This is a question that pastors often get asked. And I’ll admit it’s a tough one to answer. However, I don’t think the reason it is hard to answer is because there is no answer. Rather I think that (at least) two other factors come in to play that make this a difficult question:
1.) People rarely ask it dispassionately. Usually someone they love very much just died in a car accident or just got diagnosed with cancer. That complicates the answering process, because even though the person is asking a fact-based question (ie: Why did X happen?), they don’t really want a fact-based answer. They want a feelings-based answer to comfort them. And therefore, it’s hard to give a helpful answer to the emotional person because facts are not always comforting.
2.) While I certainly believe there are several wrong answers to this question (ex: “God wishes he could do something about it, but He can’t” or “there is no such thing as good and bad; things just are what they are”) I also believe there’s more than one right answer to this question. And I also believe that some answers are “more right” than others.
I remember sitting in a seminary class, years ago, and the professor gave us multiple solutions to what is called, “The Problem of Evil” (ie: how can a good God cause or allow evil to exist?) Here are some of the things he listed:
1.) People rarely ask it dispassionately. Usually someone they love very much just died in a car accident or just got diagnosed with cancer. That complicates the answering process, because even though the person is asking a fact-based question (ie: Why did X happen?), they don’t really want a fact-based answer. They want a feelings-based answer to comfort them. And therefore, it’s hard to give a helpful answer to the emotional person because facts are not always comforting.
2.) While I certainly believe there are several wrong answers to this question (ex: “God wishes he could do something about it, but He can’t” or “there is no such thing as good and bad; things just are what they are”) I also believe there’s more than one right answer to this question. And I also believe that some answers are “more right” than others.
I remember sitting in a seminary class, years ago, and the professor gave us multiple solutions to what is called, “The Problem of Evil” (ie: how can a good God cause or allow evil to exist?) Here are some of the things he listed:
- The Stable Environment Defense: A stable environment is necessary for human life, but it opens up the possibility of evil. For example, the law of gravity will not be temporarily repealed to save me from falling down the stairs.
- The Free Will Defense: Evil came about by the free choice of rational creatures. God is not accountable for the bad things that come from our choices.
- The Character-Building Defense: For human beings to come to full maturity, it is necessary that we undergo various forms of pain and suffering to build our character.
- Best Possible World Defense: This world is the best world that God could have produced, not because of weakness, but because of the logic of creation. For example, for bravery to exist there must be danger; for compassion to exist there must be suffering.
- Greater Good Defense: God uses evil for his own good purposes.
I looked back at my class notes; those are just five of the reasons that my seminary professor listed. Personally, I would say that there is some truth to all five of those reasons, and yet some of them are better than others. Additionally, some of them are more biblical than others. For instance, the Character-Building Defense is found in Hebrews 12:7-11 and the Greater Good Defense is found in Romans 8:28 and Genesis 50:20, whereas the Stable Environment Defense isn’t in the Bible (given as a reason for suffering) that I’m aware of.
Ok, back to my point about how this is a difficult question to answer. When someone just found out their grandmother has Parkinsons, it’s hard to list things like how a stable environment is necessary for human life, or that disease is necessary for wellness to be identified and appreciated. Additionally, because this is so wrapped up with our emotions, telling people that suffering builds character (even if it’s true!) doesn’t usually comfort someone in the moment. Even God using evil for His own good purposes doesn’t always comfort people in the midst of distress. (And yet it is one of the most important truths that God has given to us.)
So, it’s a tough question to be on the receiving end of. Nonetheless, I thought that it would be worth it for me to try to answer this question with a few thoughts of my own. Not that these thoughts are original to me, but I’d like to say some things – in my own words – and add them to what has already been discussed.
Usually, the first thing that I think of when I hear the question “Why do bad things happen to good people?” (and this is definitely one of those answers that does not comfort people!) is that there are no good people. Every single human being (except Jesus) is sinful. All of us have disobeyed and betrayed God countless times. Every one of us deserves to be separated from God and His goodness. There is no suffering in this life that is “unfair,” in the sense that God punishes innocent people. He doesn’t do that. There are no innocent people.
The second thing I think of, is that God doesn’t take away anything from anyone that He didn’t first give to them by grace. So, God is not stealing from anyone when He causes (or allows) something unhappy to happen. It’s like when Romans 11 says, “Who has ever first given to [God] and has to be repaid?” It’s a rhetorical question and the answer is: no one.
