The Secret Message in Some of Our Most Popular Christmas Carols

By Brian Lowther

With Christmas just days away, Christmas music can be heard on every radio station, and in practically every store and elevator in America. Often we don't pay attention to the lyrics of Christmas music because we’re so accustomed to them. It’s easy to sing along, but how often do we think about the words as we sing? Some popular Christmas songs are rather inappropriate, but the lyrics of several Christmas carols are marvelous and profound, and if you listen closely you might discover a secret message. One such carol is “O little town of Bethlehem.”

O little town of Bethlehem,
How still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep,
The silent stars go by.
   Yet in thy dark streets shineth
   The everlasting Light.
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight.

For Christ is born of Mary,
And gathered all above,
While mortals sleep, the angels keep
Their watch of wondering love.
   O morning stars, together
   Proclaim the holy birth
And praises sing to God, the King,
And peace to men on earth.

O holy Child of Bethlehem,
Descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sins and enter in,
Be born to us today.
   We hear the Christmas angels
   The great glad tidings tell:
Oh, come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Emmanuel!

“O Little Town of Bethlehem” has many common Christian themes such as an everlasting light shining in the dark, our sins being cast out, and peace on earth. It concludes with a word that sums up all of these themes: “Emmanuel,” which is commonly known to mean, “God with us.” But hidden within the name Emmanuel is an awe-inspiring biblical vision.

Thy Kingdom Come

In singing “Emmanuel,” we are, in affect praying for God’s kingdom to come and his will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. In other words, we are singing / praying for shalom, a one-word summary of God’s will for the earth and everything living on it.

The usual connotation of shalom is “peace.” And, while peace is one aspect of shalom, it doesn’t begin to describe the full meaning of the word. In the biblical sense, shalom is an all-encompassing term that essentially means perfect harmony, rest, and completeness. In her essay, “Shalom: The Goal of International Development,” Beth Snodderly defines shalom as, “wholeness and wellness in the context of right relationships with God, people, and nature.”[1] That says it all. 

During this holiday season which is so thoroughly associated with gift giving, what gift can we give to a person or a society in need that will reflect the shalom God wants for all of creation? What will it take to see God’s kingdom come to the troubled lands of the Congo, Sudan, Myanmar, or Aleppo?  

As an answer, we can extend shalom at an individual level by proclaiming good news to the poor, freedom for the oppressed, and sight for the blind.[2] But these proclamations need to be empowered by intentional acts of service like sharing our possessions with the needy and helping the poor,[3] or healing the sick, the blind, and those tormented by evil spirits.[4] We can also provide a preview of what God’s Kingdom will look like when it comes in its fullness by participating with others on a global scale to resolve major human problems like disease, poverty, illiteracy, apathy, corruption, racism, exploitation and violence. These are ways we destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8), and how we can assist God in extending shalom to our sometimes beautiful, sometimes horrifying corner of the universe.

If that sounds vague, I’ll make it more specific.

If you want to extend shalom in your neighborhood and around the world, I think you should sit down and make a list of everything you can think of that is wrong, unfair, ungodly, deadly, and dangerous, and then ask the Lord throughout each day, “What would you have me do about these evils?” If you sense something, and it is consistent with the self-sacrificial love exemplified by Jesus, do it. The worst-case scenario is that you will perform a small act of love or compassion for someone in need. The best-case scenario is that you will accept profound responsibility to do something significant about one of these global evils.

Still too vague?

Okay, if it were up to me, everyone reading this would find a way to focus their specific set of gifts, abilities, and interests onto the global cause that I personally feel is most compelling and strategic: disease eradication. There is a considerable list of 16 diseases which we already know how to extinguish completely, but haven’t. If I were you, I would set out with all of the willpower and courage I could muster and direct it with a laser-like focus on one of those diseases, or partner with an organization that is already doing so. I think there is every reason to see this as your Christian calling. (Read this article for why).

Does that sound impossibly ambitious?

If so, that's because it is. But while we cannot predict or count on human success in eradicating the next disease, or quelling any specific kind of evil completely, we also cannot allow ourselves to be lulled into a complacent sense of resignation. As if the problems are so big we shouldn’t try. We as the collective body of Christ know far more about the problems and far more about the solutions than ever before. Yet we mainly sit back and let civil organizations[5] take the lead in tackling the great world problems of our day. I believe the principal reason shalom isn’t more widespread is because the body of Christ has not adequately accepted the challenge along with civil forces to exterminate the roots of disease and evil.

