God Does Not Care for Me: The Case Against God

Does God care for me? That question is a very personal question—and I think it is a question that simmers on the surface of our lives—and in times of trial, or difficulty, or pain—it intensifies—it becomes a very pressing question—and often, it might seem as if the answer is no. In fact, I think there are a number of powerful reasons that can be advanced against the claim that God cares for you and me.In this post, I want to consider those reasons. I want to state them and put them under scrutiny. And in my next post, I want to consider the positive case for God. That is, I want to explore the reasons for thinking God does in fact care for me.

So, let’s begin, and put God on trial. Let’s put the Christian God on trial, since, at the end of the day, I’ll claim that it is that God who does in fact care for you and me. Speaking in the first person, what are the reasons to think God doesn’t care for me? I offer three:

1. Things don’t go my way

A lot of times things just don’t go our way in life. Undoubtedly, we’ve all experienced the proverbial “bad day”—those days when nothing goes the way it should, and life seems like a grand conspiracy against us. In big ways and in small ways, life is just, well, hard.

Surely, it could be argued—if God cared for me, he would cut me some slack—he would organize the deck so I always draw aces (or at least sometimes), he would arrange my life in such a way that I always win, or at least place in the race of life. Right?

You can fill in the blank for your own life—but the reality is that often, life just stinks. We’ve all experienced our hopes and dreams being crushed by circumstances out of our control. And it is in those moments that we cry out: God do you really care for me?

2. God is often silent and hidden from me.

Religious people tell us that God answers prayers and we’re told by theologians that God is omnipresent—everywhere present—yet, there are times in life when God does not seem real. There are times when our prayers to God don’t seem to get any higher than the ceiling and it doesn’t seem like there is anyone there at all.

Our lives are full of affliction, we cry out to God for help—and in response—silence. In response—absence.

So the charge: God, if you care, why do you hide? Why are you silent?

3. God allows pain and suffering in my life

Life is full of pain and suffering and injustice. We’re told by religious people that God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and wholly-good, yet, one may query: why so much evil?

If you cared for me God, then I wouldn’t have suffered the pain of missing out on my childhood due to sickness. If God cared for you, then he wouldn’t have allowed a loved one to die, or a parent to leave your home. In short, if God is so good, if God cares so much for me, then why does he allow all this pain and suffering, in my own life, and around the world?

So, we have a pretty strong case against God. It certainly doesn’t seem as if he cares for me.

What can be said about this case against God? Are these three reasons sufficient to show that God doesn’t care for you and me? I don’t think so. Let’s consider again each charge, and see if there are resources from within the Christian worldview to answer them:

Consider again the first charge, that things don’t go my way. Now, if we step back and think about it for a moment, this is the weakest charge of the three. Why would we expect God to always give us what we want? There are reasons why God doesn’t always give us what we ask for. Of course, he could do that. But if he did—it would be too much—we wouldn’t know how to use what he’s given and it would overwhelm us. Further, at least for me, I’ve wanted things that wouldn’t be good for me.

Regarding the problem of divine hiddenness, it is important to point out that divine hiding is part of the normal Christian life. What we find in Scripture is that, at times, God hides, and he does so for a number of reasons, which I have discussed in the post “Why Does God Hide?.”

Finally, what about the problem of evil? I think that there are good reasons, coming from philosophy to think that God is morally justified in permitting pain and suffering in the world, some of which I’ve briefly discussed here and here. Further, I believe that in Christ, we find God’s answer to the problem of pain and suffering. God’s answer to the problem of pain and suffering is a person – the person of Jesus Christ. Christ has stepped right into all the pain and suffering. He has opened himself up to it, and ultimately has taken it all upon himself on the cross. It is the cross then, that is the victory of God over pain and suffering, and the only place for men and women to find peace, hope, and comfort from its sting.

In sum, the case against God fails. There is no good reason to think God does not care for us. But, are there reasons to think God does care for us? Stay tuned for my next post, where we will consider this question.

In the meantime, here is a video of a talk I gave at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Canada on our question, Does God Care?: