Raging with Compassion

No one can deny that people are suffering in the world around us. And so we often wonder, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Who REALLY has a good answer to that? There are many different theologies out there to answer this question, but how many of those answers help the person

dealing with the news that they have cancer? In John Swinton’s Raging with Compassion, Swinton suggests that the problem may not be trying harder to answer that question but instead that we are asking the wrong question. Rather than asking, ‘Why does God allow evil?’ maybe we should start asking, ‘What does God do in response to evil?’  When we focus on God’s response in the midst of evil, we are reminded that suffering is temporary, and that God is redeeming the evil in the world. By reframing this question, Swinton suggests that we create strategies to work through suffering as a community by loving each other and never forgetting that God loves us. 

This semester our Immersion Training staff in Nashville have the opportunity to be led in a weekly study by Dr. Jaco Hamman from Vanderbilt Divinity School. What a unique privilege to learn by reading and discussing books together on the theologies of disability with this learned friend of Young Life. Our first book to discuss has been Raging with Compassion by John Swinton. 

After reading this book together, we agreed that we generally think questions warrant answers, right? And that one question that everyone has pondered at least once in their life is, “Why does God allow evil and suffering?”  A really new thought for us was Swinton’s ability to hold the tension of the idea that some questions may not have answers.

Generally when tragedy strikes, we are quick to provide logical explanations and justification of why our all loving, all knowing God, allowed and possibly even caused the event to occur. As products of the Enlightenment, Swinton suggests, we are hard wired to try and solve problems and to try and provide answers. Swinton states that this “theodicy” not only “justifies and rationalizes the evil”, but also “silences the voice of the sufferer” (pg. 17). Swinton suggests that we shift our question from “Why is there evil?” to “What does evil do?”. He defines evil as anything that separates us from God and states that there can be suffering without it turning into evil when we practice resistance. This resistance comes in the form of lament, forgiveness, thoughtfulness, and/or hospitality. 

For the early Christians, suffering and evil did not have to be “explained.” Rather, what was required was the means to go on even if the evil could not be explained. In fact, for the early Christians to be able to face experiences of evil or suffering and retain a sense of meaning, hope, and the possibility of God’s providential presence was to engage in a powerful mode of resistance to evil.

The response to the problem of evil and the existence of suffering to the early church was not to question God’s goodness, love, or power, but rather to develop community within which the impact of evil and suffering could be absorbed, resisted and transformed as they waited for God’s return.  One-way Swinton tells us we can become this loving community is by practicing lament. Lament is a cry to the Lord. It takes the brokenness of human experience into the heart of God and demands that God answer. It is an outcry that is profoundly hopeful. When we lament to the Lord, this gives us a space to express our rage. God is active and we are not trapped in situations that may seem to have control over us. What makes lament even more powerful is when it is used within community and is used to build friendships. Swinton shows us the importance of Lament. Our pain is not to be suppressed. We cry to God knowing he is working even when we can’t see how.

In Capernaum, we are often asked the tough stuff about our friends. Is disability a product of the fall? Why do this child and his family have to suffer? What’s the point? Through our readings in Raging with Compassion, Swinton challenges us that, despite there being tension within us, we may not have an answer.  Our basic instinct is to provide a formulated reasoning in order to avoid the tension of leaving a question unanswered. While I know my intentions are to be caring and empathetic, I must agree with Swinton that my seemingly well thought out reasons behind why God acts in a specific way or my uninformed guesses at someone else’s level of suffering are probably not helpful. Navigating that tension together, loving each other within a faithful community, and practicing resistance in the tough stuff is what Swinton would suggest we are called to do rather than providing faulty assumptions of our God; remembering that our God experienced suffering first hand through Jesus and so knows pain, suffering, and evil. As in the early church, the concrete steps that we can take in order to respond and act in the presence of pain and suffering include the practices of: lament, forgiveness, thoughtfulness, friendship, hospitality and faithfulness. These practices allow the church to stand with those who suffer and give them a voice.

Instead of being the one who questions God and makes uninformed assumptions, Swinton defines the friend who cares as one who: can be silent in a moment of despair or confusion, can stay in the room during times of grief, can tolerate not knowing, not healing, and feeling powerless while at the same time remembering that God remains in control and is moving toward a hopeful outcome.

Within Young Life, sometimes all we can do is sit in the midst of suffering. Rather than having all of the answers, we are called to engage in friendship and true community with one another. When we can learn to embrace the silence that comes with hard times, we can better help our friends! Swinton calls us to practice recognizing, accepting, and expressing sadness. For our friends affected by disabilities this may look like acknowledging that their lives are often hard, welcoming them into our community, and becoming a true friend to them. As a part of this community, our friends are given not only purpose but also a place to express their pain. As Young Life leaders, we know we are called to embrace the sorrow of our friends - not leaving when the going gets tough. In addition, we are called to enter into a community that sustains faith within suffering and evil. Rather than having an answer to the world’s problems, let’s make a profound statement and sit in the midst of suffering with a friend.