I especially think of this idea when someone dies at a younger age than expected. Often people will say, “Well, of course my grandma died when she was 90 years old; that is to be expected. But why did God allow that 18-year-old to die?” Often, there is even a hint of accusation there. It’s almost as if the person assumes that God has done something wrong in not preventing the death of the 18-year-old, or at the very least, He owes us an explanation.
Here is something that I said to someone who asked me this question on a Sunday morning recently. They had recently endured the loss of a friend who died at a surprisingly young age. And they asked me in passing, so I only had time for a soundbite of an answer.
I said something along these lines: “Imagine if I didn’t owe anybody any money. And then I chose to give one of my loved ones $90 and another one of them $18. Is that wrong of me? Keep in mind, I don’t owe either of them any money at all. But I chose to give one of them $90 as a gift, and I chose to give another one of them $18 as a gift. Should I be charged with wrongdoing for the $18 gift?”
God gives us every year of our lives and every breath in our lungs. He didn’t owe us even one of them. And if God chooses to give some people more of something (money, health, years), who are we to charge Him with wrongdoing?
Lastly, I want to point out that God is fixing the problem of evil. Stage #1 involved Jesus dying on the cross for sins, so that God could punish the sins of His people without destroying the people. Stage #2 involves Jesus returning and making all things new.
So, at least for Christians, we will live with God one day in eternity. (I also pointed this out to the person at church who asked me about this; I think this person’s friend is in heaven.) When we’ve been there ten thousand years, we will not criticize God for the number of years we lived or the suffering that was in our lives. We will be happy with Him forever.
Ok, back to my point about how this is a difficult question to answer. When someone just found out their grandmother has Parkinsons, it’s hard to list things like how a stable environment is necessary for human life, or that disease is necessary for wellness to be identified and appreciated. Additionally, because this is so wrapped up with our emotions, telling people that suffering builds character (even if it’s true!) doesn’t usually comfort someone in the moment. Even God using evil for His own good purposes doesn’t always comfort people in the midst of distress. (And yet it is one of the most important truths that God has given to us.)
So, it’s a tough question to be on the receiving end of. Nonetheless, I thought that it would be worth it for me to try to answer this question with a few thoughts of my own. Not that these thoughts are original to me, but I’d like to say some things – in my own words – and add them to what has already been discussed.
Usually, the first thing that I think of when I hear the question “Why do bad things happen to good people?” (and this is definitely one of those answers that does not comfort people!) is that there are no good people. Every single human being (except Jesus) is sinful. All of us have disobeyed and betrayed God countless times. Every one of us deserves to be separated from God and His goodness. There is no suffering in this life that is “unfair,” in the sense that God punishes innocent people. He doesn’t do that. There are no innocent people.
The second thing I think of, is that God doesn’t take away anything from anyone that He didn’t first give to them by grace. So, God is not stealing from anyone when He causes (or allows) something unhappy to happen. It’s like when Romans 11 says, “Who has ever first given to [God] and has to be repaid?” It’s a rhetorical question and the answer is: no one.
I especially think of this idea when someone dies at a younger age than expected. Often people will say, “Well, of course my grandma died when she was 90 years old; that is to be expected. But why did God allow that 18-year-old to die?” Often, there is even a hint of accusation there. It’s almost as if the person assumes that God has done something wrong in not preventing the death of the 18-year-old, or at the very least, He owes us an explanation.
Here is something that I said to someone who asked me this question on a Sunday morning recently. They had recently endured the loss of a friend who died at a surprisingly young age. And they asked me in passing, so I only had time for a soundbite of an answer.
I said something along these lines: “Imagine if I didn’t owe anybody any money. And then I chose to give one of my loved ones $90 and another one of them $18. Is that wrong of me? Keep in mind, I don’t owe either of them any money at all. But I chose to give one of them $90 as a gift, and I chose to give another one of them $18 as a gift. Should I be charged with wrongdoing for the $18 gift?”
God gives us every year of our lives and every breath in our lungs. He didn’t owe us even one of them. And if God chooses to give some people more of something (money, health, years), who are we to charge Him with wrongdoing?
Lastly, I want to point out that God is fixing the problem of evil. Stage #1 involved Jesus dying on the cross for sins, so that God could punish the sins of His people without destroying the people. Stage #2 involves Jesus returning and making all things new.
So, at least for Christians, we will live with God one day in eternity. (I also pointed this out to the person at church who asked me about this; I think this person’s friend is in heaven.) When we’ve been there ten thousand years, we will not criticize God for the number of years we lived or the suffering that was in our lives. We will be happy with Him forever.
