This week brought another tragedy to our nation's headlines: a deranged young man with an assault rifle walked into his former high school in Florida and opened fire, killing 17 students and teachers and injuring dozens of others.
And of course, any time this sort of thing happens, we get two battle cries that fill our op-eds and social media feeds: (1) Guns are the problem! and (2) Mental health is the problem! I think both diagnoses are flawed and incomplete, but enough has really been said on both of these things. I don't have anything remarkable to add to either one of those conversations--though I have my opinions on both--and figure my small handful of readers have heard quite enough of those debates.
I do want to draw attention to two other things that have bothered me about what I have seen in the headlines this time around that I think have more to say about the realities of the world we are living in and what American society is becoming, or rather, devolving into.
It's Not Mass Murder if You Use Forceps Instead of an AR-15
The first is a glaring hypocrisy of the American people, particularly those on the left side of the political spectrum, who get rightfully angry and indignant over the injustice of a mass shooting, and yet cannot see, for the life of them, the mass murder they allow--nay, celebrate!--on a daily basis. I am of course speaking of the thousands of tiny souls murdered each day, with full permission of our law and courts, in abortion clinics across the country. I am baffled at the complete lack of self-awareness many of these people have. Cecile Richards, the (thankfully) exiting CEO of Planned Parenthood, even tweeted her righteous anger over the shooting, and yet she makes millions of dollars slaughtering children (and sometimes the women themselves) in her "clinics" across the country.
Let me blunt: if you think abortion should be legal, and want to "protect the rights of women to choose" then you have absolutely no moral standing to get angry over a mass shooting. None. You are contradictory, you are a hypocrite, you are intellectually dishonest--frankly, you are a fool with darkened understanding. Shame on you.
The Real Efficacy of Prayer
The second thing that bothered me was a trending social media status along the lines of, "If all you're offering is thoughts and prayers, you are doing nothing to help this situation."
To some degree, I can actually sympathize with that sentiment. James said in his epistle, "If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and filled,' without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." (James 2:15-17 ESV). So it is true that prayers, unaccompanied by whatever possible action a person can do to alleviate suffering, are useless and lazy. I am of course guilty of such laziness and don't excuse myself.
But let's be realistic: Most of the country does not live in or around this area in Florida. Aside from our votes for policy change as we see fit, and any assistance we can give to those who can go to Florida, prayers may be the only thing we can offer. And prayer is not doing nothing--what better thing to do than call to upon the all-powerful Creator God to help those who are grieving the loss of loved ones and battling life-altering injuries and trauma? If one lives in the area near the shootings; absolutely, do something! Anything! I know local churches and organizations are already opening their doors (literally and figuratively) to those affected and I hope more do so. But it is not right to begrudge a Christian's honest prayers to God to alleviate another's suffering. It is one of the biggest acts of love we can offer, especially to strangers.
Not all prayers are equal, however. Thoughts, for one, do absolutely nothing. I guess offering "thoughts" is a way that non-believers and even atheists can demonstrate sympathy and feel like they're doing something when they have no God they believe in to call upon. But let's be honest, happy thoughts and "positive energy" are inventions of people who rightly realize that they have no choice but to acknowledge spiritual realities yet don't want to go so far as to label them as coming from the God of the Bible.
And while I realize this will offend some, if you have not trusted in Jesus Christ, your prayers are useless as well. If you are praying to some vague, inclusive notion of the "divine" and are expecting something to happen, then you'll be disappointed, because you are merely praying to a god of your own making, and that is idolatry. That god does not exist and is therefore impotent to help anybody with anything. Only prayers offered by Christ's sincere followers are heard and answered.
TULIP's T: Total Depravity
In short, this indignation at prayers is really an attack on Christians, and brings me to what I think is the root of these problems: a nation that has abandoned God. I'm not the first to make such an observation, and I know I will not be the last. But the reality is that we are desperately sinful, and people who have given themselves over to sin (see Romans 1 and 2) are capable of the most horrific acts, regardless of any mental illness or the lasting effects of personal tragedy. We are dead in our trespasses. Without Christ, our only choice is to sin, and anything good we do is tainted by that sin. No gun law, no help for the mentally ill, will change anything if we Christians do not plead with God to reveal to us and others the reality of our lostness without Him and call to Him for the salvation that only He offers. What we need is revival: not silly tent meetings and emotional altar calls or snake handlers or "glory dust", but Biblical revival of hearts turned from sin and to Christ. Only God can bring that about, and all Christians should be praying for that daily. I say this as much to rebuke myself as anyone else, because I admit my heart is often sleeping to this spiritual reality and the sacrifice it will take, and that is commitment to God in our own lives and a reordering of our priorities.
We must be aware (and perhaps this is the only comment I'll make on the issue of guns) that guns are morally neutral, inanimate objects. No gun has a soul or a mind with which to think. Guns are not floating around on their own volition, shooting up schools and nightclubs and shopping centers. Flesh and blood people, with sick, sinful hearts, are planning their attacks, preparing their weaponry, and moving their bone and muscle fingers to pull those triggers. So until we fix people, we will always have mass murders, whether guns are available like candy at supermarkets or whether they are completely banned by our government. We must realize the truth that, but for the grace of God, WE could be one of those mass murderers. In humility we need to repent and turn to Christ; if we don't, we will see these tragic headlines again in another month or two.
So brothers and sisters in Christ, pray with me. Keep me accountable to pray. Let's keep each other accountable to witness to those in our lives, to notice the lonely and hurting and help them. And in the midst of political and religious chaos, let's remember who has never stopped being sovereign, who is the source of true comfort and freedom. And let's trust Him with our lives and pray for the souls of those around us to know for themselves the radical hope and peace we enjoy.
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