We can resolve this here and now, and empower our evangelism while we’re at it.

What we need—it seems to me—is a rally cry, a moral and spiritual equivalent of “For King And Country.” We need a sticky concept that will inspire a massive, urgent, sacrificial concentration of human effort against not humans, but human problems and against the spiritual enemy of God and of all creation.

The obstacle is, there are so many competing rally cries in today's world of advertising overload. Many of us have compassion fatigue. We are indifferent to the plethora of causes we can join, to the slew of appeals we encounter on behalf of those who are suffering. We need a rally cry that will cut through all of that fatigue and indifference, one that will turn our hearts to fire and our nerves to steel.

What if God is providing this rally cry right now on every radio station, and in practically every store and elevator in America? I think this rally cry is the secret message in many of the best Christmas carols. “Emmanuel, God with us, peace on earth, goodwill to men, the Lord is come, the Savior reigns.” When I hear these words, I hear the expectant visionary language of revolution. I hear the ultimate heavenly plan of peacefully bringing God’s kingdom of shalom to this darkened, violent planet of ours. I hear the one quality that makes any rally cry truly effective: the capacity to instill absolute confidence that the battle can and will be won. It’s the same quality contained in the famous question, “What one great thing would you dare to dream, if you knew you could not fail.”

No one anywhere is doing anything truly important if it is not part of the battle to defeat evil and extend shalom. This calling is inescapable. There is no reason for non-involvement. We either live for him and his purposes, or die in vain.

Even if you don’t tear yourself away from the work you do to join this cause “full-time,” do you consider the job you have a holy calling? Is it just a source of income and an opportunity to witness? Or, is it the most significant kind of work you could choose to do? You have only one life to live. Why not choose something most others can’t or won’t do?

Over the next few days until Christmas when you’re in the car, or in an elevator, or shopping for that last gift and you hear a Christmas carol, know that God is speaking to you, calling you to join him in defeating evil and extending shalom. Are you listening?

Endnotes

• [1] Read the full essay here: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5078ae40c4aadb13b740c960/t/53ba62c7e4b074d7aaf64213/1404723911838/shalom_beth_snodderly.pdf
• [2] Luke 4:18
• [3] Acts 4:32-37, 8:4, 9:37-42
• [4] Acts 5:12-16, 8:5-8, 9:7-19
• [5] Examples include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), and Rotary International.

This blog entry was inspired by the following three blog posts that first appeared on the William Carey International Development Journal website:

• http://www.wciujournal.org/blog/post/christmas-and-international-development-o-little-town-of-bethlehem
• http://www.wciujournal.org/blog/post/shalom-is-the-reason-for-the-season
• http://www.wciujournal.org/blog/post/joy-to-the-world

Brian Lowther is the Director of
the Roberta Winter Institute

Can the world count on a theologically motivated endeavor to eradicate any disease?

By Brian Lowther

Editor's Note: Today we share with you another provocative essay, this time by our director, Brian Lowther. This essay is Brian's attempt to tell the story of how Ralph Winter came to see disease eradication as such a crucial new task for the body of Christ. Brian summarizes some of the current eradication efforts, along with suggesting ways the Body of Christ can play a strategic role. Then, he explores why Christians have never considered a coordinated disease eradication effort within the range of our responsibility. This essay is optimistic and idealistic in tone, but also provides a big picture view of the difficulties of disease eradication and how and why the body of Christ is so well positioned to help. Enjoy

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How to Live a Positive, Helpful, Fulfilling Life

By Brian Lowther

I’ve been reflecting lately on the different perspectives I’ve held throughout my adult life about the world and my place in it. Like everyone I’ve been seeking a happy life. Seeking such a thing naturally involves developing a strategy on how to attain it.

Chasing Wealth

In my early twenties I thought wealth was the answer. My philosophy was: They say that money doesn’t buy happiness, but I’d like to find out for myself.

It’s almost too obvious to point out why this perspective wasn’t the best approach. After all, our culture is saturated with stories about the pitfalls of greed. The only thing worth mentioning is that I discovered how misguided I was one fine fall day as I sat under an elm tree reading The Master, a novel-like retelling of the life of Jesus by John C. Pollack. As the elm leaves fluttered around me, I read Pollack’s treatment of the famous Matthew 6 passage, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth...” This passage was so compelling that I immediately starting looking for ways to “store up treasures in heaven.”  

