Comments

I'm not sure I understand. Is his point that life, any life we have, is a gift, and that it can go at any time, and we should be focused on our salvation rather than the life itself?

I guess that's the message here.

Our instinct is to resolve God's involvement anytime tragedy strikes, and this more or less absolves Him of the resposibility by placing the tragedy quickly in context of the larger sin/salvation issue.

Why do we work so hard to absolve God? Why do we have to tell our kids not to blame God? We're told that he holds the whole wide world in his hand, but don't blame him when the bridge collapses, 'cause every day is a gift.

It's a tough way to live...

In a sense you're right.

God would not want anyone to try to absolve him of something he claimed responsibility for. "I make peace, I create calamity, I am the Lord" as he says. As I've put it on occasion God is always good, he isn't always nice.

However in a biblical framework tragedies like this are bound to happen. Adam and Eve's decision to rebel laid the basis for moral evil in the world while the curse that God laid on the Earth as a response laid the ground for natural evils to occur.

My usual answer to people who try to blame God for such events is not to try to dissuade them but rather to point out "if he's as bad as you think, do you really want to piss him off?"

Piper's response is pathetic. He needs to get his head out of the sand and wake up that some people have experienced tragedy here.

Essentially he says: "God should kill us all. Remember that. God is just reminding people that he can kill whoever he wants." Basically, Piper responsd to the problem of evil with the "God is powerful" and not really all that good.

Everyone would be much better off reading:

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"Where Is God When It Hurts? A sermon given on the Virginia Tech campus two weeks after the shootings" by Philip Yancey

Piper is right. As people, we have very little control over how long we are going to live and how we are going to die. But as Christians, our assurance is that we will have eternal life through His grace and salvation. Life is hard because our love ones will leave us and vise versa. Life is fragile and short. Life is not fair from our perspective. Yet life is fair because it does not matter if we were born rich or poor, healthy or sick, with good look or not, we will all end up the same. Our hope is in Him and Him alone.

Andy -

I would remind you that Piper is not doing anything different than Jesus did when he discussed a similar disaster in his day: "Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think they were worse offenders than the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish." (Luke 13:4-5) Some comfort, huh? A great explanation of why, right?

Piper's point is not that anyone may die in a similar way - but that all will die someday, in ways that may be better - or worse - than this. It is just that this particular way of dying has come clearly before our eyes.

He wants us not to ask "Why these?" (our natural human reaction), but "Why not me? Us?" God never tells us why these particular people died in this way, but he tells us that death is the wages of sin. So whenever we see death, we should ask the sin question - not about them in particular, but about us, both individually and as a society.

We won't have to look far.

"Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."

I find it very odd that Piper would think there was some special message for the Twin Cities through Luke 13:1-9. When I read this I thought, “This is what God want’s to say to Minneapolis? If Jesus was walking around the twisted metal jutting from the ends of the bridge, wading into the Mississippi around the the chunks of concrete, and moving through the throngs of injured THIS is what he would say in the midst of this gut wrenching scene? Are you kidding me?

I’m sure there are other passages to point toward, but John 11 is so instructive. Lazarus, “the one [Jesus] loved” was sick. Jesus didn’t go immediately, because he knew this future moment would be a glorifying moment for him and his Father. But when he later went to Lazarus’ house, he was met by Martha who was beside her self and angry Jesus had not come sooner. And when he left her and entered the village, Jesus was met by Mary. John writes, “When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.”

And then he wept.

When Jesus encountered the scene of emotional chaos, saw the emotionally fragile state of Mary and felt the lament of Lazarus’ friends over his death, Jesus’ soul was overcome by the moment and in a very authentically human response Jesus cried. He had no words when he stepped into the confusion of the moment. Instead he simply sat with Mary and the Jews and joined in their weeping.

And I can’t help to think Jesus would have responded in the same way, not with a lecture or scroll full of words about sin and instructions on Minnesotans eternal destiny, but rather with the raw human response of tears and embrace.

When I first watched this video response from John Piper's ministry, I thought to myself two things--first, I like this message and second, most people will not like it.

It is mentioned here that Yancey's address to Virginia Tech's student body is a better response, but I'm not so sure it is all that different. Yancey admits that he would like to make fluffy promises to offer people temporary comfort, much like a Red Bull gives a sugar rush. Instead both of these men give permanent sustenance that might, at first, seem to give no comfort at all. They stand for truths that will actually hold up under every kind of tragedy—especially the worst ones you can think of—which ends up being most comforting and helpful.

One thing I love about Piper is that he isn't afraid to put his thinking about God through tests, and if he doesn't think present circumstances are offering a sufficiently difficult test, he will up the stakes. He does this here. He basically says that what Christians believe about God should hold up not just under this bridge tragedy but also under much more severe situations.

You want to know that your Christian thinking will be able to take anything that comes at it. If it cannot, then you have work to do. This work is never pleasant in my experience. Theological storms are like wrecking balls, razing all we build on the sand.

You may think this situation deserves more tenderness, but I can assure you Piper is a tender man. I am sure he shed tears over what happened, but he chose, as he often does, to father us theologically. This looks different than offering an empathetic word to students, crying with them, which is something Yancey is great at in his books.

It seems to me both men are perfect for the jobs they do. Thank God for the body of Christ and its diversity concerning gifts.