one would argue against the fact that life is difficult. Conflict is one of the few givens in life; however, it is not the only given in life.  

            We may not all have the wisdom of Job—a man who, even after his family and wealth were taken from him, bowed down in worship and said, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised”(Job 1:21). We may not trust our heavenly Father as Jesus did upon waiting for his creation to betray him, praying, “Not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). However, we all have opportunity to reflect upon our lives in view of not only the negative, but also the positive. Though sin afflicts every day of our lives, though the devil tracks us as his prey, though the world brings us down by picturing happiness as success and wealth, yet our God defeated all evil for us.  He brings life. He brings love. He brings joy, peace, grace, and blessings galore. Rather than asking “Why, God?” accusingly, God invites us to come to him with those same words, spoken in awe and thankfulness. “Why, God, have you blessed me with such a loving, Christian family? Why, God, have you provided for my physical needs, giving me with food and shelter? Why God do you love such a wretched sinner like me?” The only answer to these questions is found in the unconditional love of our God, who gave himself for us.

            You rise to your feet at the sound of a van door closing and your daughter’s laughter. She runs through the door and falls into your arms, showing you the picture of the two of you that she painted at school. The door closes as your spouse greets you will smiles and a loving embrace. The whole family gathers to help prepare a meal of Hamburger Helper. You help your daughter with her spelling homework before tucking her into bed.  As a family you recite your bedtime prayer:

Lord, I have passed another day
and come to thank thee for thy care.

 Forgive my faults in work or play

and listen to my evening prayer.

 Thy favor gives me daily bread

 and friends, who all my wants supply.

 And safely now I rest my head,

 preserved and guarded by thine eye.

We are Christ to our neighbors -- in any and every neighborhood

Henry Tyson, superintendent of St. Marcus Lutheran School in Milwaukee WI, wrote this powerful testimony as part of a course with me this summer.  I asked if I could share it here on The Electric Gospel blog, and Henry graciously agreed.  He passionately urges all of us, in every city and town and village, to be living witnesses for Jesus to those among whom we live -- to the communities we are called to serve in the name of Christ.

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Living as Christians in Milwaukee’s Central City

by Henry Tyson

How is it possible that there can be so many Christians and churches in Milwaukee’s central city and yet the church seems powerless in the face of segregation, poverty, and crime?  What can we say about the life of Christian and what such a life will look like in a city so gripped with ungodly behavior?  From a biblical standpoint, one can see that the life of a Christian in Milwaukee’s central city – in the face of all that we see – will be marked by extreme joy, increasing holiness, radical love, and urgent, prayerful solitude, all to the glory of God.

Satan has laid claim to this city by leading people away from the Lord and thoroughly destroying the fabric of traditional families and communities.  The resulting chaos enables Milwaukee to lay claim to the ignoble titles of most segregated city in America, city with the highest incarceration rates among African Americans, an extremely high homicide rate, and one of the highest rates of child poverty in the richest nation on earth.  If Christ were a Milwaukeean today, what would his ministry look like?  Where would we find him?  What would people make of him?  Surely we would find him joyful in demeanor, radical in love, urgent and prayerful in solitude, and fruitful in his ministry.

In his first letter, the apostle Peter explained why the life of a Christian will be a life filled with joy.  Following a clear and concise explanation of the pure gospel, Peter wrote, “Though you have not seen Christ, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls”  (1 Peter 1:8-9).  The “salvation of your souls” is in reference to the Christian’s movement from eternal death to eternal life as described by Paul: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23-24).  Therefore, the life of a Christian is filled with joy regardless of events or circumstances, because we have been justified by faith and our salvation is certain.  This is not something that we have to wait for but it is something that we have already received.  For this reason alone, the life of a Christian will be marked by a length and breadth of joy that cannot be understood by the world.

In addition to joyfulness, the life of Christian will be marked by increasing holiness.  What does this mean?  It means that the life of a Christian, as he or she matures, will be increasingly identified with the life of the Lord Jesus and therefore increasingly look like the life of the Lord Jesus.  The apostle Paul got at the heart of the matter when he wrote:  “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.  Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:1-2).  The process of being “transformed by the renewing of your mind” is the process of sanctification – the process by which the Holy Spirit shapes the Christian’s life into a oneness with Christ. 

The great 20^th century theologian, Oswald Chambers, captured this wonderfully when he assured his readers that “sanctification does not mean anything less than the holiness of Jesus being made mine manifestly,” and “it is his patience, his love, his holiness, his faith, his purity, his godliness, that is manifested in and through every sanctified soul” (Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest). The Christian life therefore -- in Milwaukee and at any time and in any place -- is a life that increasingly reflects the holiness of Christ.

It is this concept of increasingly becoming and reflecting the holiness of Christ that mandates that the life of a Christian in a broken city and a hurting world will be marked by radical love.  Martin Luther King, Jr., understood the radical love of Christ when he wrote from Birmingham City Jail, “Was not Jesus an extremist for love – ‘Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you’” (Letter from Birmingham City Jail)?  Dr. King understood that “Jesus love” goes far beyond the usual interpretations and extends as far as loving enemies and blessing those who insult us.  Further evidence of Christ’s radical love is found in Jesus’ tendency to hang out with sinners (Mark 2), his willingness to break social norms and talk to a Samaritan woman (John 4), and his willingness to forgive the very men who were conducting his execution (Luke 23).  And for those who doubt the radical nature of Christ, perhaps it is worth considering his very death – a wicked, lonely, brutal death that he chose out of obedience to the Father and love of mankind.

