“Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People”

Part 1

 As I’m writing this, it is the Christmas season of 2012 and a horrific event has taken place in America.   It will go down in history as the Sandy Hook Shooting.  This event is spurring on all kinds of conversations from mental illness, to gun control, school security, and God.  People on social sites are pleading with God to act, or comfort, and asking how He could let this happen. 

Pulpits on Sunday mornings across America try to give words of comfort.  Some simply acknowledge that they don’t have answers for our “God of Mysteries,” while others try to twist this into a version of God’s will in which it might aid in the callings and ministries of the survivors; and still an arrogant sect blame The Father of Heaven and his son for the actions of a gunman.  These people claim that it was in God’s sovereign will from the beginning of time for these events to take place.  They declare that it brings glory to God, whether we understand it or not.  After all, “who are you—mere man—that you are to talk back to God?” 

If these answers don’t sit well with you, you are not alone.  The reason these responses above don’t bring peace is simple:   They are not revelation.  They are man’s attempt to filter the events of the world through theology.  The reason it does not set you free is that it is not truth. 

The church has a doctrine that is rooted so deeply within itself that it’s rarely discussed or challenged.  The Sovereignty of God is one of the worst doctrines man has ever invented.  By design, it sounds like it gives glory to God, but in reality it is a scapegoat used to blame all of the world’s crap on our dad.  If we believe that God can do anything that he wants to do, then by default he desires every “Bad Thing” that has ever occurred.

PART 2