It happens all too often. A tidal wave, a tsunami, a
hurricane or a tornado devastates a community. Within hours a prominent
Christian televangelist or bible teacher pronounces blame. Without fail the
blame falls upon the shoulders of “those sinners” out there.
Without going into detail about how our sins affect
various weather patterns around the globe, let’s look instead at what the Bible
says about where blame should actually fall:
"If my people,
who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and
turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive
their sin and will heal their land." - 2 Chronicles 7:14
Who are God's people? We are. Who are those who are
called by His name? Christians. Who must humble themselves and pray and seek
the face of God? Us.
What is holding back the healing of our land? The lack of
Christian humility and prayer. Who should repent? We should.
Obviously, if our Christian leaders are so quick to blame
earthquakes and hurricanes on the sins of others, we’re not looking in the
mirror. And if our leaders brazenly suggest that the solution to the world’s
problems would all be solved if everyone were more like them, we’re not really
practicing humility.
So, if we understand scripture correctly, the ones who
deserve the blame for random acts of weather-induced judgment are the
Christians among us who do not humble themselves or pray, or seek God’s face,
or turn from their own wicked ways.
If anyone needs to apologize here, it’s these Christians
who are too proud to confess their sins and humble themselves and pray.
Now, we could also entertain the possibility that
hurricanes and earthquakes and tornadoes are just naturally occurring
phenomenon and not necessarily the result of an angry, vengeful God who can’t
wait to smite us. (That’s sort of what I’d suggest). But if you’re insistent that
God loves to pound people for their sins, keep this in mind - According to the Bible, the things that really anger God
the most are not abortion, atheists, liberals, or homosexuality.
For those
keeping score at home, the issues that really inspire the wrath of God are:
*Arrogance
*Gluttony
*Apathy
*Ignoring the poor
*Pride
How do I know this? Well, the grand-daddy of all “Wrath
of God” moments is Sodom and Gomorra, of course. No arguments there, right?
Well, according to God the reason He decided to rain down the fire and the
brimstone on those cities was this:
“Now this was the
sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned;
they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable
things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.” – (Ezekiel
16:49-50)
So, what God really, really hates are clearly these Top 5
sins of Sodom: Pride, Apathy, Gluttony, Arrogance and Ignoring the poor.
As Christians, "called by His name” our first response to
tragedies should be to help, and to pray, and to serve. Let’s leave the
judgment to God. That’s His job, not ours.
See, if God really did want to judge a city or a nation,
the pattern He takes is to speak to the prophet BEFORE the judgment comes so
that A) people have an opportunity to repent and B) when the judgment comes
everyone will know that God told them about it in advance.
As far as I know, these television and radio preachers,
(who are now proclaiming the tornadoes in Oklahoma are due to the sins of the
people), didn’t say a word about these storms before they happened. You know
what that means? It means that they are not speaking for God. It means they are
not humbling themselves and repenting of their own sins. It means they are more focused on the failures of others than on their own need to be more like Jesus.
To all of you affected by this recent storm, I apologize.
I’m sorry, more than you will ever know, that in addition to your suffering you
had to endure the blame placed upon you by those who are called by His Name but
who lack the compassion of Jesus, or his humility and grace.
-kg
Outside Almighty God's perspective, the world may feel He lives to pound sinners, while the true cause for destroying the wicked is the rescue of men to the glory of God. Disaster and death help men to find & confirm faith; help men to humble themselves; to find repentance; to draw near to God. Death can (does) effect to save men from rebellion against the Lord God and His Christ.
ReplyDeleteWise not to read-in too much for these TV and megachurch preachers... when they point out the sins of others, do they also say that they are not themselves doing the same sins? More often, they are pointing out certain sins in others of which they are tacitly most familiar with in themselves. They are often hypocrites, and (one some level) knowing this within themselves.
to be sure, people in the heartland (and in many other places) have been forewarned and called to repent. People in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Japan... many warnings have already heralded among them. No specific warning of a "tornado" or "fire" or "flood" or 'tsunami" would be required --- just the clear warning of coming destruction, unless they repent. A destruction which, if need come, is meant for their good and not for evil's gain. Besides this, we remain in confidence that the Almighty One has not somehow lost control of the weather.