BLAMING
GOD FOR EVIL

Topics: Blame; Free Will; Invitation; Salvation; Sin; Suffering

References: Isaiah 55:1–3; Matthew 23:37–39; Romans 2:4–5; 1 Timothy 2:1–6; James 1:13–15; 2 Peter 3:9; Revelation 22:17

A preacher and a barber were walking through city slums. “If God was as kind as you say, he wouldn’t permit all this poverty, disease and squalor,” the barber said. “He wouldn’t allow these poor street people to get addicted. I cannot believe in a God who permits these things.”

The minister was silent until they met a man whose hair was hanging down his neck and had a half inch of stubble on his face.

“You can’t be a good barber, or you wouldn’t permit a man like this to continue living here without a haircut and a shave,” the preacher said.

Indignant, the barber answered, “Why blame me for that man’s condition? He has never come to my shop. If he had, I could’ve fixed him up and made him look like a gentleman!”

“Then don’t blame God for allowing people to continue in their evil ways,” the preacher said. “He invites them to come and be saved.”

—Brett Kays, Brownstown, Michigan