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There were Baptists among the 32 dead at Virginia Tech. That comes as no surprise. There are a good number of Baptists on most large university campuses in the south. Six of the students killed on April 16, in Blacksburg, had Baptist ties.
One of those students was described by an administrator from her high school as being “...bright, articulate, intelligent, beautiful, confident, poised young woman.” He went on to say that, “She had a tremendous future in front of her.” Then he added, “Obviously, the Lord had other plans for her.”
In the face of so great a tragedy that sent waves of shock and grief across our nation, finding answers offering explanations, and attempting to make sense of it, are all natural responses. When something bad happens, we want to know why it happened. When a tragedy of great magnitude occurs, our need to know sometimes becomes desperate. The killings at Virginia Tech are that kind of tragedy. There have been all sorts of commentary, some of it with merit and some without, on how and why this horrific event took place.
The “God” explanation was the one that stopped me in my tracks. “Obviously, the Lord had other plans for her.” hit me like a bucket of ice cold water. To me, about the only thing more terrible than the tragedy itself is the idea that God had a hand in planning it. Yet I know for many people, for many Christians, referencing “God’s plan” or “God’s purpose” is almost an automatic response in the face of such tragedy.
The Apostle Paul’s, “...we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose,” does not mean that God is the cause of our heartache or tragic situation. It does mean that God is with us in the midst of it and that He is still at work in our lives. Even in the midst of the senseless violence, we know that there were those who chose to act in good and selfless ways. A professor, Liviu Librescu, held the door to his classroom shut while his students escaped out the windows. Other students barricaded doors in different classrooms, while some students cared for wounded classmates. These were life-giving acts of grace in the midst of death.
We know that God has a plan and purpose for our lives. That plan is to worship and serve Him so that we live our lives doing justice, loving mercy and walking humbly with God. God’s plan for our lives involved hungry people being fed, thirsty people being given drink, naked people being clothed, and sinners receiving the grace and forgiveness of God. For each of us, the particulars will vary, but the core plan of God for each one of us involves a redemptive love relationship with Him and a life marked by grace and humility with others.
I believe that God has a plan for each one of us. Because I believe that God does have a plan for each of us, I can not believe that God planned what happened at Virginia Tech. I don’t believe it for two reasons.
First, sin is real. God’s creation is broken and fallen and in need of help. However you choose to describe it, we live in a world that in many ways and on many levels is separated from God and we often live in ways that are not God’s intention for us. That is our sinful situation. For us to be sinful is not God’s plan. God’s plan is for us to be redeemed, to be cleansed of our sin, and to be made whole. God did not put us in our situation, but God has a plan for our situation.
The second reason I do not believe God planned what happened at Virginia Tech is because He created us with the capacity to think and to make choices. In very simple terms, we have a choice to make every day. We can choose to do good or we can choose to do evil. We can choose to do what is pleasing in God’s sight or we can choose to act in ways that separate us from God. We can make those choices every day. Sometimes we choose to please God and sometimes we don’t. Rarely do we end up on the evening news.
Sometimes things happen (bad things) because human beings make choices that are contrary to what God would have them do. Sometimes those choices scar a community, a nation or even a world for a long, long time. To say that it is a part of God’s plan for us to make those kinds of choices diminishes the significant role that God intends for each of us. Our actions do make a difference. Our choices do have consequences. When bad stuff happens, there is often a human being who is more to blame than God.
Joy and peace,
Ed
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