Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?

Following the massacre in Paris yesterday, I was invited to a prayer vigil attended by a number of young college age people. There were about twenty-five of us. We were asked to form a circle, hold hands, and pray one by one around the circle. Many expressed shock and incomprehension about why God would allow some horror and tragedy. This reminded me of the perennial question of why God allows bad things to happen to good people. The difficulty in responding to this question in a way that would assuage people's feelings is that, from a Scriptural perspective, the question itself is deeply flawed. In contrast to prevailing human understanding the Bible does not portray people as inherently good. Instead it portrays the exact opposite. David says, "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me." ( Psalm 51:6) Lest we think that David's mother was an particularly evil person, we read in Romans 5:12 and 3:23 that all have sinned. Romans 3:12 says that no one does good, not even one. Titus 3:3 offers God's perspective on unredeemed humanity. "For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another." ( All references ESV) Similar descriptions can be found in Romans 1:18-32, 2 Timothy 3:1-7, and Ephesians 2:1-3. Humanity is not good but evil and a just God has reserved wrath for those who refuse to love the truth and so be saved. ( 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 2 Thess 2:10.) A more Scripturally accurate question would be why do good things happen to bad people? Those who receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior does not get what they deserve- eternal conscious punishment- for their disobedience, rebellion, and ingratitude, but rather grace, mercy and peace. Why? Because Jesus was betrayed, arrested, tortured, crucified and raised from the dead to take the punishment for our sins. for our badness. As I participated in the prayer vigil I was reminded of the beginning of Luke 13. Some people have told Jesus about a massacre of Galileans by the Roman governor Pilate. Jesus responds, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them; do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others wholived in Jerusalem/ No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." ( Luke 13:2-5) God uses these horrific incidents as merciful warnings to bring people to repentance.