Upon receipt of a cancer diagnosis, Christians inevitably ask, "Is cancer God's will for my life?" This question comes with a supposition that even if God doesn't cause cancer and suffering directly, He allows it, and, therefore, His hand is in it. How can a cancer patient seek God wholeheartedly for healing if they believe He had something to do with their cancer in the first place? Wrestling with such questions during cancer isn't easy, but for some, it is essential.
At ACTIVATE THE CURE, we approach cancer believing that it is not God's will for anyone's life. Our position is based on the life of Jesus and the goodness of God (1). The goodness of God is a major theme throughout scripture. He is always for us! Jesus is the image of the invisible God and the best representation we have of God's will and character (2). Therefore, since Jesus healed every sick person He encountered, we have to assume that health, rather than illness, is God's heart. To believe that cancer and all of it's devastation is "God's will" is to contradict His goodness and the example given in the person of Jesus Christ.But what about the "good things" that sometimes arise from cancer? And the scriptures that proclaim the benefits of trials and suffering? Aren't they evidence that God ordains cancer to teach us and change us so that our faith will be perfected? While it is true that good things can come from cancer, it is erroneous to conclude that our gracious and loving Father in Heaven ordained cancer and all of it's horror to accomplish such purposes. Rather, as scripture says, God brings good out of all things (Romans 8:28, emphasis added). The scripture tells us that our Heavenly Father responds to cancer by using it for good, but that doesn't mean cancer is part of His plan. Furthermore, the vast majority of scriptures that convey benefits of suffering are referring to religious persecution (3). While some attributes of the various kinds of afflictions may be constant, suffering for one's faith (often by conscious decision) is vastly different from being afflicted with cancer. By applying scriptures specific to religious persecution to broad application across all forms of affliction, there is risk of assigning a meaning that was not intended. In the interpretation of scripture, context matters.
At ACTIVATE THE CURE, we approach cancer believing that it is not God's will for anyone's life. Our position is based on the life of Jesus and the goodness of God (1). The goodness of God is a major theme throughout scripture. He is always for us! Jesus is the image of the invisible God and the best representation we have of God's will and character (2). Therefore, since Jesus healed every sick person He encountered, we have to assume that health, rather than illness, is God's heart. To believe that cancer and all of it's devastation is "God's will" is to contradict His goodness and the example given in the person of Jesus Christ.But what about the "good things" that sometimes arise from cancer? And the scriptures that proclaim the benefits of trials and suffering? Aren't they evidence that God ordains cancer to teach us and change us so that our faith will be perfected? While it is true that good things can come from cancer, it is erroneous to conclude that our gracious and loving Father in Heaven ordained cancer and all of it's horror to accomplish such purposes. Rather, as scripture says, God brings good out of all things (Romans 8:28, emphasis added). The scripture tells us that our Heavenly Father responds to cancer by using it for good, but that doesn't mean cancer is part of His plan. Furthermore, the vast majority of scriptures that convey benefits of suffering are referring to religious persecution (3). While some attributes of the various kinds of afflictions may be constant, suffering for one's faith (often by conscious decision) is vastly different from being afflicted with cancer. By applying scriptures specific to religious persecution to broad application across all forms of affliction, there is risk of assigning a meaning that was not intended. In the interpretation of scripture, context matters.
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James refers to the testing of our faith through "trials of many kinds" (4). Here "trials" refer to the kind of difficulties we experience in life that challenge what we believe about God and His character. This scripture is certainly applicable to cancer. We are encouraged by James to endure our trials by focusing on the spiritual outcome; when our faith is tested and our beliefs about God are challenged, it either becomes stronger and more powerful, or it crumbles. James is merely attempting to encourage us as followers of Christ to trust in God's faithfulness, compassion and mercy (5) so that our faith prevails in difficult times and we will be rewarded (6). James never suggests that suffering from disease is God's will. In fact, James emphatically directs the church to seek the reversal of illness according to God's will (7). |
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But if God is sovereign, isn't everything that happens part of His plan? At ACTIVATE THE CURE, we recognize and acknowledge the tension between the competing truths of God's sovereignty and the issue of suffering. Without a doubt, God is sovereign and He can do anything. But He gave His children free will, and like every good father, He has chosen to limit His control over their lives. Cancer, like all disease, is not from God but is a consequence of the sin and brokenness in our world (8). We all experience sin and brokenness, but how or why it manifests into cancer for some people is unknown. We acknowledge the complexity and mystery of creation and our limited capacity as human beings to comprehend it. We assume that people suffer primarily because the world is under the control of the evil one (9). God has given each of us complete freedom over our own lives; but if we choose to live apart from our Creator and reject His offer of protection, we reap destruction (10). Those who confess their sin and accept Jesus as their Savior are forgiven, are restored to a right relationship with God, are promised eternal life, and gain access to the grace of God which sustains us in difficult times (11). Until Jesus returns to restore the new earth, the consequences of sin and brokenness --- include disease --- will continue to manifest and take their toll (12). Yet, we are not without hope. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (13). Our charge as Christians is to follow the example of Jesus and respond to the devil's work with our faith and our action.