An Eternal Element

By my mid-twenties this experience had evolved into a full-fledged distaste for the indulgent pretense of consumerism and a cynical disillusionment with the American dream. There are certain advantages to this perspective, namely you don’t feel the constant need to keep up with the Joneses. You have a graceful excuse to avoid what many people call life: “work[ing] long, hard hours at jobs they hate, to earn money to buy things they don't need, to impress people they don't like.” — Nigel Marsh

My wife and I prayed non-stop during this time for a grand idea, something we could devote our full-time energy to that would utilize our skills and serve the kingdom of God. I had firmly resolved to work in ministry because I couldn’t bear to use the best days and years of my life succeeding at something that didn’t matter. Whatever we did needed to contain an eternal element.

Eventually we found ourselves serving at the U.S. Center for World Mission in Pasadena, CA (now known as Frontier Ventures - the RWI's parent ministry). It was a good match. We believed in the U.S. Center’s vision—still do—and they needed people with our skills to work behind the scenes. We certainly weren’t going to get rich working in missions, but living up to our highest ideals was far better.

My new philosophy became: Be content with what you have. Bloom where you’re planted. Find a need and fill it.

Chase Significance

However, there were side effects. I didn’t notice them for the first few years; but gradually they became unbearable. Working behind the scenes far away from the frontlines made it difficult to escape nagging feelings of meaninglessness. I was often able to counteract this restless angst by reminding myself that for every soldier on the frontlines, seven people are necessary back home to pack rations, build ships, heal wounds, etc. But a relentless malaise and a pestering desire to fill a more prominent role lurked just below the surface. Not that I wanted to leave the U.S. Center, I just knew I needed to do something more, or more difficult, something that echoed a little louder in eternity.

I realized this for certain in my early 30’s while standing amidst rows and rows of tombstones after a memorial service. (Why do our most profound epiphanies always occur at funerals? I guess it’s obvious.) Some tombstones are ornate or impressive in size, but most are quite modest. No matter the size or the grandiosity, each passed life always seems so utterly insignificant, lost in the endless rows of tombstones. All of a person’s hopes, fears, relationships, talents, accomplishments, idiosyncrasies and pet peeves are summed up with just a few words on a humble slab of stone in a vast and lonely cemetery.

While I no longer had any interest in amassing a large fortune, becoming a famous celebrity, or inventing the next Facebook, I very much wanted to— excuse the clichés—make a difference, change the world, leave my mark. I was willing to sacrificially serve others, but I wanted to see and feel how my deeds positively influenced their lives.

I was haunted by the Horace Mann quote, “Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.” My philosophy became, don’t chase wealth, success or status. Chase significance.

Being a Nobody

Around this time is when I began to seriously grapple with what we in the Roberta Winter Institute call the “Warfare Worldview.” I can sum up this concept with this statement: God is at work reestablishing shalom in a corrupted creation and defeating the enemy who is responsible for that corruption, and he has called us, commissioned us, and empowered us to participate with him in this process. This concept helped me understand history and the problem of evil with bright, new clarity, and fortuitously it gave me a tremendous new awareness about my place in the world.

Unfortunately, I got these very important ideas mixed up with my ego. I felt like I had Biblical permission to pursue my delusions of grandeur and egotistical idealism. Not only was I going to change the world, but I was going to help God defeat evil. While this new way of looking at the world gave me a deeper sense of how to make my mark, one day I wondered, what if after ten, or twenty, or thirty years of sacrifice and hard work I realize that I haven’t made a difference, that I haven’t changed the world? Then what?

That’s when I came across this J.D. Salinger quote:

“All I know is I’m just sick of ego, ego, ego. My own and everybody else’s. I’m sick of everybody that wants to get somewhere, do something distinguished and all, be somebody interesting. It’s disgusting! …We’re all so conditioned to accept everybody else’s values. Just because it feels good to be applauded and to have people to rave about you, doesn’t make it right. I’m ashamed of it. I’m sick of it. I’m sick of not having the courage to be an absolute nobody...”[1]

That last phrase really troubled me. I couldn't figure out why he would write that it takes courage to be a nobody. It doesn’t take courage to be a nobody, it takes nothing to be a nobody, right?

Then, just recently it dawned on me. It takes courage to be a nobody, because being a nobody—being lost amidst the tombstones, insignificant and forgotten—is extremely terrifying.

