Do You Really Mean That: Faith in Action

Not being a very social person, I’m not often on social media. But recently I stopped by and was flabbergasted to read a letter posted by a church leader I hold in high regard. He wrote, “God is not in control”.

This did not sit well with me. I agree that God does not delight in the suffering of the innocent. I don’t agree that, if God is in control, it follows that he is an “Indifferent Monster, or a vengeful narcissist”. Are God’s control and free will mutually exclusive? Or is there perhaps another option that can be found in the statement, “THEY chose to do it – YOU did not direct them.”

Personally, I believe a fundamental of the Christian life is choice. It is a gift from God and the only thing we can practice in our own strength. And for free will, or choice, to be practiced, there must be something to choose between: God, and not God. I believe this choice is the foundation of spiritual warfare.

There is no grey area in this battle: there is light and there is dark. We either trust God…

• has a plan he will see through, or we don’t
• has a purpose in what He’s doing, or we don’t
• is who He says He is or, we acknowledge He’s a liar

This may be all very well and good, but… if we choose God, will we have all the answers? No.

If we read our bible and pray daily, will we have full understanding of why God does what he does? Will we be able to understand the intricacies of God’s ways and answer the difficult questions? No.

And yet, what if, like through the prophet Micah, God were to question us?

Or like Job 40:6-8

So, instead of being mute (and ineffective) in a question sandwich between humanity and God, what do we say when people (or we) lose faith and hope? When we want understanding and answers to impossible questions? Where do we look when we want proof that God is in control, that God has a plan, and God can be trusted?

There is no doubt that there is suffering and pain and grief and desolation and unfairness and greed and corruption and abuse and a whole raft of injustices plaguing the world. When Jesus came into the world, the Jews were waiting for a king to overthrow the Roman empire and reinstate Israel’s world dominance. But God’s plan for salvation isn’t short-term, it’s eternal. God’s plan for reconciliation isn’t just for one nation, it’s universal. We have a choice, we can be like the religious leaders of the time who rejected the Messiah because he didn’t fit their mould, or we can trust God’s plan.

First, God rescued his people from slavery in Egypt, then from slavery and exile in Babylon, but ultimately in order to rescue us all from slavery to sin and exile from his presence…

And what does God expect as payment for salvation? Our life, our blood, our first born? No, that’s what he gave to obtain it. 

We read in the Bible things will get harder for Christians as we progress into end times. We are told we will suffer greatly for the name of Christ and many of the faithful will fall away. Every day we need to continue to make the choice: God or not God. And this choice will dictate our actions. So, how do we know what to do? How to act? What to say when challenged that our loving God is an indifferent monster, or a vengeful narcissist”. Our response to the world and to God for our salvation is…

Step one – Look inwards: look at ourselves: the church. The body of Christ. If we are the hands and feet of God, what are we doing? Are we curled up in the back pockets keeping warm against God’s butt. Are we snuggling down in fluffy slippers? Ankles crossed up on the couch in front of the fire? When God is accused of not doing anything, that’s on us. 

Step two – Look outwards: get information. Without facts we flounder or get in the way. Ignorance might be bliss but it’s also laziness and no excuse.

Step three – Look up: Ask God what he wants from us in the situation: 1. get our hands dirty physically helping; 2. Offer financial support—if we can’t go and do the work, fund someone who can or, 3. Pray—keep listening and staying informed in case our instructions change. Jesus came, got his hands dirty, travelled, met with all people, ate with all people, listened, ministered and taught all people the Kingdom of God is real and attainable for all: from the privileged to the untouchables.

Step one – open our eyes and hearts and accept we’re on a level playing field: we are all equally wretched, lost sinners with no capacity to save ourselves. Every single one of us needs the Saviour.

When we start pointing the finger and accusing other people of sin, or measuring one sin against another, we’re like kids in the backyard playing in mud accusing others of being muddier than we are. Truth is, we’re all muddy and we’re not going to be allowed in the house until we’ve been hosed off. The amount of mud is irrelevant.

Step two – acknowledge the grace of God and go and do the same. We have been saved by grace. There is nothing we can do to earn God’s forgiveness. The only reason we stand in the presence of God is because of what Christ has done for us. And the only difference between believers and non-believers is that we have heard and accepted God’s invitation. And we can only hear and accept the invitation because first, in love, the Father sent His Son, who died in our place, and the Holy Spirit stirred in our hearts enabling us to obtain righteousness in the Father’s eyes.

Walk in purity with your God

In Genesis 5:24 we read,

In Hebrews 11:6 we see how this was possible,

“⁵ By trusting, Enoch was taken away from this life without seeing death — “He was not to be found, because God took him away” — for he has been attested as having been, prior to being taken away, well pleasing to God.”

How do we walk in purity with God? Pleasing God?

By trusting Him.

God’s plan of salvation and reconciliation required Jesus to leave glory and be born into humanity, in poverty, to refugees. A consequence of this saw Him endure many hardships, suffering, abuse, torture and abandonment. How did he keep going? How did he see it through? First, love: for His father and for us. Secondly, he trusted His father and trusted the plan.

We look around the world and we see and experience suffering and pain and grief and desolation and unfairness and greed and corruption and abuse and a whole raft of injustices and we don’t understand it, or like it, and we can’t explain it. And yet, we’re left with the choice: God or not God.

• Does God have a plan he can and will see through, or is he floundering?
• Does God have a purpose in what He’s doing, or is he a flake?
• Is God who He says He is or, is he a fraud?

There are so many things we don’t know and cannot know: we are not God. But God has enabled us to know Him through the work of Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And based on what we do know, we need to make a choice:

ALL of God as He is or NONE of God and what He offers. 

From the evidence we’ve seen, the experience we’ve lived, and the relationship we’ve entered, our response to this question is demonstrated by our actions and inactions.

• As members of the body of Christ, what do our actions say we believe? Is God active in the world today? Can He be trusted despite us not knowing what He’s doing? Is He in control despite us not understanding what He’s doing?

• As individual children of God are justice, grace and purity evident in our lives? Is trust in God demonstrated in all we do?

If we really want to know the answers to these questions, we need to ask God and the community where we live and work.

Our actions demonstrate what we believe. Who do our actions declare is in control?

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