Bad things do happen to God’s people. Christians die in car and airplane accidents. Some have been gunned down while others have died from earthquakes and floods. Many more have died when stadiums, bridges and skyscrapers have collapsed. It’s sad and tragic, but stuff happens. And when bad things happen to good people, we must try to resist the temptation to ask stupid questions. Like the question implicit in a tragic incident report once brought to Jesus by a group of unidentified inquirers. The text reads as follows: “About that time some people came up and told Jesus about the Galileans Pilate had killed while they were at worship, mixing their blood with the blood of the sacrifices on the altar” (Luke 13:1)
Why do bad things happen to good people?
This report by “some people” was clearly intended to corner Jesus into offering an explanation of why bad things happen to good people. And those murdered were not just good people. They were God’s people massacred by Pontius Pilate whilst in the very act of worship.
“What kind of sin did they commit to deserve this and for God to allow this to happen?” This was the question implicit in the seemingly neutral report by these “some people”.
Jesus knew what they were getting at. He knew the question behind the report. It was a theologically stupid question. Why would anyone think that God was somehow consenting to this heinous act as punishment for some supposed sin that the deceased had committed?
Don’t these people know that God is a good God? (The English word God is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word for “good”). Had these inquirers never read in the Torah that God “does not treat us as our sins deserve, or repay us according to our iniquities” (Psalm 103:10)?
Zero tolerance for the spirit of stupid
In the scriptures Jesus generally has zero tolerance for the spirit of stupid. He usually doesn’t answer dumb questions. If He does, He answers indirectly. In this case He responds by directing the theological focus of the inquirers, not on the sins of the deceased or a perceived failure by the Deity to protect His own. Instead He zooms the lens on the inquirers’ own failure to take care of their own souls. “Do you think those murdered Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans? Not at all. Unless you turn to God, you, too, will die” (Luke 13:2).
Evidently these inquirers were beginning to think that their own righteousness had spared them the fate of those martyred by Pilate. It’s called self-righteousness. It’s looking at another person’s test, trial or tragedy and concluding that you are spared because you are better or smarter than them. It’s also called the spirit of stupid.
Jesus awakens them to their most pressing need. Instead of wasting time debating issues of theodicy (i.e. a theological defense of the goodness of God in the face of evil), they should rather use the occasion as a reminder of the precariousness of their own unsaved souls. Instead of spending time passing judgment on God or those who died, they should spend the time judging their own hearts.
The eighteen who died when a tower collapsed
But Jesus does not stop with those martyred by Pilate. He ropes in the tragic example of certain folk who had recently perished when a public building collapsed on them:
“And those eighteen in Jerusalem the other day, the ones crushed and killed when the Tower of Siloam collapsed and fell on them, do you think they were worse citizens than all other Jerusalemites? Not at all. Unless you turn to God, you, too, will die.” (Luke 13:1). Jesus does not beat about the theological bush. Buildings don’t collapse and crush people to death because someone is evil. That’s superstition. Accidents happen. Period. So quit asking dumb questions or speculating on matters you couldn’t possibly have any accurate knowledge about.
The only business you should mind is that of the salvation of your own soul. If you fail to do that, you will die in your God-less state and face a very dark and extremely hot future! This is in point of fact what Jesus is telling these people.
This isn’t about defending the indefensible
The purpose of this article is not to defend the indefensible. Churches and other private, as well as public institutions, have a responsibility to provide safe spaces for people to carry out whatever business people conduct in those spaces.
Building permits must be secured and city/state by-laws adhered to in constructing sanctuaries, stadiums or skyscrapers. All this is common sense and goes without saying. But all these common sense building and engineering observations have absolutely nothing to do with the religious beliefs of the ones building those sanctuaries, stadiums or skyscrapers.
Let’s state the obvious: the guesthouse at SCOAN did not collapse because of the church’s views and teachings on prophecy, healing or prosperity. There is no necessary connection here. Hundreds of thousands of churches around the world teach the same things but we haven’t seen any of their buildings cave in.
But the spirit of stupid insists on making such connections. The same spirit also demands answers to questions such as: “If the church leader is a true prophet why didn’t he prophesy the collapse of the church building? Why hasn’t he raised the dead from the rubble? Why haven’t those injured in the tragedy been healed? Why have those who got healed died afterwards? (as if being healed means you now get to live forever!)
Jesus did not heal and resurrect everybody
Sadly, there are Christians today asking pastors, preachers and prophets questions they will never ask Jesus. Questions like: “Why didn’t Jesus prophesy and prevent the death of those eighteen who died at the Tower of Siloam? Or “Why didn’t Jesus prophesy and prevent the massacre of those temple worshipers by Pontius Pilate?”
It’s not that we Christians never ask these questions. We do. But intent is everything. If you are asking such questions with the intent to truly understand the ways of Yahweh, then that is commendable. The Almighty will entertain your genuine enquiry.
But if your intent in asking these questions is to make mockery of scripture, or to discredit the character and integrity of God, or that of any one of His children, with the larger goal of creating doubt in the faithful and dissuading them from clinging to their faith in Jesus Christ, then the spirit of stupid is upon you and you need deliverance.
Time to drop the stone
Every child makes mistakes. God’s children are no exception. But when we make mistakes God doesn’t disown us or throw us away. He uses our mistakes, not as a “gotcha” moment, but as a teaching moment. “For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust” (Psalm 103:14).
Some of TB’s most vocal critics seem to have forgotten that they are also dust. They have been quick to cast the first stone. But Jesus’ challenge to that angry mob of blood-thirsty, Torah-thumping legalists is still true today: “He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone” (John 8:7).
Don’t get it twisted. Jesus was not making light of adultery here. Neither are we making light of any of the proven and verifiable failures by SCOAN. But what we know about Jesus is that He forgave the adulterer before she even asked for forgiveness or expressed repentance or regret.
Christian, don’t you think it’s about time you drop the stone that you’re so tenaciously clutching, and forgive others even as you have been forgiven?
http://nehandaradio.com/2014/09/28/tb-joshua-resisting-the-urge-to-ask-stupid-questions/
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