Theological Masochism

I have a dear friend, a sister in ministry, Rev. Dr. Starlette Thomas.  God has graced her with a ministry to point out how the church has really done much harm in the area of race.  As I understand her, she says race is a human construct, something which we have created, but it is transcended by the Gospel. Her podcast is "The Raceless Gospel."  Here is how she defines that term:

The Raceless Gospel is rooted in the Christian’s baptismal identity, which transcends all fictitious binaries and failing dichotomies (Galatians 3:27-28; Colossians 3.10-11). It is not a color- blind prescription or a post- racial vision but an invitation to see race for what it is and as it is. Paul says it plainly to the believers in Corinth: “Not all flesh is alike, but there is one flesh for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish” (First Corinthians 15:39, NRSV).  

(Taken from https://racelessgospel.com/definition/ )

Starlette and I have never met in person but she is a kindred spirit to me.  I have a deep love and appreciation for her ministry and just for who she is.

In a Facebook discussion today, Starlette raised the question we have all struggled with:  why do people of God suffer?  I think from the way the discussion went, she and I are on the same page, as we often are.  One of her followers raised the question of the old adage that "God never puts more on us than we can handle."  I think that statement is true, with qualification, but it also puts into play a horrible assumption.

First, the level on which it is true.  I do not think God causes any suffering.   God is love and the first rule of love is that love does no harm to a neighbor. Romans 13:10.  I think God does not cause suffering, and God takes no delight in suffering.  If it is true that "God never puts more on us than we can handle," the reason is that God does not put suffering on us.

I am part of a theological community known as Open and Relational Theology.  I am currently trying to wrap up my third book, which will be titled Open and Relational Ethics.  The leading figure in this community is my good friend, Dr. Thomas Jay Oord.  He is best known for his book God Can't.  His premise is that,   because God's nature is love, God cannot singlehandedly prevent evil and suffering.  I agree with Dr. Oord 100% on this.  His book has been one of the most transformative things in my life.

For years, I taught my philosophy students that even God cannot do the logically impossible.  The old question of can God make a square circle comes to mind.  Of course God cannot do that, because a square circle is a logical impossibility.  Likewise, God cannot give people free will and force them to do things at the same time, so God cannot prevent evil from happening.

I thought about this as I discussed on Facebook with my friend Starlette.  It is true that God never puts more on anyone than they can handle...but it is also true, I believe, that people put more on one another than they can handle...all the time!

And that is where I thought of the term Theological Masochism.  Others have used that term, so I cannot take credit for it at all.  Maybe I heard it somewhere.

But in the course of the discussion today someone suggested it makes people feel better to say "God never puts more on us than we can handle." I can think of a couple of reasons why that may be so.  One would be that we like to think there is a higher purpose in things.  I want to make a suggestion here.  I do not believe God has a purpose in suffering because God does not cause suffering.  But I do believe God has a general purpose for us whether or not we are suffering, and that is to love us and have a relationship with us.  We do not have to believe God sends our suffering in order to incorporate our suffering into our relationship with God.

The other reason people want to believe "God never puts more on us than we can handle" is that, if we believe that, it absolves us of the need to go above and beyond to minister to the suffering.  The reason is, we can convince ourselves God has some purpose in the suffering and if we put our hands on it, we can mess things up.  Of course I think this is a big-time cop-out.

If it is true that God never puts more on us than we can handle, in the traditional sense of that saying, then it is like saying everything happens by God's design.  But think about it--that takes human responsibility out of the equation.  So if I haven't seen you for awhile, it does not matter if I hug you or slug you, if I say "God bless you"  or (forgive me in advance for saying this) "God damn you" because it all comes from God, and there must be some purpose in it.  To me that is Theological Masochism. I believe a God like that should be hated and damned instead of loved and worshiped.   But thank God, that isn't the God we have.