Why Can't They See?

            Man is depraved. Just in case you didn’t notice.

            I am so sad right now. My stomach is tight, and my heart aches. How could someone do this?

            This morning, a young man (early twenties) went to an elementary school and shot a room full of kindergartners. As of one o’clock, twenty seven were dead – around twenty of that number were six-year-olds. He also shot his mother, who was the teacher of the class. Then he shot himself.

            (note: I am writing this post based off the information I know. As this is such a fresh story, I’m sure that it will change as we discover more information. So please forgive me if some of my information isn’t accurate).

            I just… can’t even fathom. Why is there so little value attached to humanity? How can people just go out and kill others? There was the Batman shooting in Colorado a few months back. There was a shooting at the Clackamas Mall in Portland just a few days ago. Not to mention the thousands of abortions performed daily around the world. And now this.

            It’s freakish.

Why is there no respect for life? Why can’t they see that this is wrong? I know that we, as Christians, see the value in life. We are created in the image of Almighty God and loved by Him. But the world is living in darkness; they can’t see. They cannot see anything right or good or true; they are blind to it. It is our duty as bearers of Light to show them the truth.

Every single person on this planet is an eternal being, with an eternal destiny. There is no such thing as death, for anyone. Either we go to Heaven, or we go to Hell. I’m thinking about this man, who ended his life (and so many others) this morning. Where is he now? I know the answer to that question, and it’s chilling.

I’m scared. I’m scared of the world that I have to grow up in. I’m scared, because I know that it’s only going to get worse. This is a world of sinners, ruled by sinners, and all are stumbling around in a void darkness, searching for some purpose to all of this.

We know the answer. We have found the light. So why aren’t we sharing this with them?

In his sermon, Is This Really Church?, Francis Chan talks about how we are called to make disciples of men. He attributes the following quote to another pastor whose name I can’t remember at the moment. But he says,

“Christ calls [the church] to be fishers of men. But instead, we’ve become more of an aquarium.”

We need to leave our comfort zone and reach out to the world. This is such a lost, sinful, depraved world, in desperate need of redemption. Life has lost its meaning, and now the world is losing its life.

~~~

Sorry that this is such a disorganized post, but I can’t think clearly right now. Please keep all of the people involved in this shooting in your prayers. I can’t imagine the pain that they’re going through. Their loss is so different from mine… Josh’s death (circumstantially) was an accident. But these children… these precious little children, were deliberately killed. Pray for them – please. It may not feel like much, but it makes such a difference.