Any Christian response to the terrible bomb attack at the Boston marathon must begin with compassion and not pious platitudes. We must pray for those who are injured and those who have lost loved ones. We must go beyond prayer and help out in whatever way we can. If you are in the area, donate blood or watch for other material assistance that is needed. We should hug our own families and realize that tragedy can happen at the most unexpected of times.
However, someone is bound to ask: “Why would God allow this to happen?” That is natural to ask, especially for the people directly affected. Beyond that, there will be skeptics who will push this and suggest that if a good God existed, he would not have allowed such suffering. For many people that will sound convincing. But think through what that means. I assume people are suggesting that a good God would have struck dead those responsible before the bombs were ever planted. Let us work through this.
I assume we all want good government. Imagine if the government came up with a plan that they were going to insert a microchip into every citizen’s brain. The purpose of the microchip would be to sense when we are about to commit a crime and then release lethal shock to kill us before we could carry out the crime. Would you be the first one in line to get your microchip? Would you rejoice that the government was regularly killing people in order to prevent crimes? Would you see this as the best example of good government? Likely not.
So why do we think that a good God is required to kill people before they commit crimes? Where is God in the Boston tragedy? He is there. He is working through people, Christian and non-Christian. He is bringing peace and hope and healing to a place of chaos and suffering.
Our prayers go out to the people of Boston, the runners of the marathon and the families affected by this terrible attack. Our prayers go as well to the people responsible and our hope is that they would come to a place of repentance for their horrific deed.
