Bakers, Builders of Buggies and Barns and BAPTISTS: Mennonite Teaching On God and Evil

My earliest encounters with Mennonites were impressive ones. As a kid, I remember being so excited to see the horse-drawn buggies of the more traditional families as we traveled across Missouri. From watching them raise a barn on our pasture in just a few days, to enjoying the scrumptuous pies and Christmas baked goods from the Mennonite bakery up the road from my first teaching job, I have always respected their culture and convictions...and their Cooking!!! My first job at a grocery store featured one of the finest Holiday dinners you could envision, served on paper plates as we sat on milk crates eating the delicious creations of the store-owner's wife, who had been raised among these lovely people.  Mennonites aren't just phenomenal Bakers and Builders of Buggies and Barns though, they are Baptists too, and excellent theologians, at least the early ones were. Their tradition stems from some of the earliest Ana-Baptists, named such because they RE-jected infant Baptism and RE-Baptized church members as believing adults. I believe part of the reason they live so separately from society is due to the intense persecution endured by their spiritual forefathers. 

Today, I want to share with you their thoughts about the goodness of God and the nature of evil. I recently read an early Mennonite statement of faith that addresses this subject in a way that most of our other Baptist confessions of faith have failed to do:

A BRIEF CONFESSION OF THE PRINCIPAL ARTICLES OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH.

Prepared by

John de Rys and Lubbert Gerrits, Ministers of the Divine Word among the Protestants who, in the Belgian Confederacy, are called Mennonites.^[1]

ARTICLE VI.

of the providence of god.^[2]

God foresaw and foreknew (a) all things which have come to pass, are coming to pass, and shall come to pass, both good and evil, but since he is only perfect good (b) and the fountain of life, we believe and confess that he is the sole Author, (c) Origin and Operator of those things which are good, holy, sincere, pure and which agree with his nature; but not at all of sins and damnable evils. For God enjoins that which is good (d); he desires that we obey him in that which is good (e); he consults for and admonishes to it (f), and makes great promises to those who obey (g). On the contrary he forbids evil (h), exhorts against evil (i), threatens evil doers (k), and punishes them not rarely in this life (l), and denounces against them eternal punishment (m). And by this means shows himself to be an enemy of sinners and that all iniquity is contrary to his holy nature. And therefore, not God who is good, but man who is evil, by voluntarily choosing sin to which the spirit of wickedness leads him, which is dominant in him, is the author (n), origin and operator of sins and all wickedness, and for this reason is worthy of punishment.^[3]

---

^[1] McGlothlin, W. J. (1911). Baptist Confessions of Faith (p. 26). Philadelphia; Boston; Chicago; St. Louis; Toronto: American Baptist Publication Society.

The reason I share this is because it is so common for people to make inappropriate statements that misrepresent the nature and character of God. 

Today in our Sunday morning bible study, we were talking about how it is our responsibility as Christians to comfort, counsel, encourage and build each other up. But we can't do those things if we don't have a correct view and understanding of God's character. 

Imagine that you are the victim of assault, abuse or some other horrible crime---some of you might not have to imagine. How would you feel if you were told these common Christians sayings like "Nothing happens to you that God doesn't cause or allow," or "Nothing happens to you without God's permission." Would that comfort you? These sayings are shockingly common, but completely unbiblical. They should be followed by #saidnobiblever. 

God forbids evil in his word. It's called sin. You can not accuse God of allowing sin and evil when His word forbids it and He has declared punishment for it. The only way for all evil to stop is for God to take all the Christians to heaven and kill every person on earth....which He is going to do one day, but rather than kill each of us before we commit a sin right now, He grants us grace. He holds back judgement and stays his hand of punishment to give us the chance to repent and be saved and forgiven. Statements like those I mentioned take God's Grace and throw it back in His Face. God will not tolerate evil. He will put an end to it because it is against his nature. He does not "cause," allow" or "permit" sin. He forbids it. He punishes it. He judges it. He will end it. James 1:13 teaches us that God CAN NOT be tempted with evil. Habakkuk 1:13 tells us:

Your eyes are too pure to approve evil and you cannot look upon wickedness with favor....

God is so Holy that He cannot and will not approve of or grant permission for sin and evil. 

Another favorite theological statement is "Nothing is outside of God's control"  Hebrews 2:8 speaks to this issue:

You have put all things in subjection under His feet. For in subjecting everything to Him, he left nothing that is not subject to him. As it is, we DO NOT YET SEE everything subjected to Him.

Jesus is King of the World, all things have been placed under His authority, but He has not yet forcibly taken control--this is GRACE. He is holding back, patiently waiting, to allow more people to be saved. It is wrong to claim that evil happens because He "permitted," or "allowed" it. The sentence has already been pronounced. He has already taken our punishment for sin and will ultimately destroy those who continue to perpetrate evil. All things have been placed under Jesus' Authority, but not everything has submitted to His rule and control. There will come a day When "Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father," and all knees that don't will bow down to the slaughter and be destroyed. But we havn't yet seen that day.

John 1:5 teaches: 

God is light and there is absolutely NO darkness in Him. 

This passage teaches that God has no part and no fellowship with sin. That's what HOLY means. He is completely separate from sin. It is outrageously inappropriate to say that he condones, permits, causes or allows sin to occur. Statements like that directly attack the very nature, character and holiness of God. Evil cannot even enter into the Presence of Father, Son and Holy Spirit without being burned up and destroyed. God is entirely good and wholly opposed to evil. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8) God's word, the Bible, consistently forbids sinful, evil actions that harm other people. There is coming a day when God will put an end to all suffering, harm and evil. 

My grandparents used to own an old fashioned manure spreader, like some Mennonites still use to fertilize with. They would fill it up with dried cow pies and then, as Papa drove it along, circular spikes would spin and throw the poop all over the place, fertilizing the ground. To say that God permits, causes or allows sin is an outright lie. When spread, this lie is like manure being flung far and wide, encouraging all sorts of misunderstandings about God to grow. These lies cause people to turn away from the Lord and from His church. It is time to stop spreading this load of manure. God has no fellowship or relationship with evil and he never causes actions that go against His own moral laws and His word. God is worthy of our trust. We can take comfort in His good character.