What about those problematic scriptures in the Old Testament that suggest God is not always good? And what about Job? The scripture is quite clear that God allowed Satan to devastate Job. Sure, God restored Job in the end, but Job was traumatized and tormented in the process. Among the most basic principles for interpreting the Bible is to allow the clear to interpret the unclear. That is, when you come across a passage that appears very strange and knotty, it is best to allow the parts of the Bible about which you have no doubt to govern how you think about the difficult portion. Don't let the confusing bits dominate your understanding. That doesn't mean don't wrestle with them, but don't let them dominate. It is clear that Jesus is the most accurate representation of the Father, and that all of the Old Testament was leading up to the life of Jesus (14). What this means, essentially, is that the fact of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection requires that we reinterpret the Old Testament (15). Many Jews in Jesus' day, not least the disciples, had to do this. Whatever first century Jews might have thought the Law meant, it had to take on a new meaning in light of Jesus, who fulfilled the Law where Israel never could. Job is a fuzzy book. But the life of Jesus is clear. This makes Jesus a 'higher' truth than Job. The gospel stories have to dominate our thinking, rather than the Job story. ( READ MORE about the book of Job.)
Simply put, Jesus is the fullest representation of God's heart (John 14:7-9). In the New Testament, the apostle Paul declared the supremacy of Christ by describing Him as the image of the invisible God and the fullness of God (16). The life of Jesus is essentially the best witness to God's intentions for humankind. Jesus healed every person that came to Him (17). This fact is compelling and must be given its proper weight as extraordinary evidence that the will of our Father in heaven is for all to be healed. God's will is revealed not in the afflictions Jesus encountered, but in His loving and powerful response to those afflictions (18).
Our conclusion at ACTIVATE THE CURE is that cancer is never from God, but is the work of the devil. We believe wholeheartedly that God's heart is for all disease to be healed. We anticipate His response!
NOTE: This article is merely a brief overview of our theological understanding of cancer and is intended to inform you of our approach to cancer. We are not attempting to answer the difficult questions surrounding the problem of disease and suffering, or even deal with them in a thorough or scholarly manner. Many great scholars and theologians have spilled oceans of ink for that purpose. Rather, the statements above are the scriptural foundation that underpins our faith for the mission of ACTIVATE THE CURE. We respect those who disagree with our perspective.
Mike McKinniss (M.Div.), a pastoral adviser to ACTIVATE THE CURE, contributed to this document.
For more information on this topic, we recommend the following book:
Is God to Blame by Greg Boyd
REFERENCES
(1) e.g., Psalm 31:19; Psalm 86:5; Psalm 100:5; Psalm 145:9; 1 Chronicles 16:34; Nahum 1:7; Jeremiah 32:38-41; Matthew 7:11; Romans 8:28; 12:2; James 1:17; 1 Timothy 4:4
(2) Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3
(3) Acts 5:41; Romans 5:3-5; 1 Th 1:6; 2 Th 1:5; 2 Tim 1:8, 12; 2:9; Heb 10:32; 13:3; 1 Pe 1:3-13; 2:13-20; 3:8-13; 4:12; Rev 1:9
(4) James 1:2-4
(5) James 5:10,11
(6) James 1:12
(7) James 5:13-15
(8) Galatians 6:7,8; James 1:13-15
(9) 1 John 5:19
(10) Isaiah 59:2, Colossians 1:16, Galatians 6:7,8
(11) 1 John 1:9, Romans 10:9, 1 John 5:11-13, Hebrews 4:16
(12) Acts 1:6,7; Revelation 21:1-5, Matthew 13:24-30; 36-41
(13) 1 John 3:8
(14) e.g., John 5:19-20, Luke 24:27, 44
(15) see 2 Corinthians 3:7-18
(16) Colossians 1:15, 19
(17) e.g., Matthew 4:23,24; MORE
(18) Rev. Greg Boyd, ReKnew.Org
Photo used under Creative Commons from svklimkin
