Susan Narjala
Keeping it Real
Which Camp Are You In?
Despite the provocative title of this post, I’m not referring to political camps (Can I get an Amen?). This isn’t about which party you support or which side of a “hot” debate you’re on, or even if one should celebrate Halloween or not.
No, I’m talking about something entirely different — I’m referring to how we see God depending on the “camp” we’re in.
Depending on your church background, when it comes to the attributes of God, Christians tend to lean heavily on either the goodness of God or the sovereignty of God. It’s a false dichotomy we have created for ourselves.
Having grown up in a more traditional church (in India), I tend to hang out in the “God is sovereign” camp. Do we believe that God is good? Sure. But that’s in passing. We tend to dwell (and preach) on the fact that He is in control of every detail of the cosmos and our lives. We see Him as the ultimate authority over all creation over all time.
While that brings me peace, here’s also how it shaped my prayer life. When I downplay the perfect goodness of God, I tend to tiptoe around Him, stopping myself from asking Him for what I desire or even need. Even before I make my requests known to God. I’m focused on the fact that God might say, “No” because, after all, He is sovereign and will do as He wills.
When I’m not wholly convinced of God’s exceeding goodness, I don’t want to “bother” Him with seemingly small requests or with the seemingly impossible ones. While it is a generalization, people in this “camp” tend to be timid when they approach God’s throne of grace.
Now, let’s talk about the other side — my “campsite” for the last decade or so. I’m again going to use the pronoun “we” because this is also me. If one camp can make us hesitant in prayer, the other can make us overconfident — as if God’s plans must always align with our desires.
We tend to be hyper-focused on the goodness of God — a goodness that leaves no room for suffering as part of God’s plan for us. For instance, when interceding for someone who is unwell, we’re afraid to say “if it’s Your will,” because we’ve assumed that our faith brings forth the outcomes we desire. We undermine the truth that God will ultimately work all things out for good, even if we are enduring suffering right now.
People in this camp are bold and declarative in their prayers, to the point where mentioning the sovereignty of God might feel like a lack of faith or even a smear on His character.
Maybe you’re looking at God and asking, “Which one is true and right about You? Are You perfectly good all the time, or are You supremely sovereign over everything?”
And God answers, “Yes.”
The truth is, God is both good and sovereign — one attribute doesn’t switch off when the other switches on. They are woven together. Both those characteristics of God work together — along with all His other unsearchable and unfathomable qualities — in ways we cannot comprehend.
Friend, if you lean more heavily on one side to the point of ignoring the other attribute of God, this may be a good time to “course correct” by simply talking to Him about it.
Do you primarily see God as the One who reigns and rules over everything? May our prayers grow bolder as we proclaim His goodness and lay our needs and desires at His feet.
Do you primarily see God as the One who is always good? May our prayers increase in reverence as we hold our desires loosely and trust His sovereign wisdom when He says, “no.”
Today, may we challenge ourselves to step out of our “camps” and rest in both the goodness and the sovereignty of God.
If this blog resonated with you, SUBSCRIBE to my weekly newsletter for FREE so you get my posts delivered to your inbox. I would love a Facebook or Instagram follow or share if you’re on social media. Thanks a ton for stopping by!
MEET SUSAN
Comments
7 Comments
Peter
This effort is fully deserving of a Bravery Award the likes of the Param Vir Chakra, presented by the President of India, or the Victoria Cross presented by the sovereign monarch of the UK.
It’s hard to imagine a more pretzel-shaped conundrum. And Susan had (unwittingly?) bitten the bullet and gone where even angels fear to tread: the paradox and challenge of classic theodicy. One that sophisticated contemporary Christian philosophers no less than the vaunted David Bentley Hart struggle with — anyone who has read Hart’s book, Doors of The Sea, a response to the catastrophic Dec 26, 2004 Tsunami will appreciate both the theological and philosophical dilemmas at hand.
Hume is considered the historical architect of the ancient Epicurean paradox which is articulated in this all too familiar syllogism:
If God is willing to prevent evil but is not able, then God is not omnipotent.
If God is able to prevent evil but is not willing, then God is malevolent.
Which then begs the question:
If God is both willing and able, then where does evil come from?
