I was reading a column by Mark Morford in SFGate, regarding the current tragedy in Haiti as well as the ongoing one that is the Mexican drug war. I was struck by his tone of despair; he articulates that feeling one gets when faced with seeming hopelessness, of that fundamental human will to disbelieve in a complete absence of hope and meaning which causes us to cast our eyes desperately around in every direction for evidence to the contrary.
These are the kinds of feelings and times that traditionally draw people to God. When we search with such desperation in our hearts, it is inevitable for even atheistic thoughts to turn toward God, whether it is to question his existence, to wonder how people can believe in the face of undeserved tragedy, or, if his existence is to be believed, to ask Him for an explanation.
One of the first absolutely normal questions that rears its head in the face of tragedy is, "Where is God?" An atheist might ask this question rhetorically, and a Christian or other person of faith may ask this in sincerity.
This is one of the reasons I find Pat Robertson's statements, blaming the Haitians for their own loss, so reprehensible. Like Fred Phelps, he shouts his lies from the rooftops: that God is there, and he's meting out hate and punishment. We don't need to feel sad or to help, because they brought it on themselves, and this is God's doing. It breaks my heart to think that someone out there who is genuinely hurting and geniunely searching might think that this is the actual Christian answer to the "Where is God?" question.
Unlike a lot of Christians, I don't think it is morally wrong for a nonbeliever to question God. As people of faith, we know that sometimes the answer to our own questions is, "My ways are higher than your ways," and that we just need to have faith that He knows what He's doing. But for those who lack a faith in the first place, to question God means to acknowledge the possibility of His existence, which surely must be a good thing. And as questioning people search for an answer, Pat Robertson's statement has the potential to drive them away from God before they have a chance to approach Him for themselves. Instead of drawing people to God, the loudest "Christian" voices choose instead to drive them away.
That being said, in light of current events, I can't help but wonder how many times when someone asks "Where is God," the real question isn't, "Where are we?"
Of course we aren't personally responsible for earthquakes, or other natural disasters. But would the scale of this devastation be as extreme if Haiti weren't so poor? And while today's deaths are on the front pages of most international newspapers, in a country that experienced 80% unemployment before the quake--in this third-world country that you can practically SEE from the U.S.--how many people have died of starvation in the last ten years, asking the whole while, "Where is God?"
Where is God? Where are WE?
Are we holding signs on street corners, protesting gay marriage with such passion? There are about 12 verses in the Bible talking about homosexuality, and none of them spoken by Jesus himself. Where was his passion? There are literally thousands of verses on poverty. Where is our thousands-of-verses-worth of passion?
Are we on the streets and in town meetings protesting abortion? Abortion isn't directly addressed in the Bible. When life begins is a grey area--some argue that it is at conception, citing Isaiah 49:1: "Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name." I think an equally compelling case could be made for at the moment of the first breath, citing Genesis 2:7: "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."
I'm not making an argument either way, and I'm certainly not saying that if you're pro-life, you should change your mind. What I am saying is that I am not 100% sure that a fetus has a soul, but I AM 100% sure that the people around the world dying from starvation, or from lack of access to medication, or from injustices we contribute to ARE PEOPLE. 100% sure. And we should care at least as much about them, and have as much passion.
We sometimes justify our own lack of concern by saying that people on the receiving end of "X" deserve what they get. But where in the Bible does it say that before we give to the poor we must first consider whether or not their poverty is of their own making? And yet, even if we don't speak the words ourselves, we at least align ourselves with the politicians and parties who place the blame for poverty firmly in the court of the poor, and say things like, "Why should my tax dollars pay for [healthcare, food, lodging, assistance] for people who are too lazy to work?" And we completely ignore the devastation caused by diseases like AIDS that we can convince ourselves people bring upon themselves.
I'll tell you right now that I am 100% uncomfortable with what the Bible says about money and poverty. People don't really talk about it, and I think that's because we're aware of just how uncomfortable it makes us feel.
Strike that. Not "us." This is ME. This isn't "you naughty other Christians." This is ME.
The Bible's stance on money is pretty simple: as long as I have more than someone else, I should almost certainly be giving mine away.
That person may take advantage of me. He may take what he doesn't deserve. And I SHOULDN'T CARE. Because over and over and over and over, the Bible, yes, and Jesus in it, says that STUFF doesn't matter. And if we care that the person to whom we have given STUFF might be taking advantage, then we care too much about STUFF.
I will never "not care" enough. I like being comfortable. My ideal personal world is one in which I have a nest egg in the bank for tough times, enough money to buy the things I want (a DVD here, a cup of Starbucks coffee there, surely it's OK if the stuff I want is small and I'm not too greedy?) when I want them, and don't think about it. But the Bible says that if I have a nest egg and somewhere in the world someone is starving, then something is wrong.
Don't believe me? Try these on for size:
Matthew 5:40-45
40And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.
41And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
42Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
43Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
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Verse 45 paraphrased: God gives rain to the unjust. He gives rain to those who don't deserve it. Be like God. If someone takes advantage of me, I should not care. He takes my coat, give him my cloak as well.
I for one am very glad that I don't suffer the consequences of all of the wrongdoing in my own life. When I screw up really badly, I have an enormous amount of gratitude when God helps me out anyway.
We are told that we are all sinful, and that the wages of sin--all sin, even the little stuff--is death, so we're all deserving of death. But even without taking it to its extreme, if arrests and/or recriminations happened every time a child stole a piece of candy, or we gave less than 100% at work, or called in sick when we shouldn't, or drove faster than the speed limit--if all of us experienced the full potential negative consequence of every negative action we took, we'd be in a sorry state of affairs. And if I had to wait for food, medicine, or comfort until I was "good" enough to receive it, I'm pretty sure I would be hungry, sick, and unhappy for the rest of my life.
This is why we are told to forgive as we are also forgiven, admonished to be wary of casting the first stone, and reminded that God rains on us, too.
But what about my nest egg?
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Matthew 6:19-34
19Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
22The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
23But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
24No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
25Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
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Verse 24 paraphrased: I can either care about God or about money. Not both.
And again in Luke 16:
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10He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.
11If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
12And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?
13No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
.....
19There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
20And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
21And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
22And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
23And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
25But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
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I could go on all day--I've tried to choose one or two passages that illustrate my point, but, as I said, there are thousands of verses. THOUSANDS. All telling me the same thing. Stuff doesn't matter; taking care of other people does. Take care of other people whether or not they deserve it. God takes care of you, and you don't deserve it.
If there were a single passage in the Bible that should be the guide for the way we lead our lives, what we strive for, and how we vote, it should be this:
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Matthew 25:31-46 (King James Version)
31When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
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Where were you, God? There you go. Sixteen verses of God telling me that someday I'm going to have to stand in front of him and answer the question, "Where were YOU?" And not one single verse telling us how he became hungry, thirsty, alone, naked, sick or in prison in the first place.
Maybe I'll never get there, and maybe I have to be pragmatic and acknowledge that if I can't get there myself, I can't realistically expect my government or the world to get there any time soon either. But, hey, baby steps. I should at least start by acknowledging that I fall short, and that that kind of love, compassion, and giving nature and action SHOULD be my goal.
And I should at least TRY to refrain from shouting the opposite viewpoint, and then maybe go a step further and work on doing something to help.
