Why Do Bad Things Happen to God’s People?

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”– Revelation 2:7

Earlier this week the world woke up to devastating news—news which we had already been grieving for a few days. The tragic deaths of Ryan and Lora Smith and their four-year-old son, Caleb, have pierced the hearts of the American-expat, Georgian, and Azerbaijani communities alike. This family who had been living in the country of Georgia for the last several years, and who were so intent on remaining here that they even acquired Georgian citizenship, were murdered while on a camping trip less than an hour’s drive from the capital city of Tbilisi. At the time of this writing, the factors surrounding this horrific crime continue to change depending on who tells the story. The Georgian government has released conflicting reports, and as a result, news articles covering their deaths have changed as well. This abrupt taking of life remains shrouded in mystery. But I do not want to write about the circumstances of their deaths. I want to ponder two questions: who were the Smiths, and why do bad things happen to God’s people?

Lora, four-year-old son, Caleb, and Ryan Smith. Missionary Family Murdered in Georgia.

Yes, I said “God’s people.” Why? Although the abundance of news articles currently blanketing the internet speak of Ryan’s fabulous carpet business, of Lora’s English classes in a local school, and of their desire to build a park for kids in their community with their own money, Ryan and Lora Smith were first and foremost missionaries who were sharing their lives and their Christian faith with those in the southern, mostly-Azerbaijani populated region of Marneuli, Georgia. I first met the Smiths four years ago at an international church service in Tbilisi. My path would later cross with Ryan at conferences and other events. I envied his knowledge of the Azerbaijani language, his inroads into the local community, and his knowledge of the culture. His passion for his work, love for his family, and gift for working with people have all been highly attested to. The Smiths were “God’s people,” serving Him by reaching out to this impoverished, difficult, and spiritually needy region of the world.

Why did this happen? Why this family? In our sorrow Scripture whispers to us on behalf of this family, “Death is working in us, but life in you.” We believe that God can and will take this tragedy and use it for His glory. Why in this manner? It all seems so meaningless! To our questioning hearts Scripture shouts to us on behalf of this family, “Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.”

What is God’s answer to us? It is not meaningless! There is purpose in the suffering and even death of the believer. It is producing something heavy—an eternal weight of glory—for them. Although it seems to be producing only grief in my life now, I shift my eyes from the seemingly meaningless death of friends and colleagues to the rock-hard truth of Scripture. “Look to the unseen, my heart! Look to that which is invisible to the naked eye! Look to the eternal!” There is wondrous glory, reward, and honor granted to this family! I choose to preach to my heart and mind, “The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed…” For the Smith family, this glory was revealed the moment they departed this sinful, fallen world, and stepped into eternity.

As noted by John Piper, one of the most seemingly senseless deaths in the Bible was that of John the Baptist. Due to the whimsical offer of a king after the dance of a girl at a party, John’s head was cut off and laid on a platter. “Meaningless!” we scream. But what was Jesus’ evaluation of John? “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist.”

Commenting on the passage in Second Corinthians, chapter four, John Piper says, “Not only is all your affliction momentary. Not only is all your affliction light, in comparison to eternity and the glory there. But all of it is totally meaningful! Now that is a very controversial statement because of all the insane suffering there is in the world. Every time something horrific happens an interviewer will say ‘Meaningless.’ That is what it looks like…. This text says, ‘Our light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight.’ It doesn’t say ‘will be followed by an eternal weight of glory.’ That would be good enough. But that’s not what it says…. I’ll venture this. Every millisecond from the pain of your fallen nature or fallen man, every millisecond of your misery in the path of obedience is producing a peculiar glory you will get because of that…. If anybody says to me that a believer’s suffering was meaningless, I’ll be quiet, probably, because they’re hurting really bad. But I’m going to come back eventually and say, ‘It wasn’t meaningless…’ It’s doing something! It’s doing something! Of course you can’t see what it’s doing. This is the main unseen thing verse eighteen is talking about. What’s the unseen you’re supposed to look at?  You’re supposed to look at the promise of God in verse seventeen that says your pain is doing something for you. You can’t see it. You can’t feel it. Either you see it with the eyes of faith, believe it because the text says it, or you lose heart.”

Now Rejoicing in the Presence of Their King

Why do bad things happen to God’s people? Every morning I wake up wishing this tragedy had never occurred. I grieve that we live in a fallen, broken world. Injustice reigns. Calamity befalls believer and unbeliever alike. The rain falls on the just and the unjust. We find our solace in the sovereignty of God. We find our peace in the meaningful sacrifice of the Prince of Peace. We find our way through the pain of loss by means of the unseen gain produced by suffering. As Job said, “Though He slay me, yet I will trust Him.” He also wrote, “And after my flesh is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God.” And so, as Job, we treasure the words of God more than our necessary food. And we choose to believe that God is working all things together for good to those who love Him. While our hearts grieve at the unspeakable loss, and while tears roll down our cheeks as we consider the loved ones of the Smiths, we choose to look to that which is unseen, to the unchanging Scripture that both whispers comfort and shouts truth to us in our pain.

