IS A PUNCH IN THE FACE GOOD OR BAD? WHY?
Why does a good God permit evil in the world that he created? I’d like to suggest that what we sometimes think of as moral evil is, in fact, not moral evil, but falls under a different definition of functional evil. To begin, let’s look at the Bible’s classic passage about evil and suffering in the book of Job. Then we will define four categories of good and evil: Moral Evil, Functional Evil, Moral Good, and Functional Good.
READ JOB 1:1-2:10
The story of Job demonstrates that there are four categories of good and evil.
Moral Evil is behavior, thoughts, and feelings that violate God’s law, will, and character. These are behaviors that we always consider to be wrong and can never be right such as the Ten Commandments.
For instance, lying is a moral evil and is never considered a moral good. Adultery is always a moral evil and there is no context in which it can ever be good. The same is true with idol worship, theft, homosexuality, murder, coveting, etc.
In the case of Job, Satan committed a moral evil by trying to destroy him. Job’s wife committed a moral evil by tempting him to curse God. Moral evil is always committed in relationships.
Functional Evil is that which occurs in nature or an act of God that can cause harm, death, destruction, trouble, etc. An example of functional evil would be an earthquake that results in material destruction in a city and/or death. Functional evil is not a moral concern. Functional evil is not an attribute of personal behavior. Therefore, functional evil is not considered wrong in a moral sense. God sometimes uses functional evil, but this does not make God morally evil. For instance, God says in Deuteronomy 28:15, “If you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.” God pronounced curses, on the natural world and with disease, for disobedience.In addition, God says in Isaiah 45:7, “I make well-being and create calamity. I am the Lord, who does these things.” Therefore, moral evil and functional evil do not operate in the same sphere.
In Job’s case the natural disasters that befell his animals and children was a functional evil, as was his disease. Remember Job’s words to his wife. “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10). Job was not referring to moral evil because God cannot commit moral evil. He was referring to functional evil.
Functional Good is that in nature or within man’s world that behaves according to its intended design and is considered to be beneficial to nature and/or man and is pleasing in some respect. We get the concept of functional good from Genesis, where God completes each creative act and calls the finished result, “Good” (Genesis 1:10,12,18,21,25,31), meaning that it functions according to his intended design, but is not described in terms of moral good. A sunny day is not a moral good, but is a functional good.
In Job’s case, all of his blessings of wealth and family were functionally good.
Moral Good is that which in the realm of personal behavior is considered to be true, right, selfless, loving, kind, faithful, loyal, such as the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”
Biblically speaking, these are character traits that reflect the character of God. We are designed to be like God in our character. This is what it means to be made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-28; Leviticus 11:44). Moral good is sometimes facilitated by functional good. For instance, a beautiful day outside would be considered a functional good. A father who takes his children to play outside in that beauty is a moral good.
In Job’s case, the sacrifices he made for his children were a moral good. Job ascribing righteousness to God in his troubles was a moral good. Moral good is always committed in relationships.
HAVE YOU EVER HAD BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO YOU THAT WORKED OUT FOR THE GOOD?
Functional evil can sometimes lead to moral good. Observe: the world is subject to death (functional evil). The death of one thing sustains the life of another through eating (functional good). Life continues and is able to multiply (moral good).
Human death follows a similar track.
- Man sins (moral evil).
- Man is punished with death for sin (functional evil).
- Man repents (moral good).
- Man dies and goes to heaven (functional good).
- Man remains in God’s presence and enjoys him forever (moral good).
We sometimes perceive of a functional evil as a moral evil because we don’t perceive God as intervening to prevent its consequences. But God is not obligated by us or by anything outside of himself to eliminate or stop the consequences of functional evil. We do not have the eternal perspective that God has. He sees the end result, which may be the working out of a moral good originating through a functional evil.
As for moral evil, moral evil sometimes requires that God act through a functional evil with the end result being a functional good that leads to a moral good. Judah and Israel’s exile is one such example in II Kings 17.
- Judah violated the Mosaic Covenant (moral evil).
- God punished through exile (functional evil).
- In exile God instructs Judah to endure it and prosper (functional good).
- This leads Judah to recommit itself to the Mosaic Law and the worship of only one God (moral good).
King Manasseh of Judah is a prime example (II Chronicles 33:1-20).
- He commits more moral evil than any king in their history (moral evil).
- God sends him into exile and prison in Babylon (functional evil).
- In exile, Manasseh repents of his sin (moral good) and
- God returns him to his kingdom (functional good).
- After restoration Manasseh tries to undo all the evil he did earlier (moral good).
Functional evil leading to moral good happened in Job’s life.
- Job’s life is ruined (functional evil)
- Job justifies himself before God (moral evil)
- Job repents of his attitude (moral good)
- God restores Job’s wealth and family (functional good)
Have you heard this famous quote from Epicurus?
“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?”
HOW WOULD YOU ANSWER THIS CHALLENGE? WHY DOES A MORALLY GOOD GOD PERMIT MORAL EVIL TO EXIST?
The problem of evil is one that theologians have struggled to answer for many centuries.
Why does God wait so long to defeat evil?
I believe that God has already done something about evil. In fact, God has done at least six things about evil.
1.) He put the care of the earth and our fellow man under our control.
InGenesis 1:28 God said to the first man, Adam, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” In this passage, we learn that God essentially put man in control of the world around him. More importantly, he made man “in his image” (Genesis 1:26). This means that we are to be like God in the things that we think, feel, and do. Man has been made responsible for the world around him and his relationship with other people. Therefore, God is not the one responsible for evil; rather, we are responsible for our evil, and he has charged to us to do something about it.
