When we tell ourselves that “God is in charge”, we would do well to process the question,
“In charge of what?” I’m no expert, but while it may well be that God is somehow in charge of everything in some ultimate sense, it does not appear that he is directly in charge of a great many of the things that concern us here on Earth. For example, he doesn’t seem to be in direct control the thermostat in my apartment—or of my diet—or of the hours at which my neighbor comes and goes. Could he be? Sure. But he doesn’t seem to be operating in that way.
And these things are fairly common-sensical. But even so, much of our religious culture and even our own self-talk can blur the lines, so that we end up believing some fuzzy version of the idea that we humans don’t really have charge over ourselves after all. That’s a very dangerous idea, and right on its heels comes the idea that we are not, then, accountable for ourselves.
God is in charge of whatever he chooses to do, and we are in charge of us. And unless there’s been a change in this since the First Century, we will give account for ourselves to God:
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
2 Corinthians 5:10
