Daily Poll: Is God only good when good things happen?

Judy Klein’s insight runs deep today, tackling a question that so often comes up in religious debate: Is God good all of the time? Or only when we feel blessed?

One of my pet peeves in life is how often we Christians equate “the blessing” with our own physical and material prosperity, and God’s goodness with how well our lives are going on any given day. Without being cognizant of it, we have somehow bought lock, stock and barrel into the “prosperity gospel,” which purports to guarantee blessing in the lives of those who are favored by God—those who pray hard enough, have potent enough “prayer warriors” in their camps, and do this thing called Christianity just right. This convoluted approach to the Christian faith has seeped deep into our collective Christian psyches, and it seems to reverberate everywhere we turn. It’s also a message that I personally experienced as a despair-provoking battering ram in the midst of multiple life calamities; during the long, painful years I spent with clenched fists asking God: “What does it take to get the flippin’ blessing?”

So many times we’ve seen athletes on opposing teams cross themselves or point up when they complete a good play, Wouldn’t it be refreshing to see them do the same on a bad play? What do you think?