I realized that even if I do change the world, what if that’s still not enough? Name the last three people to win either the Nobel Prize or the Pulitzer Prize. These are rare and gifted people, and yet, they are mostly unknown. On the flip side, most of us can name three teachers who helped us realize our potential in school, or three friends who helped us through a rough patch.

So then what's the right perspective?

I’m sorry to say, I don’t exactly know. I’ve been wrestling with these perspectives for the better part of the past two decades, swinging with the pendulum from one extreme to the other, hoping that a new perspective will suddenly present itself and trump all the others with its elegance. But as of this moment, I only have a hunch.

And that hunch is this: the right perspective is to do something difficult and perhaps scary, something that requires our full attention and great sacrifice, some crucial cog in God’s global machinery of reestablishing shalom and defeating his enemy, BUT—and here’s the really hard part—we probably won’t get any credit for it at all, especially if it succeeds. Such is the life of those who are called to take up their cross daily and follow Jesus. 

Which reminds me of something my mentor, Ralph D. Winter used to say, a quote he got from either Ronald Reagan or Harry Truman, “There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don't care who gets the credit.”

Endnote

[1] J.D. Salinger, Franny and Zooey (Little, Brown, 1961)

Photo Credit: Lev Glick/Flickr

Brian Lowther is the Director of
the Roberta Winter Institute

Four Types of Evil, Part III

Spiritual evil and the violence in nature cause people to lose their faith in God. Can this be prevented?

By Brian Lowther

Editor’s Note: Over the past few weeks here on the RWI blog, we’ve been exploring Ralph Winter’s Four Seeds of Destruction. Today, Brian Lowther finishes his three-part series examining Seed #1: The Seed of the Problem of Evil.

In my last blog entry I looked at a few examples to substantiate my hunch that when we battle certain kinds of evil, it shows that God is not the source of these evils, that he does not condone these evils, and that he is actively and visibly opposing these evils through us. I think this idea and these examples go a long way in preventing people from walking away from faith. Today I’ll continue in that vein, with some examples from the categories of Spiritual Evil and Violence in Nature.

1. Spiritual Evil

I think it's safe to say that believers are doing what they can to address the roots of Spiritual Evil by casting out demons and delivering people from demonization through the name of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit.

I won’t pretend to know much about the prevalence of this kind of demonic activity or the ins and outs of deliverance ministries. When the demonic activity described in the New Testament happens today, my initial response is to categorize it in a medical or psychiatric sense (e.g., seizures, self-harming behavior, schizophrenia, muteness, etc.) rather than demonic activity. I’m admittedly out of my depth when deciphering between demon possession and medical or psychiatric maladies. Having said that, I know there are legitimate deliverance ministries out there. Chuck Kraft’s Heart’s Set Free ministry is the first one that comes to mind. And to me, the existence and earnestness of these ministries says something about God. 

What do these things say about God? When believers are active in conquering the roots of this kind of evil, it says that God does not intend for people or the world to be infested with evil spiritual beings. And this allows believers to trust in God’s goodness, which prevents them from losing their faith.

For an fascinating blog entry about demonic activity and our response to it, see Roger Olson’s Should Western Christians Rediscover Exorcism?, including the comment thread. I also recommend the dispassionate way this man shares about his own experience in The Washington Post: How a scientist learned to work with exorcists.

2. Violence in Nature

In Part I of this series, I brought up the common assumption that violence in nature is normal and necessary and thus the way God intended things. I think this causes scores and scores of people to lose their faith in God, one prominent example being Charles Darwin.[1]

However, I’m not convinced that it was always necessary for animals to kill one another to survive. It doesn't seem that was the case in Eden. Even from an evolutionary perspective, life appears to have evolved for over 3 billion years without the violence and the killing normally associated with evolution.[2] Perhaps it is necessary now. But that doesn't mean it is how God intended or wanted it to be,[3] or how it will be in the future when the wolf will live with the lamb (Isaiah 11:6), or how we should foresee the kind of world God wants us to work towards.

Am I asking Christians to refocus all their attention on genetically re-engineering wolves so they won’t hunt, kill and eat lambs? No, I’m asking whether God wants us to do anything about a much more potent and efficient killing machine: the mosquito. Bill Gates—who is spearheading efforts to eradicate malaria—has said that the mosquito is the deadliest animal in the world.[4] When it comes to killing humans, no other animal even comes close. Actually, if we are talking about malaria, the plasmodium parasite in the gut of the mosquito is the real culprit. And, while Christians are noted down through history for being kind to people who are sick and helping them get well, we are not well known for fighting the viruses, the bacteria, and the tiny parasites—as in the case of malaria—that cause some of our most harmful diseases. We mount no offense against the pathogens themselves .

While treating the symptoms of diseases like malaria is necessary and perfectly good, ignoring its roots says something about God. It proclaims loudly and embarrassingly that “our God can merely get you a hospital bed to lie on [with a bed net perhaps] and a ticket to heaven,” [5] but either he does not know of the real cause of malaria, does not care, or does not have the ability to do anything about it.

One solution to this problem is a very public, top-to-bottom stance against disease at its roots, both in our theology and in our practical efforts. Otherwise I think people will continue to assume that God intended and created diseases like malaria and all violence in nature and thus will continue to lose their faith. 

Conclusion

As I said before, I think God has called us, commissioned us, and prepared us (i.e., he has given us the wisdom, ingenuity and the ability to work together, plus a Wonderful Counselor) to battle the four types of evil I've covered in this series. When we do, I think that says that God is not the instigator of these evils, that he does not approve of these evils, and that he is unmistakably opposing these evils through us. Being convinced of this, and being aware of and partnering with those who are attempting to fight evil at its roots, will go a long way in ensuring that people never turn their backs on God’s goodness and his powerful love.

But that’s just my speculation. What do you think?

Endnotes

[1] http://philosophiesofmen.blogspot.com/2012/01/charles-darwin-not-atheist.html

[2] This was during the pre-Cambrian era when life forms were very primitive. See: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/cambrian/camblife.html

[3] See Genesis 1: 29, 30: Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

[4] https://www.gatesnotes.com/Health/Most-Lethal-Animal-Mosquito-Week

[5] Ralph D. Winter, “A Blindspot in Western Christianity?” in Frontiers in Mission.

Photo Credit: U.S. Army medical researchers take part in World Malaria Day 2010, Kisumu, Kenya US Army Africa/Flickr

Brian Lowther is the Director of
the Roberta Winter Institute

Four Types of Evil, Part II

Human evil and the evil of natural disasters cause people to lose their faith in God. Can this be prevented?

By Brian Lowther

Editor’s Note: Over the past few weeks here on the RWI blog, we’ve been exploring Ralph Winter’s Four Seeds of Destruction. Today, Brian Lowther continues his three-part series examining Seed #1: The Seed of the Problem of Evil. 

I ended my last blog entry by describing my hunch that I think God has called us, commissioned us, and prepared us to battle four types of evil: human evil, natural disasters, spiritual evil, and violence in nature. When we do, I think that says something about God, that he is not the source of these evils, that he does not condone these evils, and that he is actively and visibly opposing these evils through us. If someone could be convinced of this, and if he or she were acquainted with numerous examples of God’s people attempting to overcome the roots of evil (and not just the fruits of evil) as a demonstration of his will, I think he or she would be far less likely to walk away from the faith.

Here are a few examples to substantiate that hunch from the category of Human Evil, then some questions about the Evil of Natural Disasters.

1. Human Evil

My mentor, Dr. Ralph D. Winter often described the hopelessness of rescuing girls from human trafficking, “For every one you rescue, ten more will show up the next day to take her place.” His point was that rescuing enslaved girls—which he would agree is crucially important—wasn’t getting at the roots of the problem. He knew that the roots lie deep within cultural, economic and political systems. To adequately address these systems, members of the society have to be transformed from the inside out, and in his mind, the gospel offered the best means to do that. As the gospel is planted, gradually the Holy Spirit begins to transform human beings, who in turn transform societies. The result is a reduction in the amount of war, violence, murder, oppression, and slavery, and an increase in the amount of peace, selflessness, equality, safety etc.

Obviously, there are examples where the opposite is true, such as Nagaland where over 90% of the Nagas are Christian;[1] it is the most Christian state of India. Yet it is also considered the most corrupt.[2] But for every Nagaland there are perhaps hundreds or thousands of examples of the Holy Spirit turning people from darkness to light to sacrificially serve their fellow human beings resulting in the flourishing of society.

