Anger towards God can push a person away from him. Has anger come between
you and a relationship with God? Do you see God as a “villain?”
There are many reasons a person can become upset with God. While I cannot address everything, there is one reason I would like to address.
At times, someone who hears the stories of the Bible about God disagrees with what how God reacted. That person starts to see God as “the bad guy,” rather than loving creator.
If this sounds like your opinion of God, please continue to read. I have some simple questions to ask you.
I would imagine you have convictions that call you to a higher standard for truth and understanding. You may even look down on other christians, seeing them as uneducated and, in your opinion, do not really understand God like you do.
As I said, I cannot possibly address all the issues. But lets just look at one of the many questions you may ask. Perhaps it is the biggest issue of all…
Hell.
Perhaps you ponder “How is it loving for God to send anyone to hell?”
There are a lot of questions brought up about hell. For example:
Why is hell eternal? Can someone not learn their lesson?
Why should punishment last forever?
Why does God send someone to hell who has never even heard of Him?
How is it fair that we are given a choice, and if we chose ‘wrong’ we have eternal punishment to face?
All of these questions are excellent. There is light to shed on each topic. Let’s take a look at what hell really is according to the Bible.
Contrary to popular opinion, not all punishment in hell is eternal. It is actually a place for people who do not want God to exist without him. That is it’s true purpose. Hell is about eternal separation, not eternal punishment for earthly sins.
Don’t get me wrong. There is punishment in hell. But , after all, is it justice to punish someone eternally if their only sin was not paying the late fee at the video store? Shouldn’t the punishment for that sin be small compared to another sin, such as murder?
Of course it should. And that is actually what the Bible teaches! You just didn’t know it. Many christians don’t know it either. But it is true. Consider these passages from the Bible concerning Hell.
Luke 12
47 And that servant[person] who knew his master’s will[understands scripture], and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48 But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.
In hell, the weight of the punishment will differ. Those who knowingly committed a particularly bad sin will receive more “stripes” than the person who didn’t commit such a bad sin.
The punishment for some sins is not eternal.
Mark 3
28 “Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; 29 but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”
The above passage nails it. All sins will eventually be forgiven once the requirements of justice are met. That means in hell, if no further sins are committed, the punishments for those sins will end. This is true for every sin, except one.
The name of that sin is ‘blaspheme against the Holy Spirit.’ What is this sin? It is simple. It is the rejecting of God as your god and Lord. What is the punishment for this sin? Separation from God and his good gifts.
Why is it eternal? Because the people who commit this sin are continuously committing it. But even though it is considered punishment, it is actually what that person wants. God isn’t forcing anyone to love him. The choice to go to hell is a conscience one.
What about people who never heard of the Bible? Will God send them to hell? The answer is no. Listen to what the Bible says:
Romans 2
14 for when Gentiles [unbelievers], who do not have the law[God’s law], by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, 15 who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them
The Bible actually tells us that the people who do not have the Bible will be judged by a different standard all together than us who have it! It is their conscience. It will be the law which will accuse them, or otherwise excuse them from eternal condemnation.
I hope already you can see that God handles hell with justice and consideration. God has good intentions to send people who only want to go there to get away from God. People who go to hell truly hate God, so they get their wish.
Matt 25
41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
There is even more to consider about hell. More than this letter has room to address. But maybe now you have a better understanding.
If you have a better understanding, that is great. But that begs the question, “What else don’t you understand?” Also, you should ask yourself “Where do my misunderstandings come from?”
After all, if all this is news to you… what else would be news to you?
You pride yourself for getting all the facts, you try to make informed decisions, yet you have already rejected God without fully understanding his ways?
Maybe you asked other christians what they think about certain subjects such as hell. But do you really think their answer is perfect? Is it sufficient enough to justify your anger and hatred for God? Or are their words just an excuse to hate God?
The thing you have to remember about christians, and the same can be said about any group, is they speak things they do not understand. They sit in church pews, most of the barely paying attention, highlighting one verse out of a thousand page book, go home and barely even read it, what they know is what some guy on a stage tells them (and that is his spin on it, yet even he has limited understanding).
Do you really understand what is going on in the Bible? It just isn’t fair to judge the characters of a story when you do not know where they are coming from. You may already realize this in other situations, yet do you still judge God?
It is bold of someone to make a claim against God, that he is the antagonist of this world when you hardly understand the subject matter you have issue with.
If you are someone who is so ready to apply truth to your life, you should be humble enough to realize when you judged too quickly and with too little information.
God really is a good, loving, fair god. If something doesn’t add up, faith can sustain your unanswered questions until you get an answer. What makes you so sure your anger is just?
If you desire to seek out the truth, you should be truthful with yourself enough to see that you do not possess the understanding to judge God. And with a book as big as the Bible, with so much content to it, you are likely to get confused.
Are you right to be angry at God when he knows everything, and you know only a little?