COMMITTEDTOYOUTH.ORG What do we say then? A reflection on the School Shootings

A mix of emotion

I feel sad and angry. Well mostly angry, the kind of anger that overwhelms and sets my emotions in overdrive. What happened? Why would a young kid choose to kill in cold blood so many of his peers? Where does this evil take root in the lives of young minds? More so, where was everyone else as this person presumably wrestled with the idea of brutally murdering anyone in his path?   There will be justice. It’s painful. Even if we do not directly know anyone related, to realize that this is humanity. This  evilness of hatred and murder has been seen from the very beginning through Cain’s sin and it continues on to this day.  The Lord will judge those individuals who do not rule over their sin (Romans 2:5). God has promised that anyone who does not know Jesus will be judged with an everlasting judgement (2 Thessalonians 1:9). This will include people that  murder. When tragedy strikes and our hearts are shaken, what do we do? Is it God’s will for evil to continue? Of course not! But we need to remember that this was exactly why God sent his son, Jesus. There is so much pain caused by sin. By my sin, by your sin. We need to hold to remembrance  the fact that Jesus, while carrying the cross to Golgotha could have chosen to live. He could have chosen to let us die in our depravity while we were scoffing and nailing him to the cross. In our sin, we brutally murdered the innocent man that came to save us by beating and nailing him to a cross and then leaving Him to die. Within this act of grace lies a promise that the risen Christ will come and finally do away with all the causes of suffering in the world (Matthew 25:31-46 HCSB) . In Ravi Zacharias and Norman Geisler’s quest for truth they respond to these tough matters in their book, Who Made God. They respond by relaying the purpose for Jesus is to heal the deepest wound and grief we have. There was a purpose in the pain that we caused Jesus. There was and is a purpose in the pain we experience now. It is not God’s will that any one should perish but that everyone would come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9) What then do we say?    God’s grace, love and mercy can be seen even in times like these, through you and me.  So where are the Christians? Are we active in the lives of our youth, at school, work and church before tragedy strikes? If the answer is no, then why? God did not intend for us to stand back,  appalled at the evil this world is turning to, and do nothing to prevent it. If we refuse to participate in the lives of ‘at risk youth’, youth of all ages, then should we be shocked when the evil takes root in their hearts?  If no one is giving the youth truth, we should expect them to adopt a skewed worldview. Inaction is simply that, no- action. Romans 10:14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. Go! Go and make disciples, Jesus said. He is the only thing that will fix anger, rage and hate. I can testify personally of this. But how will the angry children know of peace, hope and love if no one shows them the regeneration through a mentors life? How will they be delivered from their torment if no one goes to them and tells them of Christ’s salvation and forgiveness and walks through it with them? We may not have guns in Romania, but the same hatred lays in the hearts of the children here. The hate they harbor for their families, their situations, their country is palpable. The violence may not exist in ammunition, here but it exists in their violent interactions with their peers, their hateful and distasteful words and worldviews just the same.  They hate their future so they ignore its possibilities. That’s why we are here. We are here to plant the seeds of the gospel, to allow children an opportunity to let go of this bitterness that has taken captive their every thought; instead encouraging them to surrender their thoughts to the Creator who gives them peace that passes understanding. A Creator that brings life and meaning.   You have this opportunity, to take part in God’s plan, to be blessed by His ministry of discipleship. You can go.  Please go, to your church youth ministry, go to your local Boys and Girls Club of America, YMCA, reach out, volunteer… Make disciples! If you cannot go yourself you can support those who do go. But the answer most definitely is not to sit back, watching  all the atrocities happening in the world and do nothing. Remember delayed obedience is disobedience. All evil needs to prosper is for people who can do something, to do nothing.