Evil: The Unnecessary Version

Saint Augustine. If you don't know the name then I feel sorry for you. He is one of the most profound theologians of the Christian Faith and his most famous work "Confessions" is a beautiful story of his transition from sinner to saint. At the moment I am about half-way through this seminal work, but it has challenged me in my personal walk with God in a way that few books have.

The most interesting point of note I have come across recently was an observation that Augustine made while trying to discern where evil comes from. He writes that he began with the assumption that "God allows evil to happen" and then worked from that idea. This is a very human thing to do. It is so simple to attribute to God the mistakes that humans make, and this is exactly the conclusion that Augustine comes to. He states that it is not that God allows evil to happen, rather it is that God allows humans to choose our own actions, and we choose evil. Evil is easy, it is simple, and in the modern world it often gives the most immediate benefits. The man who lies to an employer will gain the job over the one who tells the truth (if the liar is not found out). The spouse who has an affair will reap the immediate rewards of carnal pleasure.  The person who cheats on an exam will receive a better grade than the one who took their test honestly.

Evil is simple, and it works perfectly in a fallen world. God gave us a choice to do good, or to do evil, and we naturally choose evil. (Romans 3:23). It is a struggle to choose good, no matter what hollywood tells us with their heroes in white hats who always choose the right thing to do. The world is not so black and white. We sin. It's our nature. God does not wish it so. He does not allow evil to happen, we do. If we blame God for the bad things that happen in this world, then maybe we should go out and try to fix it instead of spending all our time wearing holes in the knees of our pants trying to "search out God's reasons" God is unsearchable; however, he has given all of us the tools to choose good and fight evil, but when we do nothing we are allowing bad things to happen simply by way of our own inactivity.

Now, before you jump on me, I am not belittling prayer in any way, shape, or form. Prayer is one of, if not the most important parts of life. It has real-world power that cannot be contested, but James wrote, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead." (James 2:26) We must act upon what calls us to action, because all of the conviction in the world is absolutely worthless if we do nothing.

St. Augustine may not have had the perfect answer for why evil is present, but it is still something to think about.

Midnight Musings (also Theological Thoughts)

So, just to forewarn you, this blog isn't going to be funny. If you are looking forward to a comedic relief from your drab existence, then go watch a brian regan video.

Tonight I was reading through Hebrews (one of my favorite books) and Hebrews 11:1 says "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." (keep that one in your head for a moment) then as I went through the passage I came upon verse 6 which states "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Let's focus on that last part of the verse. . . no I'm not throwing out the first part, i'm narrowing my focus.. . "he rewards those who earnestly seek him."  This got me thinking about the people who follow the teachings of men like Kenneth Copeland and Joel Osteen, in other words, The Prosperity Gospel. Now, I don't necessarily agree with this type of teaching, but are these preachers wrong? I mean. . .to be honest, they are pulling straight from the bible, and not just in Hebrews, but in other places as well (mountains being thrown into the sea, anyone?). These guys are just a rag-tag team of men touting cardboard signs and selling a get rich quick scheme, they are selling (for the sake of the metaphor I'm going to say selling), they are selling THE get rich quick scheme. God not only rewards believers on Earth (not necessarily in material posessions, mind you) but also in Heaven. So, tonight, I have turned somewhat of a 175 degree turn, I don't beleive that those who worship God will never face trouble, (that's unbiblical), but I do think that there is something to what these ministers are saying. SO PLEASE. . .stop decrying the work that these ministers are doing. Their hearts are in the right place, and lets be honest. They are fulfilling the great commission,(something many of us fail to do, if you think that you are doing a good job of it, let me ask you a question. . .have you converted thousands of people to christianity? No? oh i'm sorry, would you like a consolation prize? oh. . .you would? well too bad. . . untill you are the cause of thousands of people converting to christianity, I don't want to hear another word about "watered down preaching" or "weak doctrinal issues" or anything of the sort. Only God can read a man's heart, only God knows if someone is truly saved or not, and does it really matter how the individual reaches this point?

Speaking of points, I have another one. . .(I know, you all thought that I was done, well guess what? I'm not.. . sorry)

My final point is that of seeker services. . .some of you know exactly what these are. They are services geared towards people with little to no background in christianity, and they focus on saving people.. . .That sounds great right? well, there are people who disagree with these forms of worship because they don't believe that "the people know what they're getting in to" or that "They won't be very strong in their faith". Well, let's stop right there. Many of the people posing these arguments have been christians since childhood (my apologies to the rest of you) yes thats right. . .CHILDHOOD. These people who accepted Christ as their savior before they could read, before they could vote, and before they knew what the difference between Apostle and Epistle meant, These are the same people complaining that the progeny of seeker services don't know enough about christ, or that the services are watered down. Watered down? Jesus had to turn morality into fictional stories so that the people could grasp what was going on. .  .Jesus didn't start spouting off the hundreds of Jewish laws that existed. . .NO, he watered down his teachings and when the man asked him "what must I do to be saved" Jesus didn't spout off Temple law, or even start quoting Leviticus, he simply gave him five.

Christianity isn't a -dive into the deep end of the pool without swimming lessons- kind of religion. It's a growing experience where you are expected to throw aside your old self so that you can make room for all of the new parts that you will be gaining as you walk daily with Christ. Rome wasn't built in a day, and I have yet to meet the man or woman who can read through the bible in an hour, or even adhere to half of what it says for more than a day. Because no matter how much we kid ourselves, the best of us are still dirty, rotten, no good slimeballs from the dregs of humanity. and yet we are Gods creation. God desires for each of us to know and love him. So who cares how we get to know him? If someone watching a televangelist is inspired to go pick up a bible for the first time then thanks be to God.

So in closing, I hope that my post at least made you think, and i'm dead serious. . .until you have saved a couple thousand souls from damnation**, I don't want any of you to speak ill of someone who holds the high position of teaching the Children of God about their father.

**In reference to damnation, I refuse to use the words eternal, and damnation together, because I'm still working that out, if you are curious to know my views on this subject, then I would be more than happy to discuss this with you, but until then, Adieu.