Whose Freewill is it Anyway?

If there is one sure fire way to get Christians arguing, it's to bring up the ideas of predestination and freewill. Typically everyone in the argument will be on one side or the other. Either God has predestined everything in your life to happen and you have no control over what goes on, or you have the freedom to choose where your life will take you. This is one of those topics that get everyone riled up, with good reason. I believe, however, that we can approach this a little differently

Life is like a rerun of an improve show.

But before that, let me just address why this is such a major issue for Christians. What it boils down to is an understanding of our purpose on this earth. Each side has its strengths and weaknesses. Predestination offers undisputed confidence that God is controlling everything. They can hold onto the fact that God knows what happens in the next year, the next week, and the next second. The downside to this seems to be that there is no chance for anyone to make a meaningful choice in their lives. God has already chosen who will be saved, who will live and die, who will marry who, everything. The choices that we think we are making amount to nothing really. With that, the idea of why do anything at all starts to creep in. On the other hand, if it is all freewill, then that is all different. The choices we make have impacts on the our lives, and the lives of those around us. Making that choice to become a Christian becomes a herculean effort on our part to align with God. The things in life that we choose have significance then. But that does make it hard to recognize things like God's omniscience. If the choices are our own, made right then and there, then we might end up "surprising" God. If He doesn't already know what we will pick, then are is He really all-knowing? As you can see, there's a lot of theological weight on either side.

Now then, I would guess that most of us have seen the show Whose Line is it Anyway at some point. It is an improve show centered around four actors (Ryan was my favorite) and their host Drew Carey. The actors would get random scenes and personalities to act out for a few minutes. They did their best to be funny and original. It was a great show. The best part, was that Drew the host often didn't know what the actors would do, and his reactions were usually just as riotous as the audience. Even the reruns were good, but there was something different about them. If you had seen it before, then you know what choices the actors were going to make for the skits, even though at the time, the choices were freely chosen and unknown.

That is what I feel our freewill is like to God. God chose from an infinite number of worlds to create the one we live in today. He knew the history and future of each and every world. He experienced it first in His mind, before it was ever created. When He chose our world, God knew what choices we would make and what their outcomes would be. But we still have the freedom to choose.

It is sort of like Merlin from the T.H. White book The Once and Future King. Merlin claimed to live backwards in the book. He knew the choices that Arthur would make, and even the ones that he himself would get into (including being locked in a cave by a crazy ex for years). Everyone still had the freedom to choose their own actions, but Merlin would know what the outcome would be.

Knowledge does not limit the choices available. I can still make my choice even if God knows what it will be. The thing is, He made me free, and He put these opportunities into my life. He wants what's best for me, even if I don't make that choice. I could if I was informed enough, or not so stubborn, but sometimes I chose wrong. This isn't because God destined me to choose wrong, but because He lets me choose. God already knows where humanity is going, we just have to make the choices to get there.

I do wish He had caused me to pick some different friends a few summers back. Wouldn't mind missing that event.

Just something to chew on.