What sort of actions, then, does radical love display in the life of a Christian?  It will certainly look different from one to another but it will always be radical.  It might be radical in how much one gives to the poor, or where one chooses to live, or how much time and energy one sacrifices for children, or the boldness with which one speaks against the moral depravity of 21^st century America.  Certainly, the life of a Christian in our hurting world will look nothing like the pursuit of the American dream, for the American dream is contrary to the holiness of Christ.  Indeed the natural reaction of the world to the radical love of Christ will be to persecute the Christian and view him or her as someone strange and different.  Peter identified this reality in his first epistle when he referred to the friends to whom he was writing as “aliens and strangers in the world” (1 Peter 2:11).  The life of a Christian, therefore, is on track and appropriate when he or she completely identifies with Christ and self-describes as an alien and stranger in the world.  This is the natural outcome of the radical love of Christ.

When the life of a Christian is full with a glorious and inexpressible joy, is increasingly holy, and responds to the world with an exhausting, radical Christian love, the Christian life -- like the life of Christ himself -- will be drawn toward and indeed will depend on times of solitude and prayer.  We note in Christ’s life, how in response to the beheading of John, the feeding of the five thousand, the fear of the disciples, the faithfulness and subsequent faithlessness of Peter, and the healing of the sick, that on more than one occasion, Jesus “went up on a mountainside by himself to pray” (Matthew 14).  So engaged is the Christian worker in the life and activities of Christ, that he or she will, by both desire and need, find himself or herself in regular solitude and prayer.  Just as Jesus needed this time to connect with the Father, so the Christian worker needs this time to connect with Christ and the heavenly Father.  The Christian life is not just praying in church or at bedtime.  The Christian will, in the words of Paul, “pray continually” (1 Thessalonians 5:16).  Regular times of solitude and prayer will be a mark of the Christian life in the central city.

The Gospels and the books of the New Testament paint a wonderful picture of the life of Christ, the lives of the earliest church workers, and provide a clear road map for modern day Christians.  In a city with so much hurt, so much divisiveness, so much ungodly behavior, it is easy for Christians to retreat to their homes and churches and disengage from the world.  But we must not.  Instead, we stride forward and exhibit the glorious joy that comes through our justification by way of the cross, the holiness that comes through sanctification, the radical, engaging love of Christ, and constant times of prayer and solitude that fill us up and draw us ever closer to oneness with Christ.  This is the life of a Christian in Milwaukee’s central city.

Comfort from 2nd Corinthians

by Michael Loescher

Paul’s second inspired letter to the Christians at Corinth begins with these words:  “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.  For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows” (2 Corinthians 1:3-5).

As an assignment connected to reading 2nd Corinthians, I ask students to select verses from 2nd Corinthians that they find particularly comforting or reassuring and offer comment and prayer.  Here’s a sample of such “Comfort from 2nd Corinthians.”

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·         2 Corinthians 1:3,4 - “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”

o   As human beings we are bombarded by new situations and consequences every day bringing about new troubles, and it’s nice having reassurance and comfort from God. It’s a nice thing to lean back on, because at the end of the day, a person can always say it’s going to be okay. If I was an unbeliever I don’t know how I would cope with troubles – possible in very bad ways. Since it’s so reassuring to have God’s promise, I can see how it could be very refreshing to suddenly come to know his promise in a world with no hope otherwise. And that is where we come in to share the message.

·         2 Corinthians 2:14 – “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.”

o   God always leads us in triumphal procession?  it struck me that we might say Christians are not triumphant in any way. We don’t lead parades through our hometowns on Christmas day as a victorious football team after the Super Bowl. So what is this triumphant procession? It is the power of God shown through our faith in daily life, which is always evident and is never conquered by evil. We can be persecuted, but on the last day it will be clear, to all our triumph.

·         2 Corinthians 4:16 – “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”

o   Our human bodies are so fragile physically, mentally, and emotionally. I expect to have a hip replacement sometime in my adulthood, and past years have been an interesting and challenging experience trying to do my best in sports. My hip is just one of a few injured areas I have granted myself, very possibly more or worse instances to come. But put aside all earthly troubles and consequences whatever they may be; being thankful and treasuring God’s grace can lay those to rest and make us stronger, as we look forward to our salvation.

·         2 Corinthians 6:17-18 – “’Therefore come out from them and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.’ ‘I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters.’”

o   How powerful and comforting it can be though if you really think about it, that God the creator of the universe wants to be our Father and love us as such!

·         2 Corinthians 12:9,10 – “’My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

o   God’s grace is perfect for us. In weakness, we humans can make rash decisions and fret over not being good enough at this or that. But as Christians we can live at peace, doing our best and when worse comes to worst and we find out we are nothing, we still know that we have a Savior who loves us and created us as unique, destined to fulfill many purposes, even if we don’t see it at the moment.

Dear Lord, author and creator of the universe. I am sorry for the sins that I consistently commit. My thoughts go places where they shouldn’t, I seek useless or even unhealthy earthly treasures. I am capable of great wrongdoings. Thank you, Lord, for granting me forgiveness for my foolish acts, and help me to seek first your kingdom and to treasure most of all your love and promise, before all earthly pleasures. Help me also, Lord, to power through troubles and temptations in this world and in the end be strengthened and overjoyed by your grace of salvation. Give me comfort in the fact that you are my loving Father in all your power and might, and when the last day comes and we have run the race you marked out for us, lead us in our triumphal procession to eternal bliss in heaven. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.