Christians are hard pressed to concede that God is the source of evil. Matters might be simpler if only the Christian revelation of God offered a being similar to the monotheistic Zoroashtrian dualistic understanding of God as Asha and Druj, two opposing cosmic forces in continuous conflict.
This ‘god in conflict’, a binary being comprising good and evil in perpetual tension, is at once at odds with the proposal of God’s ‘goodness’ — as if God possesses properties as a ‘thing’ having a ‘thing’ — as polyphonic, multi-shaded. Even the dark sobering tones are a shade of good; “… there is no evil in Him” (Ps 92:15).
This does drive us beyond armchair tick-tack-toeing between two righteous and reasonable camps as regards the character of God’s sovereignty: God Is Good, God Is Just.
Even at first blush, the question is self-evident: what sort of ‘goodness’ is absent of justice; as if justice has no part in goodness? How good be that goodness? This blissful binary is already on shaky legs. The temptation of two-isms can be irresistible.
Two tidy ‘camps’…. isn’t that every reductionist’s fantasy?
What became of God is ‘Merciful and gracious’ (Ps 103:8) and “compassionate and gracious, abounding in ‘chesed’, long suffering, forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin….” (Ex 34:6-7), God’s first articulated self-introduction to humanity?
Surely Susan’s thoughtful and provocative post isn’t intended as a venture into such philosophical deep waters. But this bear once even limply tapped roars its refrain:
Can God be the author of evil? Or is God not the only uncreated being, suggesting evil either created itself or originated from some other god, defeating any claims of Christian monotheism?
Are we now entering the proverbial forest beyond the trees? The light is conspicuously dappled in here, growing darker as we are invited further up, further in.
When was poetry ever credited for supplying convincing philosophical answers? Time for the heavy hitters!
When all else fails, summon Job (‘who you gonna call? Ghost busters!’)
Job disappoints with answers to the question “… whence then evil?” Or does it? Depending what one makes of Job 41, the perplexing poetic punchline of God’s monologue to Job.
What about Protestant’s other ace-in-the-pack, C S Lewis and his theory of ‘ultimate good’ espoused in his ponderous The Problem of Pain?
The ultimate good as an adequate or sufficient Christian response to the 40-60 thousand people killed by natural disasters each year? Really?
We say amen to the exhortation to hold our desires loosely to our desires; why isn’t our (eros) desire more aligned to God’s as Augustine will admonish us? And to be open to God’s “no” (which most often is heard in ‘things aren’t going as I wanted’).
While this may feel unloving, few will reach for ‘evil’ as a description of God’s response. When Bad Things Happen To God People by Rabbi Harold Kushner is a delightfully accessible but dissatisfying shot at the crusty conundrum.
Subject for your next brave-heart blogpost, Susan?
Blessings
Susan Narjala
Oh wow. That will take me some time to read and digest. But thank you for stopping by to share you thoughts! Blessings, Susan
Peter
By way of encouragement to your faithful readers: a quote rich in wisdom and pathos from the renowned Mystic of the Middle Ages, anchoress (one who lives in permanent seclusion) and Christian saint who at the age of 30 fell so gravely ill she was thought to be on her deathbed. It was in this perilous period that she was granted a series of visions or ‘shewings’ of the Passion of Christ. Now made available to us in her book ‘Revelations of Divine Love’, considered to be the earliest surviving English language works by a woman author and the only surviving works in English by an anchoress:
“If there is anywhere on earth a lover of God who is always kept safe, I know nothing of it, for it was not shown to me. But this was shown: that in falling and rising again we are always kept in that same precious love.”
—Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love
Chris
Love your insights and your wonderful way of communicating Susan. Very inspiring… Tks
Susan Narjala
Thank you so much, Chris. I’m thankful I have this platform to process my thoughts and share them here. Blessings, Susan
Chris Pullenayegem
Keep it up. I miss your devotionals on Youversion. I found them extremely helpful.. as a pastor in connecting parishioners via this devotions on a daily basis.
Susan Narjala
Thank you, Pastor Chris. Appreciate your encouragement. I do have some content for some YouVersion devotionals – this was the incentive I needed to actually try and get them published. So thanks for that! Blessings, Susan