Beyond Cause and Effect: Rethinking Faith

Have you ever faced hardship only to have well-meaning Christians ask what you did wrong to deserve it? This deeply moving exploration challenges one of the most damaging mindsets in modern Christianity—the belief that suffering always results from sin.

Growing up, we're conditioned to see the world through cause and effect. This same thinking often infiltrates our faith, creating a toxic spiritual atmosphere where we view hardship as divine punishment. When someone falls ill, loses a job, or faces tragedy, our first instinct becomes detective work—searching for the hidden sin that "caused" their suffering.

The story of Job powerfully illustrates this dynamic. His three friends—initially supportive—quickly devolved into accusation, insisting Job's suffering proved his guilt. "God never punishes the innocent," they claimed, a sentiment echoed in many churches today. What's striking is God's eventual verdict: these friends had not spoken truthfully about Him. Their judgments, though religiously justified, were fundamentally wrong.

Similarly, when Jesus encountered a blind man, his disciples immediately asked, "Who sinned?" Jesus' response transforms our understanding: "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him." This shifts our perspective from judgment to opportunity—not for condemnation, but for divine revelation.

As Christians, we're called to be light in darkness, not investigators of sin. Our purpose isn't finding fault but becoming conduits through which God's transformative power flows. When we approach others' pain with compassion rather than analysis, we create space for God's healing work. Remember: "Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

Ready to transform how you respond to suffering—both your own and others'? Listen now and discover how replacing judgment with compassion can revolutionize your faith and relationships.

Chapters

• 0:00 Podcast Introduction and Welcome
• 2:20 The Blind Man in Scripture
• 3:55 Cause and Effect in Faith
• 9:05 Job's False Friends
• 14:10 Becoming Light Not Judgment
• 18:00 Invitation to Receive Christ

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome to Another Look Podcast. At Another Look Podcast, we go beyond the norm and literally take another look at our life in Christ. We keep an open heart and mind so we can reach, teach and love all of God's creation. Whether you are a novice or veteran in this walk, this podcast is for you. You ready for something new, something that will challenge your thinking and heart? Are you willing and ready to unlearn in order to learn, willing to tear down so God can rebuild? Good, let's get up and go. People are waiting for us. Let's go fishing. Welcome home Columbia. Beautiful, beautiful.

Speaker 2: 0:44

Hey, welcome to another Look podcast. This is your brother, minister Ken or Brother Ken, whatever you want to call me, just call me by my right name. So anyway, listen, this is the day the Lord has made. I shall rejoice and be glad in it. It's a beautiful day. We're still breathing, still living. That means you still have purpose and God has a plan for your life, always has, always will, and always ready to move when you're ready to move. So let's get started, shall we? Let's talk about this.

Speaker 2: 1:14

I want to preface this by I'm reading the scripture in John 1, verses 1 through 7. And I want to talk about it. Ok, so I'm reading this from. I want to talk about it, okay, so I'm reading this from I believe this is the English standard version, esv and it says as he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth, and his disciples asked him Rabbi, who sinned this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered it was not that, this, it was not that this man sinned or his parents. Jesus answered. Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him Go wash in a pool of Siloam, which means scent. So he went and washed and came back seeing. May the Lord add a blessing to the reading of his word. May he sanctify these truths in your heart. So why am I reading this?

Speaker 2: 2:23

I'm reading this because I grew up believing anything that occurs in the universe was triggered or caused by another previous action, also known as cause and effect. If you think about it, we were taught the Big Bang Theory in public school, early in life, right, but me, growing up in a Christian household, we didn't subscribe to it, but we understood the theory. Me, growing up in a Christian household, we didn't subscribe to it, but we understood the theory. So, even though we didn't subscribe to this theory, in a way we kind of subscribed to the overall belief that anything we experienced was a result of something else which occurred beforehand. Now, fast forward to adulthood.

