Tyrants, Terrorists, and Tragedies (Part 4 of 7)

This is a multi-part series that is looking to the Bible in Luke 13:1-9 for help in answering the difficult questions facing Christians when confronted with evil and tragedy in our world.

Go to Part 3

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At the end of Part 3, I offered my response to the question of why God would allow a tsunami to occur:

“The thing that amazes me most when I think about the tsunami is not that 230,000 people all over the Indian Ocean were wiped out on that day…the thing that amazes me most is that my family, along with the other 11 million people in Bangkok were allowed to live!”

Why do I believe such a statement? The answer is because sin is really that bad.

Sin, my sin, your sin, is really that bad! Sin is like spitting in the face of God, the King of Kings! In David’s Psalm of repentance in Psalm 51, he says in verse 4, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.” Not only do we sin against God, we do it in His sight! We sin right in front of Him!

One time in Bangkok, I was riding home in a taxi at about 9:30 at night. When we were almost to our house, the taxi driver said to me, “Do you want a beautiful lady?” I said “No, my wife is at home and I love her.” He said, “Come on, only 2000 baht (just under $60) for a very beautiful lady. Others will charge you 3000, 4000, or 5000 baht, but I’m only asking for 2000. I politely told him again that “I DON’T WANT THAT” and then paid him and got out, happy to come home to my wonderful wife.

What if it had happened this way: The taxi driver asks me if I want a beautiful lady. I accept and he takes me to pick up the prostitute. I have the taxi driver take me and the prostitute to my house where I ask the prostitute to wait outside the front door. I go inside, kiss my wife, and tell her how much I love her. Once my wife and I are ready to go to bed for the night, I ask my wife to wait in our bedroom. I then go downstairs and bring the prostitute up, forcing my wife to watch…

Every time we sin willfully against the Lord, that’s exactly what we’re doing! If we really believe that God sees all and knows all, then when we sin, we are knowingly and willfully betraying our King, right before His eyes.

Yes, I know it’s a very shocking, revolting, and even offensive picture. I was reluctant to even share it. I believe, however, that sharing is glorifying to God because the revulsion, horror, and anger we feel when we consider such a hypothetical scenario pales compared to the response our sin deserves.

No human can be justifiably outraged at God over a tragedy such as the tsunami. The fact of the matter is that there is no person on this earth who doesn’t deserve judgment from God. For the nicest person you know to suffer the most horrible death imaginable would still not come close to being adequate punishment for that nice person’s rebellion against the holy and righteous God of the universe.

Do I know the mind of God as it relates to the Indian Ocean tsunami? Of course not! Am I saying that God caused the tsunami? Not necessarily. There are other explanations in the Bible for evil and tragedy besides God’s judgment. What I am saying is that if God did cause the tsunami, it was a just and righteous action on God’s part.

Again, our sin is really that bad! The good news is that our sin, in all its seriousness, is not the end of the story! More about that in Part 5…