Bad Things Happen to Good People

One of my favorite verses has always been John 16:33 “In this world you will have trouble but take heart I have overcome the world”. Somehow people get the idea that nothing bad should happen to good people. This may be evidence of a faulty world view. The idea starts with the premise that people are ultimately good and that nature is ultimately good. If that premise holds true then good begets good and vice versa. Good choices lead to positive consequences and both people and nature will follow suit. The problem is that this concept does not appear to hold up in reality. One test of our worldviews is how it holds up in reality. However it is astounding how deeply we hold onto our beliefs even when they do not hold up in reality. Reality seems to suggest that bad things happen to good people even if they are deeply spiritual. Maybe if the belief that people and nature are ultimately good is incorrect, then we may not see it as injustice when bad things happen to good people. If the world is not good, then we can expect that bad things will happen. People will have accidents, people will do mean things to others, and natural disasters will occur. This seems to hold much truer to what we experience in reality. The truth is that we live in a sinful world.

The broader culture war, especially in the U.S., is around this concept. Some people in U.S. culture are holding to nature/people as good and think that, if the correct social constructs can be implemented, then a utopia can be created. This, in my opinion, is based on the concept that bad things should not happen to good people if only the correct scenario can be implemented.
As a counselor it is difficult to get people to examine their own belief system. When those beliefs are deeply held, often misunderstood, and supported by the culture around them but not based in reality, the battle to sort out lies from truth becomes all the more complex.