Practical Christian Mysticism

“Why does God let bad things happen to good people?” , “Why do the innocent suffer?”, “How can a loving God let this happen?”…. These questions bother many, both religious and non-religious alike. Many who fall away from their faith quote these ancient ever-present questions. A new book out called “God’s Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question - Why We Suffer” by Bart Ehrman is about the thought process of one such person who struggles against those questions. I believe the source of these questions has very little to do with Scriptural inadequacies, and much more to do with fundamental problems in our perception of who God is.

Our religious culture has, over time, developed a more warped view of God. I believe this happened parallel to the commercialization of our culture. In an effort to “grow ministries” and “gain more followers” people have tried to make God more palatable to the masses. Instead of seeking converts, we converted God to fit more people’s views. And let’s not forget the culture of televangelist who will say just about anything about God to get you to send in a donation.

In the minds of many, God has become little more than a benevolent jinni (genie) or all-powerful Santa Claus in the sky. We pray to God to get thing we want, or “faith” is our blind belief that God will grant our wishes, and God’s love is little more than a shallow desire that all humanity should be “happy”. This kind of Saturday-morning happy-go-lucky divinity may sell books, but it makes for poor spirituality and perverse religion.

One of the more cohesive points in “God’s Problem” is most theologians assert that we suffer in the world due to free will, but that doesn’t solve the problem of natural disasters and disease. In other words, most of our suffering is self-inflicted and God doesn’t stop it as we must have the ability to live our lives by our own choosing but that doesn’t account for why we have the added suffering from “acts of God”. Why would a “loving God” send hurricanes, earthquakes, disease, etc.

So this brings me to the fundamental issue with the popular view of God: We keep thinking that God is interested in making our present lives better or “happy”. In truth, God’s interest is in the next life, not this one. Our fundamental problem with the “loving God” concept, is that we think God’s love is directed at improving our lives, when in fact it is about saving our souls. More of often than not, saving our souls is takes the appearance of ruining our lives rather than improving it.

If we preach a God who just wants to make our lives better, then things like natural disasters don’t make sense. However, if we realize that God is interested in our souls then we understand that God is often trying to “wake us up” and tear us apart from the material world we so easily become comfortable in. It seems like God is being mean when our houses burn down, or we get sick, or even just loose our jobs, but all of these things are often just drastic measures God has to take to awaken our very complacent spirits. Of course, I would also argue that disease is usually a product of our own sin as well, but that is another blog entry all together.

Let’s just get down-to-earth for a minute. God is God, we are not God. People like Bart Ehrman who just want to whine about how hard life is are trying to reverse roles - asking God to serve us. God’s love and mercy are only understood within the context of the grace He shows to His children who have rejected Him. When we put God in the place of a servant who is just here to keep us happy, nothing makes sense. This understanding an essential foundation of Christian mysticism, Christianity, and just about any theo-centric philosophy all together.

God doesn’t have a problem, we have a problem with God. We want God make us happy, but that’s not the order of the Universe. We are here to seek the face of God, and only when that takes true priority in our lives do all the questions begin to make sense.

“For a time we stuck with the shepherd
but you wouldn’t play Santa Claus.”
- Newsboys, Lost the Plot