"For He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." ~ Matthew 5:45
Yesterday, on his CBN telecast "The 700 Club," tele-evangelist Pat Robertson suggested that the earthquakes of Haiti were retribution for the Haitian people selling their souls to the devil.
Specifically, he said:
"And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, 'we will serve you if you'll get us free from the French.' True story. And so, the devil said, 'okay it's a deal.' And they kicked the French out. The Haitians revolted and got themselves free. But ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after the other."
If we were to accept Robertson assumption and take his premise as true, we would have to assume that whenever bad things happen to people, the victims must have somehow earned or deserve it.
Dr. King, then, must have deserved to be assassinated. Likewise, the nearly 3,000 people who died on 9/11 must have done something to deserve to be killed. Surely, Jesus must have done something to deserve crucifixion.
Clearly, this is absurd. In actuality, we know that none of these things are true. In fact, the entire Book of Job specifically calls out this line of thinking.
Job, a man who the Bible calls "blameless and upright," is relentlessly and consistently attacked by Satan for no other reason than for Satan to prove to God that Job's worship wasn't genuine or sincere. Much like Pat Robertson, Job's friends blame Job for the mess he finds himself in. "If you were pure and upright, surely now He would awake for you, and prosper your rightful dwelling place" (Job 8:6).
But in Isaiah 55, God says "My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways."
Bottom line: Pat Robertson's remarks are in no way in line with Scripture. We don't know why God allows bad things to happen to certain people. What we do know is Matthew 5:45: "For He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust."
To help in the relief efforts in Haiti, visit http://www.yele.org/ or text YELE to 501501. By donating through text, a $5 charge will appear on your cell phone bill. 100% of the proceeds go to helping those affected by the tragedy.
God bless,
J.W.
AMEN James! Thank you for this post. Pat Robertson's comments are way out of line, and completely insensitive to the people of Haiti who need out HELP, not our scorn right now. I find it troubling that people who are "religious leaders" would say such things.
ReplyDeleteIf bad things only happened to bad people, we would ALL be doomed. That's why God sent Jesus to pay for our sins. I will continue to pray and donate towards Haiti, and I hope that Mr. Robertson gets his act together, because he is setting a poor example of Christianity right now.