How to answer questions about suffering
And what I would say to David Attenborough
“How can a good God allow suffering in the world?” is the question that we Christians fear the most in our evangelism. It might be one of the reasons we don’t do evangelism. We don’t like really difficult questions.
We actually have answers. Suffering is something to do with Adam’s sin (wait, what about Eve?) and the curse, but no particular bit of suffering is necessarily our fault, except when it is. Or we’re being disciplined. And, oh yes, didn’t CS Lewis say something really good about God shouting in our suffering but it’s okay because, er, Jesus?
We don’t deal with the question about suffering well. Allow me to suggest three alternative solutions.
1. The David Attenborough Riposte
This is for those more hostile well-informed people who trot out the same objection to God about suffering, or those with whom we are justified in being robust. Let us take the nation’s favourite great-grandpa as an example.
David Attenborough says,
“When people want to give God the credit, they nearly always take the example of butterflies or hummingbirds or orchids or something lovely. But I think of a little boy sitting on the bank of a river in West Africa with a worm that is boring through his eyeball and which would certainly turn him blind within a few years. Now this God whom you say created every single species must presumably have created that worm … . I don’t find that compatible with the notion of God being a merciful creator God.”
In short, how can a good God allow suffering in the world?
Response: Let’s say you’re right, Mr Attenborough. There is no merciful creator. Here’s the good news: that little boy’s life doesn’t matter, and is no more or less important than the life of that worm. Nature is red in tooth and claw. Only the fittest survive. Your compassion for that little boy makes no rational or philosophical sense. Love and pity are merely chemicals in our brains that don’t ‘mean’ anything in a world of self-replicating DNA. Worm 1. Boy 0. But no-one’s keeping score, because we live in a world without meaning or pity.
Too much?
Of course, David Attenborough doesn’t care what I think. And it’s rather abstract, conceptual, impersonal and albeit quite good fun. It is probably not useful in most cases.
2. Answering Questions with Questions
This is the Rabbinic approach that I must have written about before. It’s highlighted in one of my favourite Christian books of all time, Questioning Evangelism by Randy Newman (not that Randy Newman). The insight is that the question being asked isn’t the real question. Jesus does this all the time because he really likes questions. A rich young ruler asks him ‘Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus replies ‘Why do you call me good?’
In this case, someone asks “how can a good God allow suffering in the world?” You could respond with, “What sort of suffering are you thinking about?” And they might tell you about a terrible bereavement, or painful ordeal they or a loved one has experienced. So it’s a good job you didn’t go blazing down the “Worm 1. Boy 0.” road.
The person asking the question is not really looking for theological answers. Maybe they just want to talk. And be heard. Time to listen.
3. The Psalm 71 Approach
One of the rules of writing is ‘show, don’t tell.’ Don’t tell me what a character is like, and what they believe. Show me through their actions. In Psalm 71, we see someone turning to God in suffering for rescue and deliverance. The psalmist, probably David, trusts in God’s character, in turn, because God has shown what he is like throughout history. This is a very powerful witness.
For my enemies speak against me;
those who wait to kill me conspire together.
They say, “God has forsaken him;
pursue him and seize him,
for no one will rescue him.”
Do not be far from me, my God;
come quickly, God, to help me.
May my accusers perish in shame;
may those who want to harm me
be covered with scorn and disgrace.Psalm 71:10-13
People are watching how David copes with suffering. They fantasise about him abandoning his beliefs and his God. But he does not. In fact, throughout the Psalm, David sings praises to God for his enduring faithfulness. The way we endure hardship, suffering and adversity speaks volumes about the content of our faith and character of our God.
If you think you can’t tell someone the gospel because your life is too hard, messy or complicated, talk about that. Hearing how you process these hard times in the presence of God is a very compelling message.
Life is hard. Suffering is inevitable. People are watching you to see how you cope, maybe hoping you justify their lack of faith by walking away in hard times. But to see you praising God and dwelling in him is the best answer to the question about suffering. It is also a great encouragement to other Christians.
Billy Graham could tell you about God. A friend clinging to the cross of Christ in terrible times will show you.
Anyway, if you’d like to see me preach a sermon on all of the above, it’s here.
Do You Know It’s Christmas Time?
There’s no need to be afraid. If you want a nativity play that works as part of a Sunday service, you can get my latest two here, available as a Word Document, so you can rewrite, add, change, edit or delete according to your needs. (Just don’t ask me to make the changes. And you don’t need to ask permission!).
Who’s the Greatest? is a short nativity play telling the Christmas story from the point of view of The Wise Men and Herod. It is based on Matthew 2:1-8 & Isaiah 9:2-7.
Saving Christmas – A Family Nativity Service tells the Christmas story from Joseph’s point of view (Matthew 1:18-25). This is not a play but a leader-led service with audience interactions, a few volunteers and some readers who’ve ideally been primed.
They’re here. The cost is up to you. You can pay what you like. You might want to pay nothing, download them, and if you decide to use them, you can go back and make a contribution. Or you could buy something alongside it, like the Audio MP3 of A Monk’s Tale, or the streaming MP4 of The God Particle or Water into Wine which, let’s be honest, you’ve been meaning to watch for a while, right? The link’s here.
Making Waves
In November, I’m running a course about making your own quality audio. more info here on my other substack, The Situation Room:
