It is the age old question of "Why doesn’t God step into our world and stop so much evil?".  For example, why didn’t God step in when six million Jews were slaughtered in the Holocaust?  The heart  of the answer has to do with Freedom; for God to be free to be God, and for humans to be free to be human.

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Firstly, God needs to be free! He cannot be at the beck and call of every call of human plea. If this sounds a bit cold and philosophical, just consider it for a moment. When does God stop interfering in human affairs and answering our pleas; when we have a cold, a bad hair day?! Is God tied to us and morally bound to do whatever we ask Him?  If that is the case, He is no longer God. He has become our poodle! God has to be God!

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Secondly, human beings need to be free.  Without freedom to make our own decisions we would never grow up and be responsible.  If whatever we did never had the possibility of going wrong and hurting ourselves and others, then we would be irresponsible and immature brats. It is this capacity to make choices and be altruistic that marks us as different to the animals.

With this previous gift of choice, however, also goes the danger of things going wrong.  Individuals like Adolf Hitler and Robert Mugabe arise because they make bad choices – and (out of self-interest) others keep them in power.  "But if God can’t step in and overthrow Mugabe, surely He is colluding in the evil!"... so the argument goes.  But just because God gives us freedom, does not make Him responsible for our evil.  As a philosopher put it "carving knives are good – but not for murdering your wife!" i.e. God has given us this wonderful gift of freedom, but not for killing and abusing our fellow humans.

by Rev Andrew Green, Senior Pastor, Upton Vale Baptist Church