Monday, September 22, 2014
410 - Why Won't God Cooperate?
Spirituality Column #410
September 23, 2014
Current in Carmel-Westfield-Noblesville-Fishers-Zionsville
September 23, 2014
Current in Carmel-Westfield-Noblesville-Fishers-Zionsville
Why Won’t God Cooperate?
By Bob Walters
It
is rare to find a genuine atheist, maybe because if there is a nearly universal
component of the human heart it is that people must believe in something.
And
that “something” typically is God, or at least a “god,” or an idol, or a strong
preference, or an intellectually satisfying safe harbor of cosmic coherence. The rare authentic atheist will deny faith,
belief, and God all at the same time.
Philosophers
differ on whether it’s syllogistically sound to say “believing there is no God”
constitutes a positive “belief,” thereby muddling the
“everyone-believes-in-something” postulate.
The rest of us should leave that argument to the professionals with lots
of time on their hands.
But
really it’s not unusual to encounter earnest folks who believe God exists but either
ignore Him or hate Him because they can’t figure out how to make Him
cooperate. And it’s really common for nominally
Christian people who profess basic belief in Jesus, in the Father-Son-Spirit
Trinity, salvation, Heaven, sin, judgment, Satan, Hell, mercy, grace and
forgiveness – who figure they ought to
go to church – who are just plain confused by what it’s all supposed to mean
and how it’s all supposed to work.
People
struggle. It takes too much effort, too
much time and the reading material is too complex to get sucked into this
divine whirlwind of Bible stories, truths, relationships, history, church
politics, hope, redemption, service, fruitfulness, etc.
If
God can’t be any clearer than that, why not take Darwin at his morally vacant,
evolutionary word?
This
“life and religion” thing could be so easy if God simply told us what He wants
and then limited our options for doing anything else. Our freedom would take a hit but our faith
lives would be less complicated. The
confusion of discerning “the right thing” would go away, kicked upstairs to heaven’s
higher pay grade. Religion wouldn’t be
so judgmental, polarizing and, well, human.
We
surmise: This “good” God should just take my word for it that what I decide is
good for me and for mankind is what actually is good. Why all this
mystery surrounding free will, God’s righteousness, man’s obedience, “God’s
plan,” and eternal life? What’s the big
deal with “glory” anyway? If God is so
powerful, if He is indeed “love,” if He knows everything and created everything
why won’t He just cooperate and give me what I want?
“I’d
believe in Him if I were happier,” we might contend. “Do I really have to do what He says?” we’d
likely ask.
God
is always cooperating in ways only faith can understand. Truth is, God smiles when we cooperate with
Him.
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