novus•lumen

UPDATE: This post stems from two others I wrote earlier after the bridge collapse in Minneapolis, Minnesota , “Where was God in Minneapolis?” and “Why John Piper is Wrong on the Minnesota Bridge Collapse.”

Much has been made throughout the blogsphere of the comments by John Piper in response to the Minnesota bridge collapse. From Christians to atheists and everyone in between, Piper seems to have left a sour taste in people’s mouths.

Last week I just found out about his comment and decided to write a response, both to deconstruct his post and to flesh out my own understanding of God’s sovereignty in the face of tragedy and evil. I think I made some good headway and had some great responses from people here and elsewhere over those ideas. But one thing was missing, which was noticed by a few people: my post provided little to the topic of how to help people amid pain and how we should actually respond and react to tragedy and evil.

Hopefully, this will provide a response and help some people think through this weighty, needed discussion. In short, how we respond to tragedy and evil as followers in the way of Jesus should flow from this understanding:

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My response to the immense evil and tragedy that engulfs our lives and the world is that Love is more powerful and far greater than the power of Evil. In fact, Evil has been defeated and stripped if it’s eternal power by Love through the real time-space event of the Cross, and the Church is called to carry along the power of the Cross by living in the Way of Jesus and spreading His message of hope and restoration.

Now let’s be clear: Evil still exists in the world. Things are not the way they were intended to be. People contract horrible diseases, natural disasters wipe out entire towns, entire people groups are systematically slaughtered, children die, and the list goes on. And as Paul helps us understand, there are real, deep, dark, magical Powers that undergird the real-life tragedies that plague humanity. So absolute Evil exists and has made it’s reign on the earth from the near start of creation.

But then something curious happend about 2000 years ago: invasion.

The Creator invaded Creation to stage the single greatest, most important rescue operation; God became Human and made His dwelling among us, full of love and as the fullest definition of how the world and being human is suppose to be. Jesus came to this earth to show a new way of living, the way of the Kingdom of Heaven, a way defined by loving God and loving others.

While Jesus showed us a new and better way of being human by loving the world around Him, the fullest expression of that love was displayed on the Cross, where Evil and Death was defeated. Jesus willingly endured the Cross to defeat the Power of Decay that touches the lives of all humans in an effort to restore the entire Creation to the way it was intended to be at the beginning.

As John says, “we know what love is because Jesus Christ layed down his life for us.” And that is what we as His followers are called to do: love the world around us with the furious, sacrificial love of God.

Now how does that look as we enter into moments of tragedy and evil? As Jesus loved, so we love. And since we are called to be Jesus to the world around us, I take seriously His call for us to do greater things than He did in the world. What did he while he was on earth? Jesus loved people through restoring them socially, emotionally, physically, spiritually, economically, and materially.

The woman at the well experienced social restoration by a loving Jesus in the face of a life held in tragic bondage. The lepor’s dignity and health was restored by a loving God in the face of a physical evil. A Roman official’s family was restored in the face of the tragedy of a dead little daughter, another act by a loving Yeshua. And ultimately, the Powers of this world who wallow in Evil and Tragedy and Death were vanquished through the subversive death of God; God killed God to kill Death and restore Creation to the way He originally intended it to be.

Jesus acted. And even while he taught, it always accompanied acts of love. And Jesus called us to teach and be and show and explaing the loving Way of Jesus to a hurting, broken, sobbing, grieving, cracked world. In the face of pain and suffering and tragedy and evil, the world does not need another idea or teaching. No, the world needs people committed to simply lovingly holding them while they hold the life-less body of their child. The world needs people committed to doing acts of love to help re-build lives devastated by natural disasters. The world needs people to listen to the stories of lives devastated by addiction and lovingly tell them that it will be ok. The world needs people who speak prophetic words of love and restoration for the marginalized and socially spit upon.

The world needs lovers, not teachers!

The rhythm of Jesus’ life was His love for the world, through his life and teachings and ultimately the Cross. If the way of Jesus was His love, then isn’t that also our way? As Jesus fully participated in gritty human drama, so also we must participate. As Jesus loved each person within their own narratives, confronting the pain and tragedy and alienation and death with love, so must we also do love in the great cloud of hurting witnesses that engulf us in our communities.

Ultimately, the world needs to know and understand and feel the power of love in the face of Evil. Jesus defeated Evil on the Cross through the power of Love, and He calls us to fully realize that same power by being Him to the world.

Because in the end:

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