Job was ruling over his animals and family (functional good).
2.) God gave everyone a conscience so that we can choose good or evil.
Everyone has a conscience. Some people’s conscience works better than others, but we all have one. We have a basic sense of right and wrong that we are born with, as well as what we learn as we mature into adulthood. Having a conscience means that we are responsible for what we know. InJames 4:17 we read, “To one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.” It is not for God to act and remedy evil; it is our task. We must act according to our conscience. When we commit evil (and we all commit evil), our conscience at some level tells us that what we have done, or what we are about to do, is wrong. We are, therefore, capable of recognizing our own evil and stopping it.
Job’s conscience pricked him about his children, so he sought their well-being with God by acting in a priestly manner (moral good).
3.) God gave a law and a means through that law for man to judge evil.
Remember the Ten Commandments. “You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol…You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain…Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy…Honor your father and mother…You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery.You shall not steal.You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.You shall not covet” (Exodus 20:1-17).
Sometimes the conscience is not enough. Especially for those who have trained their conscience to disregard morality. We live in a post-modern culture that does not regard concepts of good and evil as absolutes. It makes us think that good and evil are abstract ideas that have no basis in reality on their own. But this idea is flawed because we not only have a conscience, but we also have law, which is based upon God’s ideas of right and wrong. The Mosaic Law was given so that man could have a baseline outside of himself to govern himself. The Law does not come from man, but it comes from God, demonstrating that good and evil are not simply abstract ideas. They exist apart from man.
Job recognized the existence of moral evil and the need for law when he speculated that his children might have cursed God in their hearts.
4.) God gave authorities on earth to carry out the punishment and banishment of evil.
Look what the Apostle Paul had to say about what God has provided to keep evil in check.
“There is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience” (Romans 13:1-5).
We’ve all seen crimes committed of one severity or another. It is a simple truth that if a person desiring to commit a crime thinks that he will get away with it that he may commit himself to committing the crime. But if there is a chance of getting confronted or caught or punished, there is a likely chance he will not commit that crime unless his conscience is so far gone that he is willing to do it anyway.
Man needs authority figures to keep evil in check. If moral evil is not dealt with swiftly and effectively, more evil is the only result. The scripture also tells us this inEcclesiastes 8:11, “Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil.” God has therefore provided authority figures for the purpose of punishing evil and keeping it at bay.
Job was the authority figure for his family. God said Job, “turns away from evil” (1:8).
5.) God established teachers to instruct on the differences between good and evil.
There are three segments of society that are charged with helping us develop our conscience and learning the difference between right and wrong: the family home, schools, and the church. In ages past, these were the primary institutions that helped people learn the difference between right and wrong. Sadly, in America, this has changed. Families are breaking apart, and parents don’t always instruct their children about these things in an intentional way. Public school systems have rejected the teaching of absolutes as the culture has changed. And many churches have turned liberal and no longer regard the centuries-old concepts from the Bible as worth teaching. Without these three areas of society teaching and training young people about absolutes, the evils of society will only increase. This is not God’s fault. This is our fault.
When Job would offer sacrifices for his children, he did so in front of them, consecrating them (1:5). He instructed his family on what to do (moral good).
Knowing that we are evil by nature, God decided to act anyway. What did he do?
6.) God sent Jesus Christ to take the punishment for our moral evil.
If it were not for Christ, we would have no hope of defeating our own evil. By nature, we are morally evil.
“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
Also, “I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.” (Romans 7:18-19).
Since we are helpless in our condition, we need a solution. God provided that solution through Jesus Christ, who took the legal punishment for our sin on our behalf. “While we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6).
The real issue is not why God has not done something about evil. He has, multiple times. God has assigned that doing something about evil is our responsibility, and he has given us the tools to identify evil, restrain evil, punish evil, and eradicate evil if we will use them. And through Christ, he also took action on our behalf so that we would have the power to choose not to sin, rejecting evil.
Application
Now that we understand these things, how do we apply them to our lives in a practical way?
First, understanding the difference between these functional and moral categories helps us discern what God is doing in our lives. When we experience functional evil like Job did, we can know that God is not being morally evil to us. Something deeper may be going on. We don’t have to blame God as if he is an evil force. He is not. He has the long view.
Second, it can strengthen our resolve through trial. Remember what Job said, “Shall we receive good from God and not receive evil?” (Job 2:10). Job was not referring to moral evil; he was referring to functional evil. Job understood the difference between functional and moral evil. Because he understood this difference he was able to keep faith with God though his trial was great.
Third, we can discern God’s actions on the world stage. For instance, an Arab missionary friend of mine in the Middle East once told me, “If I ever meet someone from ISIS, I will give him a big hug and thank him. I will say to him, ‘ Do you know how easy you have made my job?’” He said this because while ISIS was killing many Christians and those Christians were fleeing war, they were also causing millions of Muslims to reevaluate their faith in Islam with the result that more Muslims were coming to Christ than ever before. Sometimes, the great evil we see around us brings about a good result in the long term. Remember Joseph. His brothers committed a great moral evil by selling him into slavery. But God used it to bring about a great moral good, the saving of many lives.
The end result of all of this can be summed up in a single statement. God is not responsible for our evil, we are. So that question is, what will we do about it?