Speaker 2: 3:00

The same belief system carried over to my adult life. For example, if I became ill, it was caused by something else, such as lack of sleep, stress or my failure to do something to protect myself. The same mindset also carried over into my spiritual life. We actually believed for years, and I'd say for most of my adult life and even before my adult life, I actually believed, and we believed that our faith was dictated by cause and effect. If we were believing in God for something we needed or desired, all we had to do was pray, believe and confess the word of God related to what we needed or desired. If we saw the manifestation of what we needed or desired, it was caused by our strong faith and what we asked God for. But if we didn't see the manifestation of what we needed or desired, it was caused by our lack of faith and what we asked God for. So again, cause and effect in our spiritual life.

Speaker 2: 3:54

Now and this is the thing, we've applied the same mindset to life situations which we experienced. There were so many times we experienced hardships and our first thought was what did we do to cause this hardship to come to us? We would go through painstaking steps to retrace our actions, our thoughts, our words in life, like a fine-tooth comb to find where we went wrong. And it often ended in greater frustration for us, because what we found is often there was nothing we could identify as being the source of our hardship. And now let's look at the Bible. We see the same example in the life of Job. After Job experienced loss of his children, loss of all his possessions, and went through physical hardships by being with the boils in his body and all the things he went through. As we saw in Job 1, he had three friends Eliphaz the Teman, eliphaz the Temanite, bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naphanite, the Namathite, who came to comfort him. And this is the thing. They literally sat with him and said nothing to him but just greed with him for seven days. If you think about it, they really got started off on a good foot, but just being there for Job and bearing his burden was just what was called for them to do. So they were good to go, but then things swiftly changed.

Speaker 2: 5:27

In Job 4 and Job 5, chapter 4 and 5, you see Eliphaz make this elaborate speech to Job, basically saying God's punishing him. Well, basically saying God punishes those who are he never. Let me go back. Eliphaz basically to summarize his speech in Job 4 and 5, says that God never punishes those who are innocent. You'll see that in Job 4, 7 and Job 5, 6. So indirectly he implies or throws shade on Job by inferring that Job's hardships are a result of his sin and that he should accept the discipline of the Lord as an atonement for his sin. You see that in Job 5.8. And to make matters worse, he then tries to encourage Job that he'll make it through, okay, after alleging his sin has caused his hardships. So it's like this hey, you know you're wrong, that's why you're being punished. But you know, pat on the back, hey, you'll get through it. That's why you're being punished. But you know, pat on the back, hey, you'll get through it.

Speaker 2: 6:26

Then here comes Bildad, who adds to Job's woes. In Job 8, bildad equates Job's hardship as being a result of sin. He tells Job to repent for his wrongs and if he does, god will restore all his material possessions. Job 8, 5 and 6. Sound familiar? Yeah, I 8, 5 and 6. Sound familiar? Yeah, I mean. Think about it. Bill Datt somehow believes material possessions are a direct result of a righteous life and faith. Sound familiar. That was the whole crux of the prosperity gospel. We're basically material possessions. If you have a lot, that means you're righteous in God's eyes. But if you don't have a lot, or if you're struggling financially or if you're poor, that means you're not righteous in God's eyes. So basically, material possessions equals God's blessings. Don't get me wrong.

Speaker 1: 7:19

I'm not saying, that's not the case.

Speaker 2: 7:21

But if you're using material possessions to make a decision or to make a judgment on whether someone is walking upright before God, you missed it altogether. Now, later in Job 18, Bildad piles onto Job's woes by again saying that God only punishes the wicked. So again, his logic is that Job was being punished because he did something wrong. Now let's fast forward. Let's look at Zophar. Zophar doesn't do any better. In Job 11, he doesn't throw shade at Job. Instead of that, he doesn't throw shade, he tosses the entire tree at Job.

