In response to Danny Nalliah

Yesterday, I was asked by a church member what I thought of Danny Nalliah’s public attribution of Victoria’s bush fires to God’s judgement for the recently passed abortion laws, and the response of The Age to this.

My understanding of suffering is this:

Unless we are God, we shouldn’t play God. Like Martin Luther says, Let God be God and man be man. Instead we should be compassionate and give hope to the sufferers and comfort them, assuring them that God is in the midst of their suffering, that He understands what pain, injustice, ridicule, betrayal and suffering is like as He suffered all of these at Calvary though absolutely innocent and sinless. At times like these, we as Christians should offer practical relief, prayers and spiritual encouragement. We can also encourage these in the midst of their suffering and hopelessness, to turn to Him for comfort who is the 'God of all comfort' (2 Cor 1:3) and for hope even as Psalms repeatedly urges us to, "hope in God" - Ps 38:15; 42:5,11;43:5; 71:5.

I feel very sad when Christians tell victims that they are the object of God's judgement. There is no biblical support of this:

The Bible clearly shows that suffering and sicknesses can often be 'for the glory of God'' (Jn 11:4), for testing (for example in the explicit case of Job), in as much as it can be caused by sin (the healing of the paralytic in Matt 9:2 and the man at the Pool of Bethesda in Jn 5:14). Jesus Himself rebuked the Jews for imputing the judgement of God for those killed by the Tower of Siloam and those who died as martyrs under Pilate - Luke 13:1-5. God could have sent his angels to save His martyrs especially those who were sawn in two! These, "of whom the world was not worthy" - Hebs 11:38 - were hailed and honoured by God in Hebs 11 as heroes and heroines of faith ... awesome examples for us.

In evident tragedies like Sept 11, USA, or the genocide of the Jews in World War II, it is apparent that the suffering was caused by MAN and the evil in man. But in other tragedies eg natural disasters, who but God can really attest their reason and cause. It could be Man, Satan or God Himself. And even if it were God which human can say for certain that it was for judgement. After all we see now, but through a glass darkly, and in part (1 Cor 13:12).

For this reason, I beg to differ from Danny Nalliah. He might be totally confident that God showed him the fire was judgement for the Laws of abortion. That is his personal privilege and prerogative but to say this in public as if this were absolute God-truth, is in my mind, totally irresponsible and insensitive to the bush fire victims and their families at best, and cruel at worst.

I often recount a dear friend who suffered deep depression (for more than a year she couldn’t sleep nights without heavy dosage of sleeping tablets) when her son died and well meaning Christians told her that her son died on account of his parents’ sin and lack of faith. Until we met her and told her God's truth (that set her free from this guilt-ridden condemnation), she couldn’t find faith in Christ nor live normally, tormented with deep grief and condemnation. Why, why do Christians have to play Judge in times of sorrow and grief? And pass judgement which brings needless condemnation to those already unable to cope with their grief.

Did not Apostle Paul teach us that our ministry must bring life:

He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
2 Cor 3:6.

Let us who are counted faithful and put into the ministry by our Lord (1 Tim 1:12), be faithful in the ministry of His Word and ministers of life to those who are hurting in this fallen world 'ruled' by Satan.

A Peggy