Question about faith and responsibility?

Question

It's me old Billy C again with another question for ya if ya have the time to answer.

Well I live in the south where there are a lot of baptists and such and they are big on sending their young ones to bible camps in the summer time. Well a couple of years ago some of the kids from one of the big old baptist churches went to bible camp for a couple of weeks and had a good old time and all learning about religion and Jesus and all and how if you just put all of your faith in Jesus anything would be possible for you because he would never let bad things happen to someone that believed hard enough.
As I said they all had a good old time at camp, but on the way home while going down the highway at 65mph one of the kids, a 14 year old decided that he could step out of the back of that bus and Jesus would keep him safe, he did his part and stepped out, but sadly Jesus didn't show up to do his part, so my question is where was Jesus when this happened, and is faith really worth spit?

The other question is who should be held responsible for this?

Amanda- God did not give all af us common sense, so does the blame lie with the church and the camp counselers?

Answer 1

It is a terrible tragedy and I believe that the responsibility lies with the bible camps and churches for teaching that faith is all you need. Plus Jesus didn't save this "faithful follower" so that tells me that faith is lacking something vital. To say that you can't tempt God by doing something stupid because he won't step in to prevent it is ludicrous.Plus common sense is NOT something you are born with! What is the whole point of God then, if not to keep the innocent and faithful safe? Every time something awful happens it is put down as God's Will, but I think it is all a bunch of nonsense myself!

Answer 2

What you have here is failure on the part of those teaching scripture to have fully studied what they are teaching. It has never been promised that someone having faith in Christ would be safe from physical harm. On the contrary, Christ said his followers would be persecuted and even killed for their faith.

Concerning that teacher, perhaps he/she should have shared with the campers the account in Matthew where Satan station Christ on the battlement of the temple and told him to hurl himself down since he was the Son of God and the angels would carry them on their hands. Jesus responded by quoting scripture that stated you must not put God to the test.

That said, what we DO get for our faith is the strength and endurance to bear up under circumstances that we might otherwise not be able to endure. Knowing what the Bible teaches and how to apply what we learn helps us to avoid many harmful things. But even if we die, we still have the hope of the resurrection through our faith in Christ.

From a legal standpoint, the Church and the camp counselors could very well be held accountable. Law suits have been won on less grounds.

Answer 3

Friend-- if this story is true???, the boy must have had some faulty mental operation. So someone should have been supervising him. My dad was a good old Baptist minister and my entire childhood was spent at church, conventions, etc. etc. I have never heard that kind of faith taught in a Baptist church. I have Baptist friends and know their doctrine and behavior quite well. Most of them don't even believe in modern day miracles and they surely do not believe in jumping off vehicles, or stepping out into rush hour traffic.

Answer 4

The blame probably lies with a lot of people. The kid probably had 14 years of hearing that same thing from everyone around him--his family, his church, his friends--and the camp...having been to such things, they tend to whip people into a faith-fervor, especially if they've already got it. If anything, I'd say it lies most wth his parents for not teaching him common sense...at least that Jesus won't help if you do something stupid.

Answer 5

One, God gave each and everyone a little bit of common sense, which we have the free will to use at anytime. This boy, unfortunatly was not using it.God also didn't send the angels to save Jesus on the cross, because He had a plan and purpose in mind for Jesus.We don't claim to have all the answers but Jesus is the the Answer. The boy is responsible for his own actions, even though the consequences were bad.

Answer 6

There is plenty of 'blame' to go around in the case described above. The more godly thing to do though, is forgive them, and let it go. (I am not saying forget it happened).
Perhaps it is part of growth on people's part; perhaps it is disobedience to God; but if 'we' apply 2 Tim. 3:16-17 and the '2 or more witnesses' principal, we would find the old testament to be the law of Moses, not Genesis-Malachi.
So who should get the blame for that misdirection?

Answer 7

I am so sorry for you going through this. It has to be tough. Yes we should have faith but we also have a brain. We are not to test or tempt God 1 Corinthians 10:9 "We should not test the Lord as some of them did-and were killed by snakes."

Answer 8

Whoever said bad things wouldn't happen to you was a liar. Bad things happen to good people as well as good things happen to bad people.

Answer 9

the kid should be held responsible. one should not test jesus. jesus cannot protect ourselves against our own stupidity.

Answer 10

god also gave us all common sense