I’d like to share a story with you. Though it’ll probably
enrage many, I ask that you reserve judgment until the end. It’s a story of a
school bus filled with kids on their way home from a tiring day at school. All
was normal in the world. The driver was making her way down the winding country
roads. The elementary aged
children were playing with their friends while
trying to avoid the attention of the driver. Parents were waiting at home to
greet their children. Sadly, the bus wasn’t the only vehicle on the road. What
nobody knew, nobody could have predicted, was that the town drunk had gotten
started early that day. It was barely into the afternoon and he was already
completely intoxicated, focusing intently on the road ahead of him. In an instant,
life got turned upside down. The screeching of tires pierced the ears of
anybody within range. Though the car was smaller, the impact couldn’t have been
more precise. The car was already a mangled mess as the bus began to roll a
seemingly infinite number of times down the adjacent hillside. For the solitary
witness, it was a nightmare that had become reality. He got out of his car and
ran full speed down the hillside, desperately praying he wouldn’t break an
ankle before reaching the bus. As he approached the wreckage, it was lying on
its roof and flames were beginning to roll with billowing smoke coming from the
windows. The only thing he could think to do was rip open the back door and climb
in. Some of the children were beyond hope but, much to his surprise, he found
most of them to be alive and pleading for help. Before he could think, he had
two children, one in each arm, and was jumping out the back door. Upon bringing
them a safe distance, he returned to save more. The smoke was getting thicker
and it would be only minutes before the flames overtook the children. He had to
act fast. After he had saved another four children, he looked at the bus one
more time. He knew he could easily save the remaining ten if he acted quickly.
However, instead of racing for the coughing and crying children on the bus, he
put his arms around the six he had saved and began to walk back up the hillside
where he loaded them in his truck and brought them home. Not once did he look
back. Not once did he ponder whether he should save the rest. Not once did he
regret his decision. He could’ve saved them all but that simply wasn’t his
intention. He saved as many as he wanted and that was just going to have to be
good enough.
Where do you stand in regards to this story? Do you praise
the man as a hero or do you condemn him as a monster who left children to die
unnecessarily? Maybe you fall somewhere in the middle. Thankfully, this isn’t a
true story. Instead of being found in the latest headlines, it resides nowhere
other than my brain and this blog. Truth be told, that’s not even an honest
declaration. In reality, though I embellished a bit, it’s the foundation of an
old theological argument against the doctrine of election. I know, shocking!
Perhaps you’ve even heard the argument from someone else. Many who despise the
doctrine of election love to use a similar story, placing God as the main
character who is saving children from a burning fire. The claim is that, if God
could save everybody yet chose to let them perish while only saving some from
the flames, it would make Him a monster. The next claim tends to be that a
monstrous God should never be worshiped. In and of itself, I could agree with
the last claim. However, is there really any validity in correlating God to the
hero/monster in the above story? Is there any relation at all or is this a case
of apples to oranges?
Unfortunately, too many would say the above story is
accurate. I believe this is the direct result of knowing neither the
righteousness of God nor the wretchedness of man. So long as man exalts himself
to a loftier position than he ought, he will always demote God to a position other
than that which He deserves while denigrating the Most High. Scripture speaks
loudly of both God’s character and man’s status.
Deuteronomy 32:4 - “The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A
God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He.
Ezra 9:15 - O Lord God
of Israel, You are righteous, for we have been left an escaped remnant,
as it is this day; behold, we are before You in our guilt, for no one can stand before You because of this.”
Numbers 11:15 - So if You are going to deal thus with
me, please kill me at once, if I have found favor in Your sight, and do not let
me see my wretchedness.”
Romans 7:24 - Wretched
man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?
James 2:10 - For whoever keeps the whole law and yet
stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.
No, the story told above shouldn’t be taken seriously. If
you hear somebody telling it, stop them any way you can and preach the gospel
for they either do not know Christ as they should or they don’t know man as he
is. A better analogy would be one of the same bus on the same road. Yet, instead
of being filled with children on their way home from school, it’s filled with
heinous convicted murderers being carted off to death row in a maximum security
prison. Instead of being a drunk driver, it’s an interception with a prison
break in mind. The mastermind behind the ordeal leaps into action. Everybody is
confused. They never saw it coming. In fact, for the most part, the mastermind
is so quick, they still don’t realize what’s happening. Yet, here we are again
at a crossroads. The mastermind can break all sixteen prisoners out but he
chooses to only grab six. There doesn’t appear to be any rhyme or reason behind
who he selected but selected they were. The remaining ten sit in silence as
they too don’t even realize what’s happening. They don’t even realize six of
their fellow prisoners are no longer with them. The six who were broken out are
stashed away at a safe house, given new identities, and are now walking amongst
the world, minding their P’s and Q’s in an effort to avoid going back at all
costs while forever indebted to the mastermind.
Surely, we aren’t thanking the mastermind for breaking out
those who were convicted of murder. Nobody in their right mind would think this
was a righteous move. In fact, most would be thankful he only snagged six
instead of pulling out more. If the mastermind were ever to be discovered and
captured, most reasonable people would demand he be put up on trial and
convicted of his crimes. Are we now putting God on trial? Are we demeaning His
character even in this story? While not all the details match up perfectly with
God’s redemptive story, the concept is still there. Simply put, prior to
regeneration, we more closely resemble the convicted murderers than we do the
sweet and innocent children. As it stands, God took guilty men and set them
free. He chose to save some while leaving others to perish. If one wants to
tout fairness, instead of
crying over God not saving anybody, he should be
seething over the fact that God, in His own infinite wisdom, chose to save
ANYBODY! After all, we were guilty! We were wretched! We were vile! We hated
God, cursing His name and trampling His goodness under our feet. We were bound
for death row but He chose to take us off our collision course, give us new
life, and abide with us forever. What a gracious God we serve!
It continues to amaze me that He would ever choose to save
those who never would’ve chosen Him if the roles were reversed. For those who
still despise the doctrine of election, it’s okay. So long as you trust that
Christ is God, born in the flesh (Colossians
2:9), lived a sinless life (2
Corinthians 5:21), died a horrific death (Matthew 27:26), rose on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:4), and ascended to be seated at the Father’s
right hand (Mark 16:19) for all of
eternity in order that you might be saved so long as you trust in Him
(Ephesians 2:8), it really doesn’t matter whether or not you believe in the
doctrine of election. You’re a part of it regardless and for that you can be
thankful. God is good and, though we can now call ourselves saints (Ephesians 2:19), it’s only because of
what He first did for us.
~ Travis W. Rogers
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