Suffering in the Human Relationship With God

¶ … Suffering in the Human Relationship with God

Suffering is part of human existence on earth. Christians are no exception to the rule. The problem is that most suffering is experienced by the innocent. When believers suffer, this appears to deny God's love, and it is very difficult to hold on to faith in the face of physical, emotional or spiritual turmoil. In order to understand this phenomenon in the believer's world then, Gustavo Gutierrez examines suffering from the viewpoint of Job. In his book On Job Gutierrez describes in detail the stages that Job goes through in his suffering. Of course Job was the ultimate example of innocent suffering. Despite being completely righteous and faithful, Job suffered because God had confidence in him.

When Job suffers, he initially experiences this as a solitary sufferer. The three friends who talk to him during his suffering enhance this loneliness when they introduce the idea of temporal retribution. Job, according to them, is suffering because he is sinful. His three friends then suggest repentance:

the impoverishment and sickness that Job is suffering are punishments for his sins. Mortals who deny this truth are claiming to be more righteous than God.. Job's first duty, therefore, is to acknowledge his sin and ask God's forgiveness for it." (p. 22).

According to this theological model, sufferers deserve what they get, and to stop the suffering, they should repent from their sins. But both the reader, God and Job know that his suffering is innocent. He has done nothing to deserve the loss of everything. Thus the meaning attached to his suffering by the widely accepted theological doctrine of his friends is the meaning of human error and conversion. Conversion, according to the friends, will lead to an end to suffering. This is however unacceptable to Job and the reader. Gutierrez then further examines Job's search for meaning.

Job, like many suffering and innocent believers in the world, is bewildered. He does not know that his suffering is caused by a wager between Satan and God. He does know however that he has not sinned to deserve the suffering he receives. This is also true for most believers who suffer. The death of a loved one or the loss of a job could be interpreted as signs of the loss of God's love. The suffering individual may feel that the unjust retribution cuts them off from God's blessing.

This is however where Gutierrez addresses the question of freedom. Freedom is experienced on the part of both God and the human being. Human beings are free to choose their path in life. Job is free to choose his reaction to his suffering. He chooses never to blaspheme and never to renounce God, despite repeated pleas from his wife to do so. Instead he uses language to try and contemplate the mysteries of God amidst his suffering.

God is also free. When he finally chooses to speak to Job, it is to proclaim and justify his own freedom. God is free to exercise his control over the universe as he sees fit. He does not have to descend to human understanding in order to justify his actions.

Right at the beginning, God reproached Job for trying to obscure the divine plans... God asserted that such plans do indeed exist, but they do not, as it were, possess or control God; much less, then, is God controlled by those human beings who claim to know God's intentions in detail." (p. 83-84).

It is thus in mutual freedom that Gutierrez suggests that God and the human being meet in an adoration that is free of expectation. This is the idea of disinterested love, suggested by Gutierrez. Disinterested love is completely unconditional, without any expectation from the party being loved. This is the love that God professes to have for human beings. Reciprocally, human beings such as Job then choose disinterested religion, which is also unattached to any rewards for faith. This brings freedom to both God and the human being. Faith is expected unconditionally, as is love from God. This, according to Gutierrez, is the only true faith.

Thus the meaning of suffering can be found neither in temporal retribution, nor in the loss of an otherwise unconditional love. The question that is daily on the lips of millions who suffer innocently remains: why?

When Job receives no help from an apparently silent God, or from his non-suffering friends, he turns to his fellow sufferers, and finds new meaning in his circumstances. The meaning that Job finds is in suffering with others. Although he has previously been kind to the poor and the marginalized, he has not known their circumstances first-hand. His experience however puts him on a new level of understanding with those who suffer alongside him. This realization is born from Job's innocence. When he finds no meaning in temporal retribution, his thoughts turn to the wicked and the reasons for their prosperity. Seeing this as proof that temporal retribution is not applicable to his case, Job finds a better reason for his suffering.

The lesson of suffering serves to bring Job at the same time to the level of God and to the level of the poor. God is on the side of the poor and the suffering. He appoints himself as their caretaker. Through suffering, Job experiences the true empathy that God has for the poor and the suffering. Thus, while suffering with other human beings, Job has the advantage of seeing them from God's point-of-view. This is where a true disinterested relationship with God is beneficial to the believer. The believer is under an obligation to be instruments of God on earth by alleviating the suffering of those less fortunate than themselves. This gives suffering a new meaning, as it did for Job: