“Advance warning of Katrina’s path was wrested from mute Nature by meteorological calculations and satellite imagery. God told no one of His plans. Had the residents of New Orleans been content to rely on the beneficence of God, they wouldn’t have known that a killer hurricane was bearing down upon them until they felt the first gusts of wind on their faces. And yet, as will come as no surprise to you, a poll conducted by The Washington Post found that 80 percent of Katrina’s survivors claim that the event only strengthened their faith in God… Only the atheist realizes how morally objectionable it is for survivors of a catastrophe to believe themselves spared by a loving God, while this same God drowned infants in their cribs.”

So writes Sam Harris on page 53 of Letter to a Christian Nation.  This past Sunday, I preached on the Problem of Evil – the attempt to reconcile the obvious and seemingly pointless evil and suffering in the world with the Christian claim that there is a loving, beneficent, omniscient and omnipotent God watching over us all.  It was certainly ambitious to try to tackle in forty minutes a topic which has seen volumes of books written about it, and I undoubtedly left out many important aspects of the issue.  My approach was to tell the Biblical story, with the hopes of helping us see how our experiences with evil and suffering are not isolated, meaningless tragedies but are part of a grander narrative, from creation to fall to redemption to new creation, with a suffering God on the cross as the centerpiece. 

One of those important aspects that I did not get into (which was brought out by the above quote from Harris) was this:

For some people, suffering and evil cause them to reject God as either cruel or as an obvious myth.  For others, suffering and evil drives them to a deeper dependence on God.  What are we to make of this???

I remember reading the aforementioned quote from Harris’ book and being stunned by the elitist arrogance of that statement (if I may be so blunt).  This is what I hear as I listen to the part I’ve highlighted:  “Sure, 80% of Katrina’s survivors claim that the event only strengthened their faith in God, but that is only because they refuse to face the obvious reality (which I see), that no loving God would allow a baby to die without warning people Himself.  It is immoral for someone to believe that a loving God has spared them but would not do the same for everyone.”

The reason I call that elitist arrogance is that Harris obviously does not think much of the 80% whose experience with suffering and evil has strengthened their faith in God.  In his understanding, there can not be any justifiable reason why such a tragedy should bring someone closer to God; it must be out of naiveté, stupidity, or an immoral self-centeredness.  I disagree, and don’t think that 80% of the survivors felt that their faith was strengthened solely because they survived and others drowned (as in “I survived!  God must love me!”).  Perhaps some are that self-centered, but I think most people who have been through this sort of tragedy – war, natural disaster, etc. – experience some survival guilt at knowing that others perished while their lives were spared, and find that reality sobering instead of uplifting.  I think it is more likely that the following were the sort of reasons why the survivors’ faith was strengthened:

 They were reminded that there is nothing safe and secure in this world
 They were reminded that living to accumulate possessions, which may not be here tomorrow, is pointless
 They realized how valuable life is, how easily it can be taken away, and how important it is to make the most of the time you have
 They were reminded of the importance of loving those who have been put in your life, for they may not be there tomorrow
 They were reminded that death spares no one, and it is crucial to consider the question of eternity

All of the above reactions are typical for those who have stared death in the face and lived to see another day.  And all are part of the Biblical message, and cause for strengthening one’s faith in God instead of the alternatives.  Consider the following passages:

Matthew 7:24-27 – [Jesus said] “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.   The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

Matthew 6:19-21 -  “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

James 4:14-15 - Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

Luke 12:22-23,25,31 - Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes… Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?… But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.”

Hebrews 9:27-28 - Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people.

As Christians, we believe that this world was created as a good world by God, but has been broken by human rebellion against God and its effects on every aspect of God’s good creation.  We believe that Hurricane Katrina, like every tragedy, is a brutal reminder of how badly we need God, how much we long for God to destroy evil and renew creation, and how pointless it is to put our hope and trust in anything this world has to offer.  As C.S. Lewis put it, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pain; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”  Tragedies like Katrina cause us to weep over the brokenness of this world, to follow Jesus’ example by working and suffering to bring good and justice out of the evil, and, yes, to strengthen our faith in the God who proved His love for us and opposition to evil on the cross 2000 years ago.  We know that we worship a God who weeps over evil (John 11:35), who put Himself on the hook for the suffering of this world on the cross (Isaiah 53), who destroyed the power of evil and death by rising from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:55-57), and who will one day destroy evil forever and renew this world (Revelation 21-22).  Death, while cruel and pointless to the atheist, has already been defeated by Jesus. 

Suffering and evil will befall everyone in this world, but how you respond to it can make all the difference in the world.  Will it cause you to curse God and reject Him?  Or will it wake you up to the instability of this world and the desperate need we have to place our complete trust in the only safe Rock, the Lord Jesus?

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