I have the honor and the privilege of having an article printed monthly (or whenever I can conjure some coherent thoughts together) for The Piedmont Citizen. Editor Ben Felder was nice enough to ask me last year to consider penning some articles along with some of the other ministers in town.
(For what its worth: Their website, Piedmont Daily, features great stories and up-to-date news and happenings in our fair town.They also have several Twitter accounts that update Piedmont High School sports and news. If it happens in Piedmont, you'll pretty much see it there first. )
My contributions to the Citizen will probably end up being the backbone of my blog, so I will submit them here in humble hopes that you will find sometime meaningful in them. The following article was published in October of 2012.
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I read an article awhile back about “space junk.” Orbiting our planet at speeds more than 4.5 miles per second is a growing collection of space junk. Nuts, bolts, and other discarded debris from space flights are presenting a real hazard to future spacecraft. Their sheer speed makes the tiniest object strike with the impact of a bullet. During one of the shuttle missions, a speck of paint created a pit a quarter-inch wide in a window of the craft.
One study revealed that there are 110,000 objects larger than 1 centimeter in orbit. Their combined weight is 4 million pounds! To avoid a space junk disaster, the U.S. Space Command monitors orbiting debris for NASA.
Believe it or not, I think about that article when I read of a far more important item on my personal radar....disbelief in God due to human suffering. The line of reasoning can usually be broken down to its essence with the statement, “How can a loving and active God allow extreme cases of human suffering?” Suffering and tragedy create thorny, difficult problems to answer and accept. In the 2000+ year old game of “gotcha” between Christianity and the secular, this has been a trump card for both the faithful and faithless. Even the most dedicated Christian can struggle with the allowance of grievous mistreatment, abuse and persecution.
Having said all that, it is important to remember an eternal truth - sin has long lasting and far reaching consequences. Hunger and famine in our world today are just as much the result of corrupt political regimes, racism and improper growing techniques as they are circumstance beyond any human’s control. The brutal and heartbreaking conditions in sub-Saharan Africa spawn tales of centuries old prejudices, class warfares and warlord mentalities that breed genocide and mass suffering. Political infighting, corrupt regimes - and yes, religious oppression, also lead to suffering in regions of Asia, India and island regions. These sufferings are in large part due to “sin junk”, the tragic consequences of greed and other failures.
I’m not going to pretend that a simple illustration is going to solve centuries of debate, but do not discount how much society’s problems are by their own hand. We know that on smaller scales, sinful choices create their own kind of junk - unintended consequences. When Achan stole and hid forbidden booty, it cost him his life (Joshua 7). After King David committed adultery and murder, family discord followed (2 Samuel 15-18). Could God clean up all of these messes if He chose to do so? Yes. But then again, we would not truly have free will as human beings if He did.
Besides, God has sent His response to a suffering world as a possible solution....followers of Christ! We are to strive to be part of the solution to sin’s consequences, to the point that we fall short of God’s plans for us if we do not. (See James 4:17.)
Finally, don’t forget that God does offer to resolve our biggest issue - personal sin, the sin we can actually do something about. Do you have any “junk” in your life? Sin’s consequences have a way of accumulating and pulverizing our lives. Deal with the problems that are within your immediate reach - your own - and then endeavor to be part of the solution for those who suffer the consequences of mankind’s failures.
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” (Galatians 6:7)
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