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Are we puppets?
Does God control us like puppets, or do we determine what will happen?
Author: Mark J. Lenz
“Should I wear the blue tie or the brown tie?”
“Yes.”
That wasn’t the answer you expected. Maybe she didn’t hear the question.
“Should we go to the steakhouse or the Mexican restaurant?”
“Yes.”
Maybe she wants to go to both?
Either I should wear the blue tie or the brown tie. I’d look pretty silly wearing both. Either we should go to the steakhouse or the Mexican restaurant. Going to both on the same evening wouldn’t be too good for the waistline. Either/or questions require a choice. Answering “yes” is possible only if a person didn’t hear the question, didn’t understand the question, didn’t want to commit to a decision, or was just trying to be funny. Except when it comes to this question: Does everything have to happen the way it does, or could things happen otherwise? The only proper answer to that question is “yes.”
Yes, everything has to happen the way it does because God is in control of everything. That’s what is referred to as necessity. And, yes, things could happen otherwise depending on decisions people make. That’s what is referred to as contingency. Necessity means things have to happen the way they do. Contingency means things could happen otherwise.
Christ’s death—a necessity
Take, for example, the most important thing that has ever happened in the history of the world, Christ’s death on the cross. Was it God’s will that Jesus died on the cross, or were wicked people responsible for his death? That’s an either/or question, of course, but the correct answer is “yes.” In Gethsemane when the soldiers seized Jesus, Peter reached for his sword, but Jesus told him to put his sword back. This had to happen so that the Scriptures would be fulfilled (Matthew 26:54). Christ’s death was a necessity because it was God’s plan from all eternity to save sinners.
On one occasion the apostles Peter and John were put in jail for preaching the gospel. Upon their release they joined their fellow believers and prayed. Their prayer acknowledged that Herod and Pontius Pilate and others had conspired against Jesus but that they “did what [the Lord’s] power and will had decided beforehand should happen” (Acts 4:28). They confessed that Christ’s death was a necessity. God so controlled events that everything took place just as he had planned.
That’s true for you and me too. Everything that happens in our lives happens as part of God’s plan. Where and when we were born, the direction our lives have taken, the kind of work we do—everything has taken place according to God’s plan.
Yet there was a choice
Does that mean we are puppets on a string? No! No more than Christ was a puppet. The Son of God freely became a human being. Jesus willingly went to Jerusalem, allowed himself to be arrested, to be nailed to a cross, and to die. All of this happened contingent on what Jesus thought and did. Judas Iscariot also was not forced to betray Jesus. The Jews were not forced to shout, “Crucify! Crucify!” (John 19:6). Pontius Pilate was not forced to pronounce the death sentence on Jesus. They all chose to do what they did. They were not robots programmed by God to act in a certain way.
What you and I decide to do makes a difference too. Where we choose to live, what kind of work we decide to do, whom we decide to marry—all these decisions determine what happens in our lives.
Bound to means
Because things don’t necessarily have to happen the way they do, because things happen contingent on the decisions we make, we are bound to use the means God has provided for our welfare. Take food for example. A person can go without food for only so long, so it’s foolish and wrong to act as if God will keep us alive without food. God created food to be “received with thanksgiving” (1 Timothy 4:4). Of course, it’s also true that the size of my body and my general health are contingent on how much food I eat and the kind of food I eat.
Making a living—providing for ourselves and our families—is contingent on our working. The apostle Paul worked as a tentmaker to provide for himself so he wouldn’t be a burden on others. He admonished others to work too (2 Thessalonians 3:12). To quit my job and sit back and expect God to provide for me is not only foolish, it’s wrong.
The same is true when it comes to our physical safety. Once, the devil took Jesus to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “ ‘If you are the Son of God,’ he said, ‘throw yourself down’ ” (Matthew 4:6). Jesus refused to do that because his personal safety was dependent on what he did. So today our personal safety is contingent on what we do. To jump from a high building without a parachute or a safety net would be wrong. To drive recklessly or to refuse to wear a seat belt would be foolish.
We are also bound to the means God has provided in times of sickness or injury. When King Hezekiah was suffering from a boil, the prophet Isaiah suggested preparing “a poultice of figs” (2 Kings 20:7) and applying it. The good Samaritan in Jesus’ story bound up the wounds of the man who had been beaten and left half dead (Luke 10:34). It is not an indication of lack of faith to turn to doctors and medicine. It is what God expects us to do. Our health and welfare are contingent on doing that. The Christian Scientist who refuses all medical treatment is going against God’s will.
God has also provided means for our spiritual welfare. We refer to them as the means of grace. Because God cleanses people from the guilt of sin and makes them heirs of heaven by the washing of Holy Baptism, we need to baptize people. Because the gospel message is the means whereby God creates and strengthens faith, we need to hear it regularly. Because Holy Communion is a means whereby the Lord strengthens our faith, we need to receive it regularly and often. Our spiritual welfare is just as dependent on using the means of grace as our physical welfare is dependent on using the means God has given.
The dangers of denying necessity and contingency
Does everything have to happen the way it does, or could things happen otherwise? The scriptural answer to that is question is yes. To say that things do not have to happen the way they do suggests there is no God and he cannot exercise his control. To say that everything always has to happen the way it does is fatalism. The former leads to an “eat, drink, and be merry” approach. The latter leads to an “I don’t care” approach that refuses to do anything. Neither has anything to do with Christianity.
Necessity? Contingency? It’s not an either/or question. It’s a both/and statement.
Mark Lenz, a professor at Martin Luther College, New Ulm, Minnesota, is a member at St. John, New Ulm.
This is the final article in a three-part series on God’s providence. Find a related Bible study after Oct. 5 at archive.wels.net/forwardinchrist. Read more in Mark Lenz’s book, God’s Providence—He Cares for You, available from Northwestern Publishing House, www.nph.net.
Volume 96, number 10, 10-1-2009, category: features
Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2009
Permission is granted for a single personal copy of an article. Contact Kristine Laufer at 414-615-5706 or lauferk@nph.wels.net regarding any other use.
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