Delusions of Adequacy

A couple of times this weekend, I've started to write a post that would summarize my reaction to Katrina.  I've started and stopped, overwhelmed by the enormity of it.  But James Spurgeon at The Howling Coyote has spared me the burden by posting a four-part series about God's purpose in sending the storm, which I think is spot-on.  A summative excerpt:

We may not know why God brought this disaster along exactly when and where he did, but we can know that God does nothing unjust or without purpose.

That's what I said: God had a purpose in it. People cringe when you say that, thinking that to say such a thing impeaches God's character. But the only alternative to saying that God brought this hurricane along on purpose is to say that he allowed it to happen for no purpose at all.

The fact is that it happened and God allowed it to happen, had complete control over it the whole time, could have done anything he wished with it. So we're going to have to come face to face with that and deal with it. We are either going to say that God had a purpose in it and that his purpose is ultimately good and wise or we are going to say that God had no purpose at all in it, he just allows this stuff to happen on its own for no good reason.

Now you tell me which view is an indictment on God's character...

The world sees this tragedy unfold and questions God, tries to attribute blame to him for what they perceive as wrong-doing on his part. Too often, Christians try to look at the victims and say that they must have been worse sinners than the rest or that God was judging them all for specific sins. So while the world judges God, the Church often judges the victims.Both miss the real message. The one we are to judge in the wake of this tragedy is ourself. God is pointing to the world and saying, "Repent." God is pointing to the Church and saying, "Repent."

You see, there were actually no innocents who perished in this tragedy. The fact is, all of Adam's race is guilty. Jesus tells us clearly that the victims in this storm are not more guilty than anyone else. Rather than marvel that so many died, we should marvel that God is so longsuffering to the rest of us in allowing us to live.

Read the whole thing.