What does Tribe teach about why does god allow suffering?
Drawn from the messages where it was actually addressed: the words said from the front, the passages taught, and where to hear the whole thing.
At Tribe, the teaching on suffering and why God allows it starts with something that is hard to hear but freeing once it lands: God does not owe anyone an explanation. Brian Hunter is honest about that. As he put it, "God does not owe me an answer at all. There's no pleading with him." That is not a cold or dismissive statement. Brian frames it as a foundational truth about God's nature, and one that actually opens a door rather than closing one.
The more productive move, Brian says, is to shift the question. Instead of demanding an account from God, a person in the congregation named Michelle offered the better posture: Lord, what do you want me to learn about you in this situation? That question comes from humility rather than protest, and Brian argues it is the kind of question that moves toward real relationship instead of looping in frustration. God delights in giving understanding, even though he owes none.
Underneath all of this is a definition Brian returns to across both weeks of the series: the God of the Bible is a consuming fire who will never compromise holiness for love. That creates a genuine tension when human beings, who are not holy, want to be near a God who is. Brian says that tension is not a flaw in the story. It is precisely what makes Jesus matter. "The most incredible dilemma in the history of the universe required the most brilliant solution ever conceived." Suffering, in this frame, is not evidence that God is absent or indifferent. It is one of the places where the seriousness of holiness and the depth of love are both on full display.
Taught from Leviticus 10:1-6 · Leviticus 9:18-24 · Hebrews 9:27-28 · Luke 12:47-48 · Psalm 2
“God does not owe me an answer at all. There's no pleading with him.”
From A Consuming Fire
The passage taught · Hebrews 9:27-28
27 Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this, judgment,
28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, without sin, to those who are eagerly waiting for him for salvation.
World English Bible
Messages that go deeper
- February 24, 2025 A Consuming Fire Brian Hunter explores Leviticus 9-10 and Hebrews 9 to ask how a holy God can love sinful people without compromise, and why Jesus is the only answer.
- February 23, 2025 Finding Jesus in Leviticus A pastor and congregation wrestle with Leviticus 9-10 and Hebrews 9 to ask how a holy, consuming God can love sinful people without ever compromising his holiness.