As Real As It Gets

Who can command things to happen without the Lord’s permission? Does not the Most High send both calamity and good? Then why should we, mere humans, complain when we are punished for our sins? Instead, let us test and examine our ways. Let us turn back to the LORD. Let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven and say, “We have sinned and rebelled, and you have not forgiven us. [Lamentations 3.37-42]

This is as real as it gets in Christianity. Failure to understand the timeless message Jeremiah gave here is devastating. And yet, Christians today still miss the point entirely and say, "That was Old Testament... we have Jesus!"

Here is TRUTH: 

    Jesus is no good to us without faith. 

    Faith is no good to us without actions. 

    Actions are no good to us without repentance.

Even before Jesus, Jeremiah answered why 'bad things happen to good people' in the passage above. Bad things were then, and are now, punishment for sin. The greatest area of sin in Jeremiah's day was only different than the greatest area of sin today in that it is even worse today... That sin is idolatry!

Jeremiah asks the question: "why should we, mere humans, complain when we are punished for our sins?"

Jeremiah proceeds then to offer the solution to the problem with this (again, timeless) instruction: "Instead, let us test and examine our ways. Let us turn back to the LORD. Let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven and say, “We have sinned and rebelled, and you have not forgiven us."

Repentance is as necessary today as it was in the day of Jeremiah. The greatest sin of Jeremiah's day pales however in comparison to the greatest sin of people today. The sin of idolatry - trusting in anything or anyone other than God - is at an all-time high. And in this great faith failure, God's people lead the way in persistently denying that the bad things defined IN THE BIBLE as punishment for sin are in fact punishment for sin! Instead, it is said that "stuff just happens." 

Fate ("stuff just happens") is an idol and a terrible idol at that! But fate is precisely what the Church has inadvertently trusted in. At least the world has sense enough to trace bad things back to human origin (climate change, etc...) but still without repentance (they trust that humans can fix it)! The Church on the other hand receives punishment over and over and still holds to the idolatrous doctrine of fate. Or WORSE, the Church today attributes bad things to the loving hand of God for some creative good in their lives without a moment of reflection or repentance (there is simply not room here to explain all that is wrong with this ridiculous assumption).

If the Old Testament could be summed up in a single statement, it would be, "God's people struggle to trust God alone instead of idols." Sadly, the New Testament could be described in the exact same words - even though New Testament folks have the advantage of Christ's example and sacrifice!

Jeremiah gave a clue as to how this happens a couple chapters back:

Your prophets have said so many foolish things, false to the core. They did not save you from exile by pointing out your sins. Instead, they painted false pictures, filling you with false hope. [Jeremiah 2.14]

"They painted false pictures, filling you with false hope..." is EXACTLY the same as saying, "Bad things happen to good people." It is false to the core and foolish and will save no one from their sins. Not even the blood of Christ atones for the unrepentant!

And yet... in deference to people's emotions (even our own) we worship the idol of fate: write books, teach classes, and preach sermons that 'bad things happen to good people' giving false (damnable and demonic) hope instead of heralding the obvious need of repentance for sin.

This is too important to let fear of offending anyone suffering 'bad things' deter us from rightly dividing the truth about why bad things happen. Bad things happened to Israel because they pandered to false gods - idols! So, it must be pointed out here again that Israel's greatest sin was not murder, theft, or destruction - it was instead their repeated faithlessness to God alone. It was their incessant pursuit of idols for benefits God said He alone would give.

However, unpopular this message is, it is too important to ignore!

Father, help us to hear Your timeless message from Jeremiah. May we be found repentant - may we be found with humble and contrite spirits - may we be found trusting in You and You alone!