One example that comes to mind is the way children—especially female children—were regularly left to die of exposure or sold into slavery in the pre-Christian Roman Empire. Jesus’ treatment of and teachings about children led to the forbidding of such practices, as well as initiating orphanages and godparents. Another example is the way the ancient Greeks and Romans had little or no interest in the sick and the dying. But the early Christians—following Christ’s compassion for the sick—established institutions for lepers and the beginning of modern-day hospitals. Alvin Schmidt’s How Christianity Changed the World details dozens of other examples just like these, showing how the gospel changed human society for the better.

Now, back to my hunch: what do these things say about God? I think they say, if his followers are actively trying to conquer the roots of a certain evil, that evil must not be something God wants or intends in the world. God does not intend for the world to be full of orphans, slaves, sickness, etc. And this allows believers to trust in his goodness, which prevents them from losing their faith.

2. Natural Disasters

What are believers doing to overcome the roots of natural disasters? It’s hard to say, isn’t it? I think Christians are marvelously active in responding to catastrophes when they occur. I may even be able to find some good examples of believers helping to avoid a catastrophe through some type of early warning system. But I’d be hard pressed to find a theologically motivated initiative whose purpose was to address the roots of earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, volcanoes, or hurricanes.

Perhaps this is because we either don’t know what the roots of these problems are, or, if we do—such as the fact that earthquakes are caused by the movement of tectonic plates—there is currently no feasible way to address these roots.

I’m reminded of a few instances where people attempted such feats. In the 1960’s the U.S. Army drilled a deep well in the state of Colorado to dispose of waste fluids. After a year of dumping, a series of small earthquakes (almost 200!) broke out in the area. A connection was soon established between the waste well and the earthquakes. So the army removed the fluid and soon the earthquakes stopped. It begs the question, couldn’t geophysicists install wells like these along fault lines in earthquake hot spots, to set off smaller, controlled earthquakes and thus reduce sudden, larger ones? Apparently the answer is yes, in theory. But the financial outlay of doing so would greatly exceed the cost of recovery after a major earthquake.[3]

Another disaster eradication plan—also from the 60’s—involved dropping silver iodide from airplanes into the outer rain bands of a developing hurricane. The goal was to create a second eye to compete with a hurricane's powerful center, siphoning off some of its strength. They knew it wasn’t possible to stop a storm entirely, but even a small reduction in wind speed could significantly reduce the storm damage.[4] Over a decade they seeded the clouds in four hurricanes. The storms weakened a bit, but ultimately experts agreed that the results were just a product of a natural process.

As far as I can tell, neither of these projects were established explicitly by Christians for the glory of God. In fact, the only examples I can think of where believers are actively attempting to address the roots of a natural disaster are things like the Evangelical Environmental Network or the Regeneration Project, which are both attempting to address global warming.[5] Obviously, global warming is a contentious issue so I’ll stop here, because the important question to me for this essay is, what does our fighting the roots of the evil of natural disasters say about God?

If you discount these two organizations for just a moment, the answer is, it is our absence in fighting this category of evil, not our activity that is speaking for us and for God. Our inactivity implies that God created or at least approves all of the evil and suffering caused by natural disasters. Short of acting in these areas, we must insist, and insist very loudly that God does not cause natural disasters, and that the Bible gives evidence of another way to understand such events. Otherwise people will continue to walk away from the faith.

For a thorough and well written essay that explores the Biblical evidence that suggests another way to understand natural disasters, see Greg Boyd’s Satan and the Corruption of Nature: Seven Arguments.

Endnotes

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagaland#Religion

[2] http://morungexpress.com/do-you-believe-that-nagaland-is-the-corruption-capital-of-india/

[3] http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6759689/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/can-earthquakes-be-tamed/

[4]  http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/C5a.html

[5] http://www.newsweek.com/2016/03/18/creation-care-evangelical-christianity-climate-change-434865.html

Photo Credit: Nav A./Flickr

Brian Lowther is the Director of
the Roberta Winter Institute

Four Types of Evil, Part I

The Problem of Evil undoubtedly causes people to lose their faith. But, are some kinds of evil more to blame than others? And, what does our battling those evils say about God?

By Brian Lowther

Editor’s Note: Over the past few weeks here on the RWI blog we’ve been exploring Ralph Winter’s Four Seeds of Destruction. Today, Brian Lowther begins a three-part series exploring Seed #1: The Seed of the Problem of Evil.

