A common question that came up before I left on the Race went something like this, “If there truly is a god then why doesn’t he just save everyone? Why does he need you? And why would he allow evil?”
These are incredibly loaded questions and require an even more loaded answer. But God has been placing it on my heart lately to answer these questions as simply and easily as possible. I don’t know why. I don’t even think these simple answers could alter anyone’s thinking but maybe this is supposed to encourage a discouraged believer. Who knows. But here it goes.
First off, what is evil anyway? And how does one make the criteria of what evil is and isn’t? What is evil to one person may seem perfectly fine to another. Our flawed human logic cannot even begin to determine exactly what is evil and what isn’t.
So when people ask why God doesn’t just stamp out evil altogether, well then it would have to include everything. All supposed evil. It would include our lies, our lack of love, our selfishness. Everything. Who of us would still be here?
In our human understanding there are evils that are worse than others, like murder for example. But to God it is all sin and it grieves him just as much if you decide to lie to or slander your neighbor. You may not agree with this but please search the Bible for a different explanation. You won’t find one. All sin is equally evil in God’s eyes.
Evil is the absence of something good. In order for evil to exist there has to exist a perfect goodness. Evil is the corruption of something that already exists, it does not have its own existence. For example, rot can only exist as long as the tree does. Or tooth decay only as long as there is a tooth.
So yes there is evil, but Jesus came to give us freedom and life from this evil. Sure, this evil world is not the best of all possible worlds, but it is the best way to the best possible world.
And even though evil exists God can bring so much good out of it. Take Joseph for example. He was sold into slavery by his brothers but God used this dire situation and he ended up saving a whole nation from a famine. The enemy can try all he wants to make evil win; but it never will.
Then you might argue why doesn’t God just make all people believers and then evil could be significantly reduced? The thing is is that love cannot be programmed. It must be freely expressed or it isn’t love. We would merely be robots following their maker. As author Ravi Zacharius so eloquently put it, “Forced love is rape and god is not a divine rapist. He will not coerce your decision. God made evil possible, humans make it actual.”
That’s all I got. Hopefully this blog will make you think or at least seek answers more on your own. But the thing we must remember is that we are not God. We are mere humans who can’t even begin to understand the will of God. What I do know is that I am His follower and I’ve been called by my maker to spread the gospel of His love and share it with others. That’s all I can do. It’s up to each individual person to decide whether or not they want to love and follow God. And it’s up to everyone to make this evil world just a little bit nicer.