Speaker 2: 7:59

In Job 11, Zophar tells Job he deserves even harsher, or he deserved even harsher consequences. Job 11.6. Job 20 so far tells Job if one commits wickedness, they will suffer for it. You'll see that in Job 20, 28, 29 as a further condemnation of Job. So here are people who are supposed to be his friends. That started out good, but then they turn on him and accuse him and basically condemn him without even having knowledge of any of this information. They basically, just like most Christians do, say well, if he's going through it, he must have done something wrong.

Speaker 2: 8:43

All three of Job's friends rebuked him and because of their belief in cause and effect, they indicted Job as being unrighteous and in sin because of what he's going through. They indicted Job as being unrighteous and in sin because of what he's going through, but in Job 42, we see God doesn't share their beliefs. God tells them in Job 42, 7, that his wrath is aroused against them because they did not speak the truth about God and Job only Job did speak the truth about God so clearly in this verse. God tells him he does not allow hardships based on cause and effect in every situation.

Speaker 2: 9:20

Like me, I'm sure you have experienced the same treatment by well-intentioned loved ones and friends. When we moved to South Carolina, we heard the same sentiment from family and friends that our hardships were a result of disobedience and we were reaping the fruit of wrongdoing. We heard it so much we began to believe it and we would repent in our private and public prayers. For years we joined in the chorus of Eliphaz, bildad and Zophar in believing our eight years of hardship was a result of our disobedience and sins even though we couldn't find out what it was we did wrong.

Speaker 2: 10:04

Now I'll be honest with you. I can't pinpoint the precise day or date when things began to turn around for us in 2015. All I know is we kept our head down and worked with what God placed in our hands faithfully. I will say this one key change we made is we stopped allowing so many family and friends to have access to our lives so we could cease the barrage of false judgments and accusations and condemnation. We closed down the ranks and relied on our faith, the love and trust of our immediate family members and a delicate navigation within the house of faith to allow the word entrance into our spirit and soul, but filtering the voices of those of the church. I'm going to tell you, some of the harshest criticisms we faced from people within that church are just criticisms we faced from people within that church, but yet some of the most empathetic and compassionate people that helped us were people outside the church.

Speaker 2: 11:05

And let's also look at another example in the New Testament. I read it. Let's talk about the blind man at the pool of Siloam in John 9. And I read that in the beginning, jesus and his disciples are passing by a blind man and in verse 2, the disciples ask Jesus this question Rabbi, who sinned? It's been on his parents that he was born blind and it's sad because their question was not based on faith in Jesus. Even though they had been with Jesus for some time, they still didn't understand his heart. Their question was based on a traditional belief that calamity and hardship is based on sin Still a long-held religious belief and mindset. Were they wrong to hold this belief? No, the Bible tells us that we reap what we sow, but that scripture is for introspection of ourselves and examining our hearts and lives with respect to our obedience to the will and word of God. It was never meant for outward judgment of others, because while we judge things spiritual, we have no right to judge things non-spiritual outside of our own personal lives. Remember, judgment serves as a final decision and we have not been given final authority or any authority from God to render a final decision about another person's life.

Speaker 2: 12:29

Here's something interesting I saw in verses 1 and 2 of John 9. Jesus saw the man and then noticed his blindness, but his disciples saw the man's blindness and tried to find fault in him. We often act in the same way as the disciples. If we see a person who may not look like us or act like us, we see the faults and flaws and fail to see the person that God created. God goes beyond the exterior. God goes beyond the flaws and faults and speaks to the person he created. In verse 3, jesus corrects the disciples. He tells them it was not that this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him, him being the blind man. And he goes on further to say that we must work the works of him. Who sent him while it is day, because night is coming. No doubt Jesus was foreshadowing his ministry on earth was drawing to a close, which is why he was alerting them to the urgency of his work.

