I, like many who read this blog, have been angry this week.
I have been angry at components of the Haitian government that have slowed the rescue efforts so many are risking their lives to be involved in.
I have been angry at myself for being able to do so little of value in the face of such suffering.
I have been angry that for every wonderful and miraculous rescue, there are probably twenty who aren’t.
I have been angry at how the death toll is guaranteed to continue to climb as lack of access to medicines, food and clean water will undoubtedly usher in who knows how many diseases.
I have been angry that child sex traffickers are using this as an opportunity to literally steal children and make them sex slaves.
I have been angry at God for not stopping this gigantic earthquake.
And I have been angry at Pat Robertson.
There are probably quite a few of us that became angry when we heard what he was quoted to have said. In such a time of anguish and desperation, the very suggestion that there is some communal Haitian fault for this — that they brought this on themselves — seems unconscionable. It seems cruel and wrong.
More than that, it is cruel and wrong.
Yes, I agree that God is sovereign, and as such has the capacity to do whatever he feels is best for our world. Yes, I agree that there are times when our very limited amount of insight can make it possible for us to totally miss the bigger picture that God, by necessity, works with all the time. Yes, I agree that there is a demonic realm that is very real and that can bring physical consequences.
But it is very hard for me to see how a God that would respond the way he has regarding the reconciliation of our world with himself, would seemingly karate-chop a major fault line in Haiti because of some vagely alleged, century old, decisions. A God that would take the penalty for all of the rebellion caused by humanity on himself. A God that would voluntarily decide to simultaneously experience the horrific pain of a Roman cross and the crushing weight of our cumulative rebellion – while also experiencing the sensation of watching his son be tortured and killed as an innocent – while also experiencing the pain of having to watch the whole thing unfold, all the while knowing that he could stop it, but knowing that he must not. I don’t think we can touch that level of suffering in our experience.
He took it all, voluntarily. So that we could be with him. Willingly. Lovingly.
A God like that doesn’t karate-chop fault lines.
I do believe that evil caused what happened. Our world has plenty of demonstrations of the evil the the scriptures point to being more than just a theological or philosophical construct. The greed that caused the Duvalier family to set back what could have been a much more advanced Haiti, by decades. Crushing poverty that forces people to simply exist and all but prevents them from thriving. Fear that helps to turn one person against another. That helps gangs, and not coalitions, be formed.  And I believe that what we see everywhere on the social level is represented in the physical one. It would seem that even the creation, the planet, isn’t working in sync like it should – fault lines included. I don’t believe that earthquakes were ever the intention of God. I think that our relational brokenness with one another and the planet’s brokenness go hand in hand. We all await a re-creation.
But, ugggh, to the issue of my apology.
There is a part of me that has come to expect Pat and others to say what he did. Things that not only do not represent my view of how scripture reveals the character of God, but they even make my task of representing Christ in our world much more difficult. I have to deal with what they say more often than I would prefer. It is often assumed that their views represent mine, that because we both would share the label, Christian, we look at the world through the same lens. I have often said that it seems like I seem to walk into other peoples’ issues with God, I think views like what Pat shared, create a lot of those issues.
So, my heart has grown a bit cold to Pat and so many others. Granted, in my cluster of friends, church planters and thinkers, going after some of those guys is pretty common. We joke about them, roll our eyes, maybe mock them a bit.
But mouthing off wrongly about how he mouths off wrongly doesn’t seem to be the right way to go.
The reality is that Pat has done some good things over the years. The one I personally feel best about is Operation Blessing, a non-profit that has provided disaster and hunger relief for over 192 million people in over 90 countries, and in its history has provided over one billion dollars worth of goods and services.
The reality is, Operation Blessing has helped a lot of people. People have eaten as a result of Operation Blessing that wouldn’t have without it. Homes have been rebuilt. Those people matter.
So, that helps. At least me. At least some.
It helps me see him as more of a three dimensional person, not the cranky personality he seems to have become. It helps me see him as a man that has done some good and some bad, like me. And it makes me reflect a bit more on Romans, chapter two.
“But if you think … you can point your finger at others, think again. Every time you criticize someone, you condemn yourself… Judgmental criticism of others is a well-known way of escaping detection in your own crimes and misdemeanors. But God isn’t so easily diverted. He sees right through all such smoke screens and holds you to what you’ve done.” Rom 2.1,2 Message.
In this section of Paul’s letter to the church in Rome, God is saying that all of us can claim the moral high ground, but it is rarely deserved. And even if we are actually on the right side of an issue, we cannot allow that to cause us to become arrogant. God sees through our charades, he sees our heart… This section doesn’t tell us we cannot talk about what is right and wrong in our world, it simply reminds us that while we do, remember that we are every bit as in need of God’s grace as anyone else.
It makes me think about me, making fun of Pat Robertson. I condemn myself. Yes, I think what he said was wrong. But I spoke out of anger, not to help him — but to have some fun at his expense.
Dang! 🙂
It doesn’t change the fact that his words were unthinkable. It doesn’t change the fact that any hope of Pat having a lasting semi-mainstream legacy seems to ride on someone from his inner-circle telling him in love that he needs to apologize and then to be quiet. He was irresponsible and his words were cruel.
But it reminds me that any of us are capable of the same thing.
Dave said...
1How can you categorically claim that causality between human action and human suffering is inconsistent with God’s character?
Who drowned everyone but eight people on planet earth? Who turned Lot’s wife into a pillar of salt? Who caused flaming rocks to fall on Sodom? Who tumbled the walls of Jericho to enable his army to slaughter every man, woman and child therein? Who killed every firstborn Egyptian child? Who karate-chopped Ananias and Sapphira? Who caused Herod to be eaten by worms? (You can’t plea Old Covenant on those last two.)
In Christ, the Father’s compassion for humanity outweighs his condemnation, but that doesn’t negate the existence of the latter.
Regardless of why someone suffers, we know what Jesus would do in response and know what we need to do. Given full context, it appears that Pat knows too.
Despite the sound bite that easily fit into 140 characters, nobody quoted him on the two sentences he said directly afterward:
“They need to have, and we need to pray for them, a great turning to God. And out of this tragedy I’m optimistic that something good may come.”
01/20/10 9:39 PM | Comment Link
Mike Haggerty said...
2Amen, Jim. Amen, Dave.
I’m surprised that in all of this, I have heard very little about generational curses.
Jim, do you think that God still operates in this manner? And if so, certainly Haiti is not the only place where sins of fathers are being passed down to their children. Abortion, promiscuity, and material lust in America comes quickly to mind as another example.
01/22/10 9:48 AM | Comment Link
Mike Mathers said...
3I appreciate Jim’s sentiments here. It is very difficult to understand the wisdom of God. I believe that God created this world for us to live on and learn on. Our faith is forged through pain and suffering. He never promised us a rose garden. Who needs faith in the Garden of Eden?
01/22/10 11:33 AM | Comment Link
kevin chez said...
4Congrats on working “karate-chop” into that post.
02/4/10 6:10 AM | Comment Link