I’m convinced one of the main reasons people lose their faith is the Problem of Evil, which asks, if God is all-good and all-powerful, why is there so much evil and suffering in the world? But, as I’ve considered the Problem of Evil, I recognize that not all evils cause the same amount of suffering. Chicken pox causes suffering, but not nearly as much as if a child is kidnapped. Chicken pox isn't likely to cause someone to lose his or her faith, but if someone's child is kidnapped, tortured, raped and murdered, well that's another story.

Four Types of Evil

In my way of thinking there are four types of evil. First is human evil such as war, hatred, murder, lying, corruption, etc. Second is spiritual evil such as demons and demonic possessions. Third is natural disasters, such as hurricanes and earthquakes, and fourth is violence in nature, such as animals hunting and killing each other or parasites eating their host from the inside out while the host is still alive.

1. Human Evil

Now, in regard to human evil, do you know anyone who has lost his or her faith in God because of the amount of lying human beings engage in, or because of corruption, or because they are hated by another person? In my opinion, these evils cause people to lose their faith in humanity, not God.

Having said that, we can all imagine someone who would say, “I walked away because God could have prevented that person from killing my loved one and he didn’t.”

Along these lines, a close friend once asked me, “Why does God allow the church—his representatives on earth—to perpetrate so much evil?” He was referring to debacles such as the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the Salem Witch Trials, the Catholic Child Abuse Scandal of the last few decades, and dozens of other examples. I had to agree with him that the pages of church history are pretty ugly.

His question brings to mind two of Jesus’ parables about seeds and birds from Matthew 13. First is the parable where Jesus likens the kingdom of heaven to the smallest of seeds, the mustard seed that grows into the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree so that the birds come and perch in its branches. This is a pleasant picture – birds perched in the shade of a tree. But when read in the context of a parable that precedes it, these birds take on a new meaning. One of the preceding parables describes a sower spreading seed that is quickly devoured by birds. The birds are later identified as Satan. And, while the mustard seed is commonly understood to represent the progress of the body of Christ from small beginnings, it is easy to see how the birds that perch in the branches could symbolize demons led by the prince of the power of the air who have continually tried to infiltrate the Church throughout its existence.

2. Natural Disasters

Undoubtedly natural disasters are blamed on God. Think of insurance policies protecting against ‘acts of God,’ or how the governor of Tokyo said the 2015 tsunami was divine retribution for national egoism,[1] or when an American Christian broadcaster explained that the 2009 earthquake in Haiti was provoked by the Haitians' "pact to the devil,"[2] or when people said Hurricane Katrina was God’s punishment on New Orleans for embracing gay pride events. If natural disasters are thought to be from God, it seems perfectly logical to me for people to lose their faith. Only a vicious, arbitrary and severe god would do such a thing. Who wants to trust in a god like that?

3. Spiritual Evil

Many of us in the West don’t take much notice of the spiritual evil that swirls around us. But I’ve heard numerous missionaries describe how demonic activity is taken much more seriously on the mission field. Whatever our cultural background may be, when we do encounter demonic activity such as terrifying nightmares or paranormal occurrences, I think most would assume it comes from a malevolent source, and not God. Because of this, I don’t think this is a main reason people lose their faith.

4. Violence in Nature

The common assumption is that violence in nature is normal and necessary. A pride of lions mercilessly hunting down and killing an elephant calf as it whimpers for its mother is called the “circle of life.” We’re used to it. Animals have to kill each other to survive. They don't seem capable of making a choice NOT to kill. We’re so accustomed to it that we assume that this is the way God created things. I can completely understand a person wondering, if God designed all this violence and cruelty and suffering, is he really worthy of my allegiance?

My Hunch

But here’s my hunch: I think God has called us, commissioned us, and prepared us to battle these four types of evil. When we do, I think that says something about God. I think it says that he is not the source of these evils, that he does not condone these evils, and that he is actively and visibly opposing these evils through us. My belief is that if someone could be convinced that God is not the source of evil, and if he or she were acquainted with numerous examples of God’s people attempting to overcome the roots of evil (and not just the fruits of evil) as a demonstration of God’s will, he or she would be far less likely to walk away from the faith.

In my next installment, I’ll explore a few examples to substantiate that hunch.

Endnotes

[1] http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/15/tokyo-governor-apologizes-for-calling-quake-divine-retribution/

[2] http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/01/13/haiti.pat.robertson/index.html?iref=allsearch

Photo Credit: Heather Paul/Flickr

Brian Lowther is the Director of
the Roberta Winter Institute