This dude says to me, “Whoever wins the election, God will be glorified.”
What kind of theological perspective is that? Trying to do theology many times people become crazy folks, out of touch with simple logic and truth.
He might as well of said, “Praise God for Stalin, Mussolini, Hitler, and American slavery.”
The “God will be glorified” crowd, in essence, have a God who is in total control of a closed system (The whole closed system thing died long ago). Therefore, this controlling and causative God is responsible for EVERYTHING that happens everywhere, all the time. “It’s God’s sovereignty,” they proclaim.
Yep. They believe the sovereignty of God indicates that God intentionally and purposefully raised up Stalin, Mussolini, Hitler, and American slavery. God intended for the masses to be murdered and our black brothers enslaved, they believe. God, in fact wants babies aborted, children to have incurable cancer, and other children to starve. After all, in His sovereignty, God predetermines all things.
Just plain nuts.
I nearly fell out of my seat one day when one of these famous “Greater Glory for God” preachers said, “Christians should never help the non-elect poor. When you help the non-elect poor, you are fighting the judgement of God on their lives.”
Just plain nuts!
God, you see, needs greater glory and He needs it so desperately that He turns to causing evil in order to get this greater glory. If your kid contracts an incurable disease, you can rest in the fact that God designed, intended, and planned for this because He needs greater glory.
Knowing that this is craziness for any decent human being to believe, they throw down their “trump” card (Bwahaha), “It is for His greater glory.” “It is a mystery how God causes evil for His glory.” They say.
Just plain nuts!
This crowd actually defines God as the One and Only Sinner! How? In a closed system in which God alone is the first and only cause, He alone has responsibility for sin.
He is responsible for your election and salvation. If you aren’t elect, you are toast because it is a matter of intentional thought and determination by God. Your non-Christian Karma has been set by God. If, on the other hand, you are elect (I’m never quite sure what measure of pride enables this crowd to assume they are elect?) no amount of evil action on your part is a deal breaker with God, because He too uses evil for His purposes.
Just plain nuts!
Many folks in this crowd are very dear friends of mine. “Kent, I’ll never know why God foreordained my son’s drowning death at such a young age.” “I don’t know why God wanted me to have this cancer.” “Why do you think God intended me to have this painful divorce?”
To assume that God’s sovereignty requires causation is, in my understanding, a HUGE insult to the true character and sovereignty of God. To suggest that God’s heart includes the causation of evil is preposterous heresy.
“Haven’t you read Romans 13:1, you bozo pastor?” They ask. Much to their amazement, I have actually glanced at Romans a time or two.
“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.”
Paul simply points out that all true authority is His. He has shared a small portion of His authority with systems of governance in man-made authority “blocks.”
If Putin has authority in the man-made governance system called Russia, that authority is from God. If Bashar al-Assad has authority in the man-made governance system called Syria, that authority is from God.
In NO WAY is Paul suggesting that governing authorities are always pleasing to God and that their decisions are part of God’s sovereign rule on the earth. In Paul’s mind, any authority that is rightfully in the stewardship of a person or government, is authority instituted by God. When you fight true authority, you fight God.
I’m fairly sure that Rome was a miserable place in which to be a Christian. Names like Caligula and Nero come to mind. Yuck! Scum of the earth type leaders. And these were the people governing our brothers and sisters to whom Paul was writing.
Paul, in my view, was saying, “Rome is a man-made space with borders drawn by human beings. Inside that man-made space called Rome there is the need for governance and authority. The governance and authority established there was established by God.”
Paul is NOT saying, “Nero was God’s choice to lead Rome.” He is saying, “God has established governance and authority in Rome and Nero has come to power.”
If Rome had been open to an election, I am thoroughly convinced Paul would have said, “Nero has seized governance and authority. Vote the bum out. #NeverNero.”
God’s sovereignty often flows through human choices.
God being glorified is not the issue at hand. The I Am will be just fine.
It matters who wins national elections. #Electionsmatter
To live otherwise is Just Plain Nuts.