Monopoly & Bittersweet Victories: An Update

* The first part of this entry is from a Monopoly game that I won and the reflective thoughts that sprang from it. The second part, which consists of additional thoughts, is in response to a picture I saw posted on Facebook.

Monopoly

If you grew up in my house, Monopoly was a regular event every Friday & Saturday night. And the way I learned to play utterly ruthless: you played by the rules, sure, but you tried to get away with as much stuff as you could (e.g., not paying rent whenever possible).

We were very shady.

So when I received an invitation to go play Monopoly with some friends, I was on it.

But the invitation came from someone who prefers a much friendlier way of playing: be honest when you land on someone's space and offer to pay them rent instead of trying to get away with not paying it.

Not what I'm used to after several years of playing via the ruthless style, but (1) I love to play, and (2) I love my friends, so I went.

In Comes The Twist

Now, when I was playing growing up, my dad had his “lucky iron” piece, whose “curse” practically guaranteed victory on a regular basis against my cousin & I: my dad routinely crushed us, even when we tried to team up against him.

So when I would do really well back then and totally dominate (rare though it was), it was a glorious feeling because the atmosphere of the game was “every man for himself.”

God, however, operates on a different wavelength, something more along the lines of “everyone is important.” This is not a tree-hugging-touchy-feely-New-Age-hippie mentality, but one where a genuine concern for all involved is expressed.

And so while the game is somewhat close and competitive, playing the friendly way is quite enjoyable. Until you start to really dominate your friends.

Before you go jumping to conclusions, I'm not writing this to say that I won by having a total of 11 hotels on the board (which I did), but that the experience really opened my eyes to God's heart regarding the eternal punishment of those who do not inherit eternity.

(Quick disclaimer: I don't believe that Hell will last forever, so when I talk about it, I’m not referring to being eternally tortured.)

When you are in a spirit of utter competition against those you're playing with (like with my dad and cousin), trouncing your fellow players is a feeling to relish and milk for all it's worth.

On the other hand, when your opponents are your best friends and the spirit in which you are playing is a caring and friendly one, then a totally-dominating victory is, at best, bittersweet: yeah, you win, but at the cost of everyone enjoying an equally competitive game.

It was, by far, the least I have ever enjoyed winning a game of Monopoly.

But I'm glad that it happened, not because I won, but because it opened my eyes up regarding the Father's heart for the people that will be eternally destroyed when he rains down “fire from heaven” (Revelation 20:9) to destroy the wicked.

Yeah, you win and rid the universe of sin, but at the cost of so many of those whom you loved, and it's a completely bittersweet victory because of their loss.

A God who “will wipe away every tear from [our] eyes” (Revelation 7:17) is not going to be celebrating -- or even neutral -- when it comes to destroying many that he loves so much, especially after the cost he has paid (through his Son's sacrifice) for their redemption.

But what about this life?

Regarding what goes on in this life, and all of its tragedies, that’s one of those mysteries that we may never truly figure out -- why bad things happen to good people and vice versa.

No offense to the grieving intended, but just because something tragic happens does not mean that God intended it to happen.

Does tragic stuff happen? Absolutely.

Can God use it for our good? Yes. (Romans 8:28)

Does God cause it to happen because that's what he prefers? An emphatic "No!" is the only response that I can find... (Lamentations 3:33, Ezekiel 18:32)

To borrow the wording of someone that I know who has suffered terrible loss -- twice -- yes, it would “seem” as if that was the case, that their death (or accident, illness, etc.) was what was preferred. However, I have to point back to Ezekiel 18:32 where God said,

“I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies.”

You know what that means? He has no pleasure in death. NONE!

God loves the world so much that he gave his only Son for us (John 3:16), and He relates to us as children (Matthew 7:11), so for God to rejoice in someone’s death would be akin to a loving parent enjoying the fact that their child has died.

I realize that it doesn’t always “seem” this way, especially when we're in the midst of the tragedy, but I think that’s the “comfort of the scriptures” (Romans 15:4), that even when our perspective is blurred and foggy due to circumstances or emotions running high, that we still can look to the scriptures and see what God has revealed to us about Himself and His good intentions for us (Jeremiah 29:11), even though bad things do happen...