What happens when Christians get unbalanced in their theology? Answer: We make weard statements in trying to uphold our view of God instead of insisting that there is mystery in Scripture. I believe that we must see God’s will in Hurican Katrina as both an act of judgment and an act of grace and mercy and love. We must look at the 100s of years when the gulf cost (my childhood home) has been safe and give God credit for his mercy in sustaining our lives when we do not deserve to live. Our rebellion against God has made us guilty before him. We have come in this country so comfortable with our leasure and wealth, that we think it is deserved, because we don’t see ourselves guilty before a holy God. We don’t see that every day that anyone lives is a gift of mercy (purchaced by Christ) to someone who should have already suffered death for their crime against God.
I think when we look at the tragedy of New Orleans, Dr. Mohler’s response to this is one of theological balance. One quote in his commentary: Bad Theology Watch — Who Speaks on od’s Behalf? is the following dose of reality:
“God’s wrath is even now being demonstrated in the events of human history, but not fully.”
Within this tragety that has hurt so many, we need to give hope and see also that there is still mercy and grace of God in this. God wrath has yet to be fully revealed. The only way to avoid the full wrath of God is to repent and believe in Christ as the only satisfaction for the wrath of God against us.
Now where one goes an makes a hertodox statment in the time of crisis (and many know of misstatements in their lives which they regret), there will always be those that go off the deep end in trying to protect God from his sovereign control. We need look no further than Tony Campolo to Deny God’s Omnipotence in his article: Katrina: Not God’s Wrath–or His Will. This article is so unbiblical that I cannot say what god Tony Campolo actually worships.
Is Huricane Katrina an act of God’s mercy or God’s judgment? The balanced Answer is: Yes, it’s both.
It will be more spiritually healthy to read some biblically balanced articles as: