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September 01, 2005
Why am I not surprised?
Why am I not surprised, that when I went today to John Piper's homepage of his ministry's website, Desiring God, the two articles posted for today, were from the archives, regarding:
this post on the tsumani, God's mercy and sovereignty
and
this post on whether or not God is less glorious because He ordains evil
oh, and then there is always this post from the archives about the tsunami and repentance
In the post above Piper makes this statement:
But the topless sunbathers amid the tsunami aftermath in Phuket, Thailand did not get the message. Neither did the man who barely escaped the mighty wave with the help of a jungle gym and palm-leaf roof. He concluded, "I am left with an immense respect for the power of nature." He missed it. The point is: reverence for the Creator, not respect for creation.
I mean...I don't even know where to begin unpacking this statement...from his opening statement about topless sunbathers, to the man missing the point of the tsunami. Was the tsunami really an act of God, hoping to clarify some theological points? Unbelievable...I could say so much, but will let you do it for me. Apparently he misquoted the man as well, and followed up later on with this retraction:
On January 5, 2005, I wrote an article for the Desiring God website entitled Tsunami and Repentance (reprinted by World Magazine as Mercy for the Living). In it, I wrote the following:
But the topless sunbathers amid the tsunami aftermath in Phuket, Thailand did not get the message. Neither did the man who barely escaped the mighty wave with the help of a jungle gym and palm-leaf roof. He concluded, "I am left with an immense respect for the power of nature." He missed it. The point is: reverence for the Creator, not respect for creation.
The man in reference was Patrick Green, a 28-year-old teacher at Singapore American School, who was quoted in an article written by Janie McCauley of the Associated Press. This is what I read:
"It was ugly and awful. There are some images I will never forget, and some that I might never acknowledge again," Green said. "I am left with an immense respect for the power of nature."
But it turns out that this quote is inaccurate. Here is what Mr. Green actually said:
"It was ugly and awful. There are some images I will never forget, and some that I might never acknowledge again. I am left with an immense respect for the power of nature, and even more for the power of God." (my emphasis)
Mr. Green also wrote:
"The wave rushed by on both sides, and over our heads by at least six feet. I guess there are two ways you can look at it. You can believe, I suppose, that palm leaves woven together that normally can’t hold back rain water can, in fact, hold back an (at least) 18-foot wave. Or, like me, you can believe in God, and that for some reason, even though it was undeserved at least on my part, he miraculously spared our lives." (my emphasis)
Mr. Green did get the message, that the tsunami teaches us to reverence the Creator for his power and mercy. I sincerely apologize if my public comments served to undermine Mr. Green’s reputation in any way.
For the supremacy of God in all things,
John Piper
(with editorial help from Justin Taylor)
Mr. Green got the message is John Piper's point. Well, what is the message for the folks in Louisana I wonder? That God is to blame for the hurricane and all of their deaths? I guess I didn't realize that natural disasters were acts of God, in hopes that He is making His point clear to humanity. I wonder what is the message that we want to send as Christians? And is this it?
I think that if Christians spent more time entering into people's suffering; living incarnationally as Christ did; ministering to others; we would spend less time debating the source of the hurricane, and the theological implications of who was the cause of the hurricane; then we would be living more as Paul has commended us to live in II Cor. 4-6. As broken people, who hold the treasure and hope of Jesus Christ in their earthly vessels..in jars of clay. As people, who in the midst of their own brokenness, and the brokenness of the world are to be ambassadors for Christ...are to allow Christ to make His appeal through them...as people who are not to put up any obstacles in the way of others coming to know Christ. And I fear that we as Christians, are often the main obstacle in keeping others from coming to know Him. Especially when we debate these issues of God's judgement, sovereignty, mercy, etc., rather than living like Christ, as a symbol of hope, love and grace in the midst of suffering people.
I first came across these statements back in January while reading Will Samson's blog
Posted by rhett at September 1, 2005 04:42 PM
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Comments
Tough one, man. I don't know if Piper's comments can't live alongside your ideas about representing Christ to the world through love and walking alongside others in the midst of their suffering. And I'm pretty hesitant to use my own brain to judge what facts about God are going to be obstacles to people coming to Christ. My emotional reaction is the same as yours, but I'm not ready to dismiss God's role in natural disasters yet. It seems like an inch away from Open Theism.
If the point of God's actions are His own glory (a Piper standard, I know, but as fas as I've read it's also a biblical standard), and that is the most loving thing He can do for us, you have to think that the "point" -- if that's even a legitimate concept -- of a natural disaster must have at its head the glory of God.
Not saying it's as easy to wrap up as Piper said it, but I can't just dismiss it, no matter how hard it is for my human heart to swallow.
Posted by: Brian at September 2, 2005 06:44 PM
Rhett;
So good to see you're doing well. Wade pointed me to you blog some time ago. As you might expect, I couldn't help but take issue with some of your comments here. I posted some thoughts here: http://colossiansthreesixteen.blogspot.com/2005/09/why-am-i-not-surprised.html
Your co-laborer;
Brent Thomas
Posted by: Brent at September 4, 2005 10:23 PM
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