Yesterday John Piper relayed an RC Sproul quote that read,
God would be perfectly just to allow me to be thrown in prison for life for a crime I did not commit.
Think about that a minute. I’ve spent a day pondering it. It’s quite a provocative statement and yet it, I think, demonstrates a few very important points. I think intuitively we (and when I say we, I mean I and perhaps others) think that this cannot be right. We rightly resent the punishment of the innocent in our own legal system. We should strive for justice in our legal system. To imprison the innocent is not just. And yet, such a statement above goes to demonstrate how limited we are, that God’s ways are not our ways, for the quotation above is true.
Just consider these things. God does not promise us an easy life. Far from it, Christ warned that Christians would suffer (John 15:18-21, John 16:1-4, Matthew 10:16-20, Matthew 24:8-14 for example). I suppose it’s worth noting that no one is technically innocent, but that’s a tangent from this main point. Furthermore, we see a church history filled not with men of prosperity but a church built on the blood of it’s followers. Most if not all of the Apostles were killed for merely preaching Christ. And yet, do we read Paul and draw from it that God was unjust for permitting him to constantly be imprisoned, even for his execution? Why would we expect anything better? Certainly a life less rough might be welcome, but we’re not owed it. We’re not owed anything. And God knows more than we do. He has a plan and we’re fortunate to play a part, not the lead role.
Which brings me to my main point. I think the issue here is selfishness. We’re a selfish people. Everything is always about us. “Why should I suffer for something I didn’t do,” we ask? Answer: It’s not about us.
Rather than make this a long post, let me just ask some questions. How often are we the focus of worship songs. How often are worship songs about how we feel? How many times have we heard someone give their testimony and not mention anything related to the Gospel, Christ’s life, death and resurrection, our own personal sin, the forgiveness of sins (and not merely, our circumstances improving)? How often do we directly read ourselves into Bible verses? How often do we take promises in Scripture made specifically to other people and just adopt it as our own without concern for circumstance of occasion or context? How often do we speak about God, Christ, or prayer as tools for something we want?
Or maybe it’s just me.
Let me close with this tweet I saw this week, something that’s been very meaningful to me,
A true testimony is this “My life was pretty hard & I met Jesus. It’s gotten a lot worse, but he’s worth it & one day I’ll be with him.”
