How, how!, could a pastor ever say such a thing? I know that it happens a lot more than it should but really, "you and/or your wife sinned and that is why your baby is terminally ill"?! Had he not read where Jesus healed the man blind from birth after the Pharisees asked him whether it was the man or his parents' sin that made him blind? Neither! It was so God's glory could be seen! It hurts so much to know that there are people who are drowning in guilt because someone told them they, or their loved ones, are suffering illness because of a particular sin.
Yes, sin has consequences. Yes, it can affect you, those you love and even those you don't know.
One place that I debate this with is on depression. Both my parents and I have had struggles with depression. My father is very much in the camp that if you do not take care of your body, mind and soul then you will become depressed. I agree with him for the most part but sometimes his statement is so harsh that it hurts. I know that when I don't get enough sleep or I don't eat properly then I fall into depression easier. I know if I do not guard my thoughts and focus on the negative and filth, I fall into depression easier. I know that if I am not right with God, if I'm ignoring what He is teaching me or worse running from what He has asked me to do, I fall into depression easier. So yes, there is a connection between my actions and my mental state. But yet, there are times where I am 'doing everything right' and I still fall into depression. It is much worse when I don't sleep or am running from God, but it is still there when I'm not.
Sin, the big capital-letter Sin, has corrupted God's creation. So there are sicknesses and disasters and things that corporately, despite race or religion, we look at and say that it is just wrong. Sometimes our sins have direct consequences, overt or subtle: I shoplift, I will get arrested but also the store owner suffers losses and may not be able to provide for their family; I commit adultery and divorce from my husband, my children and likely my grand-children will suffer through the abandonment issues and many other issues that come with it. Sometimes we see the consequences to our sins and sometimes we do not, but not every bad thing is caused by our sins, God is not waiting eagerly to punish us when we mess up.
Who is this good God who is not waiting to punish us? What does He do with suffering? He is Jesus, who did "not only explains suffering, He experienced suffering." My God is one who knows why suffering happens to the good and the bad, not just as a result of our sins but as a result of the brokenness of the world and says that He will not leave us alone here. It is a mystery but still true that Jesus is closer to me than I am to myself.
For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
(Galatians 2:19-20 ESV)
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