Speaker 2: 13:37

In verse 5, he made it clear that his focus is not on the blindness in the man or the world. Why? Because he is the light of the world, the same light that created all things in the world, according to John 1, 4, and 5, and verses 9 and 10. More importantly, jesus told us in Matthew 5, 19, that we are the light of the world and cannot be hid anymore. The point of saying this is that when we look to find fault or cause of another person's calamity or hardship, we snuff out the light we were called to be. Ungodly judgment brings darkness to a person. We were meant to be light, to Understand this. Beloved and this is important God saved us to bring the light of Christ into dark places. Darkness and light cannot dwell in the same place. Wherever we go, we carry Christ, and wherever Christ goes, darkness cannot continue to dominate and dwell, because he is the light of this world.

Speaker 2: 14:45

It's not about finding out the reason a person is experiencing what they're experiencing. It's not about that. It's about having the heart of god to be the conduit by which he can be. He can change their situation completely around. I'll repeat that again it's not about finding out the reason a person is experiencing what they are experiencing. It's about having the heart of god to be the conduit by which god can change their situation completely around. The change God brings, beloved, is the very thing that causes them to be drawn closer to him. Matthew 5.16 sums it up best Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father, which is in heaven. Beloved, let's be salt and light to a world starving for change and freedom from the darkness of this age. You are that light.

Speaker 1: 15:49

I am that light.

Speaker 2: 15:50

We are that light and we bring salt, we bring taste, we bring flavor. When they taste the salt on our lives, this allows them to taste and see that the Lord is good. Let's be that to them. So let's not be like the disciples. I'm not trying to do this to shame the disciples, because we are just like they were. Let's not try to find a reason for someone's downfall and let's not add on to the downfall or the hardships they go through. Let's bring light where there's darkness. Let's bring hope where there is no hope. Let's be the change so that God can change the situation. Most of all, let's love with the love of Christ, so that we don't judge and condemn, but we change and bring renewal into their lives. I pray this word was a blessing to you. If it is, let us know. You can reach us by our Facebook page at Another Look Podcast, or you can go on to our Instagram page or you can email us at alptrinity1 at gmailcom. I pray this is a blessing to you and remember be salt and light. Love you. Thank you for joining us at Another Look Podcast.

Speaker 2: 18:00

We now come to that portion of this series, or this episode, where we offer you the opportunity to receive Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. According to Romans 10, 9 and 10, it says If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness. One believes with the heart resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation. So if you believe, I want you to repeat these words after me. Dear heavenly father, I come to you in the name of Jesus Christ. Your word says whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved, and that's in Acts 2.21. I'm calling on you and I come, surrendering my life and my will to you. I pray and ask Jesus to come into my heart and be Lord over my life. If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness and with your mouth I make confession unto salvation. I do that now. I confess that Jesus is Lord of my life and I believe in my heart that God raised him from the dead. I ask you, holy Spirit, to come make your home inside of me and live in me. I confess all of my sins to you, lord, and live in me. I confess all of my sins to you, lord, and ask for forgiveness for them.

Speaker 2: 19:47

Right now, in the name of Jesus, I receive you, jesus, as my Lord and Savior. I thank you, god, that I am now reborn and a new creation. I am a Christian, a child of Almighty God and a child of the one true King. I have salvation. Thank you, jesus, lord.

Speaker 2: 20:16

You also said in your word Lord, if you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him? According to your word in Luke 11, 13, I'm also asking you to infill me with the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, rise up within me as I praise God. I fully expect to receive a supernatural prayer language and speak in that language as you give me the utterance, according to your word in Acts 2.4. In Jesus' name, amen. So be it.

Speaker 2: 21:03

Congratulations. If you prayed this prayer prayer, then you were born again and now have eternal life in Christ Jesus. All of your sins are now forgiven and the Holy Spirit now lives inside of you. The word of God says that everyone in heaven rejoices at your salvation, according to Luke 15, 7 and 10. So right now, heaven is having a party because of your decision and God has a huge smile on his face. If you prayed this prayer, please email us at alptrinity1 at gmailcom so we can hear your testimony, pray for you and send you a gift from this ministry. God bless you and remember this always. Jesus loves you, amen.