I lived most of my youth believing that God did bad things, but it was okay because it was for a greater purpose. I figured out at 11 years old that this could not be true, and I began a life-long journey to try to understand why people like to blame God for evil. It is a question as old as humanity – if God is good, and God is perfect, why does evil exist? It didn’t take me long to figure it out – God gives us free will. We are free to be good and we are free to be bad, and most of what is terrible and ugly in the world comes from those simple choices. It also accounts for beauty and kindness. If over 7 billion people have freedom to choose, someone is bound to get hurt.
Believing that God controls our lives in every way allows us to blame God for our bad behavior. It also allows us to excuse our sins. Instead of saying that King David raped Bathsheba and put a hit out on her husband Uriah, we excuse it as being part of a bigger plan. We then point to their first child being murdered by God as punishment for David’s evil behavior. Can you see how this breaks down? It certainly doesn’t make a good case for God being pro-life. Today’s truth is that our belief that God is in control gives us a free ride and turns God into a psychopath. That doesn’t jibe with God being good or perfect. It just turns God into the worst we can be as humans. We have, once again, created God in our image.
This kind of belief also gives us permission to use the Bible in all kinds of destructive and vile ways. We see God murdering millions of people, so murder in God’s name becomes normal. We see God making some things wrong and other things not, so abusing those who are different becomes acceptable. We see God’s scriptwriters working to convince their readers that women are inferior to men, so we embed misogyny in our culture. Then we teach our children that our Scriptures are definitive and closed, the first and last and perfect utterings of God, and declare a free-for-all on anyone those writings turn into the enemy. Then, in one of the most abusive non-sequiturs in history, we say two opposite things – God makes everything happen and some people are condemned for breaking the rules. We say that Judas was part of the plan for Jesus to die, then turn him into a pariah who kills himself (in two different ways!)
The truth is that the Bible is inspired by God and useful for reproof and educating and guidance, but it is not perfect. It is filled with beautiful stories and lessons and wisdom, but it also contradicts itself regularly. It is God’s Spirit whispering down the lane through human beings. Like all of God’s creations, it is good, but not perfect. Nothing in creation – the Universe – the Earth – the Galaxy – the Bible – is perfect. Only God. God is love. A God of love cannot commit evil. Our free will is almost always the culprit. That is my truth today.
Prayer – Thank You God for giving us freedom. Forgive us for misusing that freedom for our own desires. Heal us of our selfishness. Amen. Today’s art is “Likeness of God, 2 Corinthians 4: 4” by Mark Lawrence