I just worked with a talented young man (Young man is anyone younger than me) that asked me some interesting questions. “If God is such a good God, how can he let little children starve to death? How can he allow all the evil in the world? What about all the wars that are caused by religious fanatics, the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, …even 9-11? How do you know which God is real?” We had a somewhat lengthy discussion about religion and God, whether he is real or not and what role he plays in life…anyone’s life. I have to tell you, I don’t have all the answers, in fact I don’t have very many answers, but I do have a perspective on this discussion.
This discussion is common in what is called a “Post-modern world.” The Modern world said, ” Man is basically good and he just needs to be educated properly and he will do the right thing.” “Education is the answer.” “Science is the answer.” Wrong!!! Continuous wars and a society that is crumbling around us has left the belief that education and science can solve everything pretty much disproved. Education is not the answer and man will not do the right thing if left to his own. Look at the news from the last few weeks. Everywhere you look, man proves he does not do the right thing. This has caused some to believe, “Obviously there is no god or at least not one that cares in me. I have to make things happen for myself.” This has raised up a generation that doesn’t necessarily believe the Bible is the Word of God and that all the standard beliefs about God are true. They come with a distrust for what used to be conventional wisdom or belief.
Don’t get me wrong, I am all for the over-achiever but to take the true and living God out of the equation is a mistake. So what is the answer? What do you say to those that have no hope in a true and living God? First of all, I recount my own experience. What can someone say against personal testimony? The Bible says, that the Holy Spirit will give a direct witness in your spirit if you have become part of the family of God, if you have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. Every moment of every day, I have that direct witness. No one can take that away from me. It is such a comfort to know that I have made peace with Almighty God. I have a hope that someone in the world that has not accepted Jesus into their hearts does not have. They may have “no visible needs,” but they are lost without Christ. That part of their heart can be covered up with “stuff”, possessions, and activities for awhile , but true “peace that passes all understanding” is never there.
“Yea, but what about all that bad stuff that is happening in the world.” Well, it doesn’t help much to talk about the sin nature of man and the fall of man because usually the person you are talking to says they don’t believe the Bible. To them, it is just a book written by man. (Continued later)
P.S. Think about your answer and I’ll continue this discussion when I get back in the US. Pastor Bob
Pastor Bob 