“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33
We live in a world of bad news. Some of the headlines on the last week of April 2018 read: “Toronto van: Ten dead and 15 injured as pedestrians are hit;”98 “3 pedestrians in Yio Chu Kang killed by lorry that 'came hurtling';”99 and “Singaporeans mourn as Inuka is put down.”100 What a sad week! I can’t help but think that some Christians would be adversely affected by these problems that plague the world.
The third aspect of Christian perfection is that Christians who love God and neighbour perfectly do not have immunity from life’s problems. The character of Job bears testament to this fact; that a man who “was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil” (Job 1:1), would be afflicted over and over again. Harper explains, “the Devil seems to delight in defeating those who are closest to God (1 Peter 5:8). Christians are exposed to the same germs, the same natural laws, and the same temptations as any other person. Christian perfection is not a vaccination against reality.”101 Harold S. Kushner, a Jewish rabbi who watched his son, afflicted with premature aging, die at the age of fourteen writes in his chapter entitled “No Exceptions for Nice People”: “Laws of nature do not make exceptions for nice people. A bullet has no conscience; neither does a malignant tumor or an automobile gone out of control. That is why good people get sick and get hurt as much as anyone.”102
“我将这些事告诉你们，是要叫你们在我里面有平安。在世上，你们有苦难；但你们可以放心，我已经胜了世界。”《约翰福音》16：33
我们生活在一个充斥坏消息的世界里。 2018年4月最后一周的头条新闻如下：报纸多伦多面包车：10人死亡，15行人受伤; 一辆罗厘失控撞死3名路人; 新加坡人哀悼伊努卡过世。多么悲伤的一周！我爱莫能助，但不禁想到一些基督徒会因这些困扰世界的问题而受到不利影响。 基督徒完全的第三个方面是完全地爱上帝和邻舍，但他也会面临生命的问题。约伯的故事证明了这一事实，“一个完全、正直的人，敬畏上帝，远离恶事”《约伯记》1：1，但遭遇一波又一波的患难。哈珀解释说：“魔鬼似乎乐意去击败那些最接近上帝的人“《彼得前书》5：8。基督徒暴露于与其他任何人相同的细菌、相同的自然规律以及相同的诱惑。” 基督徒的完全并不是一种对现实的接种免役。” 哈尔德·S·库什纳（Harold S. Kushner）是一位犹太拉比，他观察他那患有早衰的儿子，14岁时去世。他在文中写道：“好人没有例外”：“自然的律不会让好人例外。子弹没有良心; 对恶性肿瘤或汽车的失控也无例外。这就是为什么好人也会像任何人一样生病受伤。”
反思
你目前面临哪些考验和挣扎？你是否因为生活中发生的“坏事” 而责怪上帝？
Reflection
What trials and struggles are you facing at the moment? Do you blame God for the “bad” things happening in your life?
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