Suffering--A Call to Action

Sunday night I caught a few minutes of the Compassion Forum on CNN. Senators Clinton and Obama were each interviewed separately on the issues of the day and asked to respond from their faith perspective. One of the questions lobbed at Senator Clinton was this: Why does a loving God allow innocent people to suffer?

(This question raises all sorts of interesting challenges. It suggests that God controls our lives--that we are God's puppets. On the one hand, we independent Americans don't want God telling us what to do. When we want what we want, we don't want God butting in. But when things don't go our way, then it's God's fault. We don't often credit God for the good that happens in life--we take that credit ourselves. But when it goes wrong, God gets the blame.

(The better question in my mind is this: Why do we, created in the image of God, commissioned to be his care-takers of each other and creation, why do we allow innocent people to suffer? Why, for example, doesn't the free world use its power, influence, and affluence to end once and for all the genocide in Darfur? Why do we in affluent countries, including the US, continue to allow and even support systems that keep food from hungry people? We currently produce enough food in the world to feed every person on the planet 2000-3000 calories of food a day. God has provided for the hungry. Why do we continue to allow that food to be hoarded? Why do we Americans continue to drive gas hogging--carbon emitting cars? God has given us the wisdom to care for this planet. Why do some of us continue to choose to exploit, oppress, hoard, and hurt the innocent? The Judeo-Christian answer to that, by the way, is sin.)

Anyway--Senator Clinton is not a trained theologian. Being a person of faith, however, like all people of faith, she is a theologian in the sense that we all have thoughts and ideas and opinions about God.

Her answer was actually brilliant! First she said she had no idea why innocent people suffer and would certainly ask God that question some day (and since the Bible never fully answers the question she's on solid footing). But then she said something like this: Suffering is a call to action. It's a call to all of us, people of faith and people with no religious affiliation, to do something about it.

Suffering is a call to action. It is a call to roll up our sleeves and make a difference. As a Christian, I'm compelled to respond because the Gospel proclaims that God entered into our suffering on a cross. He is not uninvolved. And he defeated all the forces that cause suffering through the resurrection of Jesus--bringing heaven to earth right now--not in its completeness or fulness, but it is here, pushing back the forces that hurt innocent people. And as his followers, he we have opportunity and privilege of bringing tastes of the future to people right now as we work for justice, hope, peace, and healing.