Why Does This Keep Happening?
Yesterday afternoon a madman walked into a building on the campus at UNC Charlotte with the intent to kill as many people as possible. He mercilessly shot and killed 4 innocents and critically injured others. Murder and terrorism. In our own backyard, no less.
I went on Twitter after hearing the news and some things became obvious. One, there are too many instances like this happening in our society. We have seen this on the news so much, it doesn't even seem to phase us anymore. We hurt for the victims and their families. The news media gives it a little recognition; it trends on Twitter for awhile. But then we're off again to go watch another - usually violent, ironically - movie or TV show and blab about it on social media.
I also noticed on Twitter how many people simply do not understand "why" things like this happen. And many seem resolved to stop there, and offer sympathy, and go on. Others in considering the "why" offer up solutions to the problem. Mostly, the proposed solution is to ban all guns from our society. Banning guns will not stop murder, i don't think. It is true, guns are not the issue, people are the issue. My gun lies in its holster nearly all the time, it never moves on its own. It has never gotten up and tried to hurt anyone, or even threaten anyone. A gun, like a knife, like a rock, like a stick is an inanimate object. Someone has to pick it up and use it. Its that "someone" that should concern us the most.
Well then, "what is wrong with people?" I submit that only the Christian worldview can properly answer that question. Man is by nature depraved. We are conceived in sin, and we are born sinful. By sinful I mean we are naturally rebellious towards God, our Creator. We, by nature, do not want to do what God wants us to do. We inherit this from our first parents - Adam and Eve who rebelled against God in the Garden of Eden. With their sin, rebellion, they cast man into sin. There was no death before sin entered the picture.
The solution to sin is to receive God's gift of salvation through the finished work of Jesus Christ, His Son. See John 3:16.
Again, this is rejected by mankind. "We don't need God. We can solve our own issues. We don't need some kind of Savior sent from God -- good grief. Who believes that myth anyway?"
For years America at least acknowledged God. There was a fear of God. We were a nation "under God." Of course, now, in these more "enlightened" times, we've tossed all that to the curb. We are secularists.
With all of that said, I turned this morning to the book of Romans in the Bible, and read chapter one. Amazing something written 2000 years ago is as fresh as if it was written just today. Picking up in verse 28, "And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a corrupt mind so that they do what is not right. They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit and malice."
"God delivered them over" -- that is God's judgment on people who have said "No, God, we will not have you." It is like the Lord God is saying, "OK, you do not want Me, then have it your way." What we are witnessing in our society is what happens when a society rejects God and wants it "our" way instead of His way.
Our only hope is in the Lord our God. Seeking His mercy, His salvation, His grace should be the cry of every Christian. We need the healing that God alone can provide.
I went on Twitter after hearing the news and some things became obvious. One, there are too many instances like this happening in our society. We have seen this on the news so much, it doesn't even seem to phase us anymore. We hurt for the victims and their families. The news media gives it a little recognition; it trends on Twitter for awhile. But then we're off again to go watch another - usually violent, ironically - movie or TV show and blab about it on social media.
I also noticed on Twitter how many people simply do not understand "why" things like this happen. And many seem resolved to stop there, and offer sympathy, and go on. Others in considering the "why" offer up solutions to the problem. Mostly, the proposed solution is to ban all guns from our society. Banning guns will not stop murder, i don't think. It is true, guns are not the issue, people are the issue. My gun lies in its holster nearly all the time, it never moves on its own. It has never gotten up and tried to hurt anyone, or even threaten anyone. A gun, like a knife, like a rock, like a stick is an inanimate object. Someone has to pick it up and use it. Its that "someone" that should concern us the most.
Well then, "what is wrong with people?" I submit that only the Christian worldview can properly answer that question. Man is by nature depraved. We are conceived in sin, and we are born sinful. By sinful I mean we are naturally rebellious towards God, our Creator. We, by nature, do not want to do what God wants us to do. We inherit this from our first parents - Adam and Eve who rebelled against God in the Garden of Eden. With their sin, rebellion, they cast man into sin. There was no death before sin entered the picture.
The solution to sin is to receive God's gift of salvation through the finished work of Jesus Christ, His Son. See John 3:16.
Again, this is rejected by mankind. "We don't need God. We can solve our own issues. We don't need some kind of Savior sent from God -- good grief. Who believes that myth anyway?"
For years America at least acknowledged God. There was a fear of God. We were a nation "under God." Of course, now, in these more "enlightened" times, we've tossed all that to the curb. We are secularists.
With all of that said, I turned this morning to the book of Romans in the Bible, and read chapter one. Amazing something written 2000 years ago is as fresh as if it was written just today. Picking up in verse 28, "And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a corrupt mind so that they do what is not right. They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit and malice."
"God delivered them over" -- that is God's judgment on people who have said "No, God, we will not have you." It is like the Lord God is saying, "OK, you do not want Me, then have it your way." What we are witnessing in our society is what happens when a society rejects God and wants it "our" way instead of His way.
Our only hope is in the Lord our God. Seeking His mercy, His salvation, His grace should be the cry of every Christian. We need the healing that God alone can provide.
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