God’s purposes won’t happen with violence
Like most Americans, I was shocked on Saturday, July 13, to learn that Donald Trump had been shot. And like many others, I said a silent prayer of thanksgiving that he was not more seriously hurt. We later learned that a firefighter with a wife and two daughters was killed by the same gunman. And I said a silent prayer that God would comfort his family.
Whenever a tragedy occurs, it is normal to lift our hearts in prayers of thanksgiving that we have been spared. To suggest that God spared Donald Trump for some divine purpose leads us down a slippery slope of never-ending questions with no satisfying answers. Why did God spare Donald Trump but not Corey Comperatore? Why didn’t God stop Thomas Crooks from shooting the gun? Does God need for someone to die to motivate Republican voters? This theology turns God into a cruel and arbitrary tyrant.
John Westerhoff in his book “Christian Believing” says that rather than ask why God allows suffering in the world, we should ask why we allow suffering in the world. Why do we allow civilians to purchase weapons of war? We have the power to transform the world, but it will require our active involvement. We will not bring about the kingdom of God through violence, nor will God’s purposes be brought to fruition through violence.
Jim Milburn