Abundant Rest Blog on Church Judgment

Abundant Rest Blog writes

When Disaster Strikes … Should We Repent?

I read an interesting article recently about a church fire in Baltimore. It was a Seventh-Day Adventist church. The church’s sanctuary was destroyed by the lightning-induced fire, and yet some are calling the undamaged cross a miracle. If God was able to protect the cross as a sign of His power, why did He not protect the whole building? In the past, Ellen White pronounced such events as judgement from God for the church’s sins. Today, we are too scared to say such things that are not politically correct.

Abundant Rest concludes:

It is never a good thing when disaster strikes a church congregation. But perhaps it should serve as a wake-up call for repentance and a return to the standards that God himself set for His church.

If the destruction of the church was really a judgment of God and God is good would not the disaster also be good?

It is perhaps not the best picture of God to tell us that God destroys a church as a method of judgment against the sins of that church. It is the similar concept that God destroyed New Orleans or hundreds of thousands of people with a Tsunami in Indonesia. Or perhaps that old saying that God really hates trailer parks is true, and it is just His judgment upon the people living in the flimsy constructed homes that tornadoes and hurricanes and just plain wind storms do so much damage to.

Is it a miracle that the cross of the church survived, no probably not, but it is typical of people of hope. They deal with bad events by also looking at what might be good in the event. That cross will probably be taken down and placed on the new church as a reminder of the adversity that the people of that church have survived. We live in a world of trouble, however the hope revealed in Jesus Christ as the God of love gives us enough courage to press on despite the troubles and even in spite of the declarations of others of our sinfulness. The sad truth is we are always right when we declare someone sinful. It is a comment that fits every human being. I believe the New Testament presents a picture of God who has better things to do then to bring disasters upon His followers even though His followers are imperfect.