It is the beginning of a question many atheists, agnostics and people from other faiths ask of those of us who claim that following Christ is placing faith in the only true God. The concept of the Trinity is difficult. The virgin birth is not in line with our understanding of procreation. The creation of the universe through the utterances of a being outside of time, hard to comprehend. The death and resurrection of Jesus can appear to be a fairytale made up to win over people to a way of thinking. They can be stumbling blocks for those seeking the truth, but the biggest by far has to be; if God is good, why…?

I think we need to back up a bit.

The actual question posed by atheists, agnostics and people from other faiths is, “if your God is real, why…?” why does He allow suffering, babies to die, people to starve, storms that destroy, etc.? This group usually doesn’t say, “if God is good” but the way they pose the question implies that the Christian God is a good God or at least claims to be a good God or there would be no expectation that He would do good and/or stop what is deemed to be bad. As if that isn’t enough there is one more unstated assumption, the standard for good when it comes to God is defined by humans simply because it is humans doubting His actions by asking the question. 

Now that I have said all that…

… I can’t answer the question, “if God is good, why…?” I am not an atheist, agnostic or a person from another faith, I am a follower of Christ. Still, I can’t answer why a good God, the God I follow, allows what I deem bad to happen, I just know He does. If a non-believer struggles to believe in a God that is supposed to be good and yet allows bad things to happen, I would like to propose that a believer in some ways struggles more. The one I follow, the one I bet my eternity on, the one who’s words I base my life choices on, the one who I will always say is not only God, but a good God is the same one I struggle to see as always doing good. Why do not so good things happen especially to people who are good people, godly people, His people?

If bad things are allowed to happen, is God Good?

My understanding is that good people will do everything in their power to make sure that good happens and/or prevent bad.  God cannot be considered good, at least not all the time, based on this. If God is by His very nature good, why doesn’t He stop bad and initiate good whenever the need arises? What I am going to say, I say this with a little… check that, a large amount of fear, God does not seem to be good based on all the bad that seems to be happening. If God is good then like good people, wouldn’t He use everything in His power to stop bad and make good happen. In addition to Him being good, it is assumed any being that is a God/god is powerful which means He has unlimited power to do what is good and stop what is bad.

Good things don’t seem to be happening and bad things…

… well, no one seems to be stepping in. In my definition of good and therefore my understanding of what a good person does, the answer to, “if God is good, why…?” ends up in with the following conclusion: God isn’t good!

They say you can smell an odor akin to burning wires or plastic when lighting strikes close by; I think that best describes the smell that nearly knocked me over after my last sentence. To avoid a catastrophic fire in my office I think it would be best if I better explain my assertion that, “God isn’t good.” God is not good, He never was good, and He never will be good if I hold Him to my definition of good and my limited perspective of what constitutes perfection both in timing and long-term outcome.

Maybe it’s time to change the question.

While the “why…?” part of the question is a good question; the “if God is good” shouldn’t be a question at all. If you are going to accept there is a God, one who is far beyond humans, you are going to have to come to some sort of conclusion on His character. As mere mortals attempting to apply our standard of right and wrong, good and bad, light and dark or holy and evil we inevitably end up with a God who is either imperfectly the way we want a perfect God to be or imperfectly the opposite of what we want a perfect God to be. When this type of black and white thinking doesn’t work, our imperfect God created in our image ends up a little bit of both.

God is perfect, holy, and therefore good.

The definition of good is not limited to the initiation of what we consider good or the elimination of what we deem bad but instead it is the actions, lack of actions or both, God chooses that do not step outside of His perfect, Holy character as defined by Him, the only one who is truly perfect and holy. What we experience when our imperfection and the imperfection of the world come into contact with His perfection is something that leads us to ask, “if God is good, why…?”.

I think we are left with a choice to believe, to, “know that in all things God works for the  good of those who love him, whohave been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 (NIV) or doubt that God is good or maybe even if He exists.