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 Religion
Haiti Disaster Relief By Pastor Phillip Howle web posted February 3, 2010 RELIGION – I have a great wife, two amazing little boys, 5 months and almost three. I pastor a pretty awesome church. I am pleasantly busy. I love where God has my life. But now a major disaster of amazing proportions has hit my life: an earthquake in Haiti. I watched little children dead on TV, while holding my well fed and healthy son Cason in my arms. I explained to him what happened, the fact that people had no food or houses and that we must pray. I also told him that we would give money to help the people. We’ve prayed for them every night. And I was content that, that was enough. But then I got an email, a trip was forming to go to Haiti. One lady in my church, who will go anywhere to help someone in need, was already signed up to go. I read the email and knew I was going to go Haiti as well. Nothing can shake a comfortable life, like heading into the middle of a natural disaster. Many will ask, why a natural disaster, why did this happen? This is a big question that only Christians have to answer. We are going to look at a few wrong answers to that question this week and come back and give a right answer next week. So, wrong answers first. You see, for the atheist this is not a problem. For them, life is a cosmic accident, meaning is non-existent, and in Haiti the strong will survive the weak will die. Just the way it is when the gears of natural selection keep churning along. So then for atheists this question of why or how does not matter. For them it is so what, more randomness, more bad luck, more happenchance, too bad for Haiti. But for those who believe in the God of the Bible, we still have a problem. Buddhists are similar to atheists in that they reject the notion of a benevolent, omnipotent creator God, identifying such beliefs as attachments to a false concept. They further would advise those Haitians to strive for nirvana. So in the midst of all the suffering and tragedy they could be removed from all consciousness of joy or sorrow. Hindus have no problem either. As their millions of gods may or may not even be responsible for this disaster. Furthermore, they say that suffering from natural disasters is explained by the karmic results of previous births. In other words the “bad” people of Haiti have done some bad stuff and they are getting bad karma back in return. Now some Christians wrongly take this reasoning as well. Pat Robertson said concerning the people of Haiti "They were under the heel of the French… and swore a pact to the devil. They said 'We will serve you if you will get us free from the prince… And so the devil said, 'Ok it’s a deal.”…The Haitians revolted and got something themselves free. But ever since they have been cursed by one thing after another." Now, I am not a Haitian history scholar, but the fact of a supposed pact with Satan is inconsequential when it comes to what has happened to them. Jesus addresses a similar issue in John 9:1-3 “As He was passing by, He saw a man blind from birth. (2) His disciples questioned Him: "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" (3) "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," Jesus answered. "This came about so that God's works might be displayed in him.” Sin was not the cause of this man’s blindess, but the blindness was going to become a chance for God to show His power as Jesus prepared to cure this man’s natural sickness. Furthermore, Ezekiel writes concerning each man’s own personal responsibility before God in 18:19-20 “But you may ask: Why doesn't the son suffer punishment for the father's iniquity? Since the son has done what is just and right, carefully observing all My statutes, he will certainly live. (20) The person who sins is the one who will die. A son won't suffer punishment for the father's iniquity, and a father won't suffer punishment for the son's iniquity.” Ezekiel is not addressing the question of natural disasters, so I am not saying the sins of Haiti brought this own, just that the sins of their forefathers did not. Now, some like the Jewish Rabbi Harold Kushner author of “When Bad Things Happen To Good People.” Say that God is doing the best He can and we should cut God some slack because God lacks the power to stop natural disasters from happening. Wow! Who wants a winnie God that is smaller and less powerful than the world He created? Some Christians known as open theists take a form of this argument as well. Some atheists will say: have your “God,” just don’t say your God is good. They will state that if a perfectly good god exists, then evil cannot exist and because there is evil in the world then a perfectly good god does not exist. The problem here is that they have imposed an external standard and a human definition of goodness upon God. But good does not just define God. It is God who defines what is good. God says that anything that brings us closer to Him is good. God also says that in God’s amazingly efficient plan that nothing happens that does not work out for a greater good (Rom 8:28) The problem they face is claiming to know more than God. We as sinful humans are limited and finite and can’t fully understand an infinite, holy, God. Let me explain it to you like this. I am a parent. And the other week my son Luke had to get his shots. This was a regular vaccination to prevent needless childhood diseases. I do this because I love my son. Little Luke sees this very differently. He thinks we are standing around while strange people jab needles in his legs. He cries and feels rough the rest of the day. All Luke sees is the now moment and the hurt, while we see the good this brings about in the future. So just as an infant cannot possibly understand the motives of his or her parent while still a child, people cannot comprehend God's will in their current physical and fallen state. So for right now, it is better to stay humble than to give a wrong answer as to why natural disaster happen in the world. We who are Christians are still left to explain how or why God allowed the earthquake in Haiti to occur. Next week I will attempt to answer the question as to why or how God allows for natural disasters. Think hard, love God, pray for Haiti! Pastor Phillip © Copyright 2010
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