For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?– I John 5:4-5

Links

MIA Confirms American Family Murdered in Dusheti — Georgia Today 7/9/2018
Father, toddler son shot dead in Georgia; mother falls into ravine while fleeing attacker, officials say — Fox News 7/10/2018
Dream-Weavers’ Deaths Leave Georgian Town At A Loss — RFERL 7/11/2018
None of Our Misery is Meaningless — John Piper
Overcome — Jeremy Camp

Other Scriptures Used

II Corinthians 4:12
II Corinthians 4:17-18
Romans 8:18
Matthew 11:11
Job 13:15
Job 19:26
Romans 8:28

Missing Out on a Biblical Missiology

I wrote this article couple of years ago for another website, but it was never published. Perhaps it was a little too provocative, or counter-Christian-culture? Not sure. So, I am posting it here. 🙂

 

You’ve heard the trendy phrases: “Being on mission.” “Missional living.”

When I hear such phrases I find that I am grateful to be living overseas, and that such trendiness has not entered my lexicon. Christian fads and Christianese phrases come and go. Unfortunately, they often do damage before they are kicked out the door.

I am not going to talk about being on mission, or creating missional communities. Instead, I want to discuss something far more important. A Biblical concept which, when applied, will have global repercussions. Missions. Not missional. Not on mission. But missions. Simple, not trendy. Black coffee, hold the soy and sugar substitute.

Missions is a non-Biblical term used to describe a Biblical church’s intentional and international evangelical activity. Hold on. You said international. Are you one of those guys that thinks that foreign missions is more important than domestic missions? Well, not really. I just think that somehow we need to differentiate between these concepts, both for the general understanding of the people in the pews as well as for proper implementation of the vision that the Lord has given to us as a church. For you see, when everyone is a missionary, then no one is. And when everything is missions, then nothing is.

Call it foreign outreach and domestic outreach if you insist on putting them on the same level, but please leave my friend, the word ‘missions’, alone. This word is special, for it is within this concept that we see the intention, character, and glory of our Heavenly Father. From Genesis to Jonah God revealed his heart for the nations. New Testament missions is simply the outworking of the eternal plan of God, and it continues today in our time, in our generation.

What is Biblical missions?

1. Serving: In Acts 13 we see Saul, Barnabus, and the leaders of the church in Antioch ministering to the Lord. They were already actively involved in the life of the body of Christ, effective servant-leaders who had their hand to the plow. They had a history of faithfully representing Christ in their cities, and they were witnesses to the grace of God. Sometimes I ask people who want to come to the mission field what they currently are doing in their home church. Amazingly, many of these people are not serving in any capacity. Missions begins with serving in the place where God has planted you.

2. Calling: The Holy Spirit will always faithfully represent the plan of God to the people of God. He is not trying to keep something hidden from us. God’s plan always incorporated active ways to make known his salvation to those who have not heard—and He called people to do it. In fact, when I read the Book of Acts I get the idea that the early church had to be chided along, even handed over for persecution, before they were willing to go beyond the borders with which they were familiar. The Lord will make His heart for the world known to those who are seeking and serving Him.

3. Sending: Although Paul and Barnabus were sent out by the Holy Spirit, they were also sent away by the church in Antioch. There are two things here that are important to see. First, the church needs to be ready to release (with authority and support) those whom the Lord sets apart to Himself for the work of the Gospel internationally. Second, the church needs to thrust out, even their best workers into the distant fields of the world for the sake of the Gospel. The difference is slight, but important. Many times we just wait for the Lord to put the desire on someone’s heart to go. Or worse, we are grateful that some independent person (read potentially trouble-causing) all of a sudden wants to go to the other side of the world. But that is passive missions, or even poisonous missions, and it is a reason why most churches don’t have anyone from their own fellowship whom they actively and wholeheartedly support on the mission field. Active missions is discipling people with the specific intent of sending them out to be involved in church-planting oriented activities.

4. Church-planting oriented: Wherever the Apostles went, the result was the establishing of local churches. The word church means assembly, and it is used in the Bible of gatherings of believers and non-believers alike. However, it is mostly reserved for this special organism which we know to be both the body and the bride of Christ. If our goal in missions does not encourage, revolve around, or result in a local church, we may be doing missions, but not New Testament missions. Am I saying that humanitarian trips are not missions? Orphanage ministry? Refugees? Business as mission? No, no, no, and no. What I am saying is that the New Testament model for missions seems persistent in the development of local assemblies. Did the disciples wait on tables? Yes. Did the disciples assist widows? Yes. Was the church tasked with helping orphans? Yes. Pure and undefiled religion… But these important activities are most effectively done in the context of a local church.

5. Remembering: Paul the Apostle, missionary extraordinaire, saw the need to revisit the churches that he had planted, and the need to maintain continual connection and communication with them. Much of the first portions of his missionary journeys were dedicated to visiting those churches which had been established on earlier mission trips. Also, much of the text of his letters was written to address certain problems, people, or a mixture of the two. Always one who was sensitive to the fact that he was no pope holding sway over these local congregations, Paul could write sternly but in humility. His earlier letters, such as to the Thessalonians, are more stern and commanding, perhaps in view of their recent establishment and their lack of existing local leadership. His letters to other churches, such as to the Corinthians, were more suggestive and persuasive, perhaps because of the age of the church and the existence of other local leaders. But Paul saw the need to communicate a consistent vision and demonstrate an overwhelming love to these churches again and again and again.

Missions is the method that the Lord has established for the broadcasting of His splendor to the nations. Do you have an active vision for missions? This is not a passing fad, but is the heartbeat of our Father.