Sadly, this past week has witnessed another tragedy in Minneapolis, where a lone gunman opened fire on students gathered for prayer and worship at the start of the new school year. Families have been devastated as the lives of children have been forever changed. As a church, I encourage us to pray for healing for those injured, comfort for grieving parents, and understanding for those trying to make sense of this attack.
In Sunday School, we are delving into hard questions. We aim to learn more about some of the difficult issues that arise in life in order to provide biblically sound answers. We refer to this as Apologetics. So far, we’ve examined how we know there is a God, how science and the Bible can coexist, how we can determine the trustworthiness of the Bible, and how archaeology supports the biblical account of history. Recently, we’ve been discussing the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” This discussion naturally led us to consider God’s sovereignty in salvation. However, the recent event involving an active shooter also fits within this framework. Why do such tragedies occur even when children pray? The short answer is that this is not a new phenomenon; culture has always been in chaos.
In our new sermon series on well-known Bible stories, we see that right after creation, when God declared everything to be “very good,” Adam and Eve chose to sin against Him. This failure resulted in the fall of all humanity into sin and misery, affecting every aspect of every person born since. From this original sin arise various other sins—Cain killing Abel, Lamech committing multiple murders, and the rise of corruption that ultimately led to the flood during Noah’s time. The pattern continues: Abram had to rescue Lot from marauding bandits; the Judges repeatedly saved Israel; David defeated Goliath; and God’s people endured attacks from the Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians.
If the strife depicted in the Bible isn’t enough, consider that the twentieth century has been the deadliest on record. Wars have ravaged multiple countries, including Cambodia, South Africa, Sudan, Uganda, and Vietnam, among others. I don’t mention this to provoke despair, but rather to remind us that since the fall, culture has consistently been in chaos and will remain so until the Lord returns.
The collective conscience of mankind has been marred beyond repair, except through the work of the Holy Spirit. What our country and the entire world need is a transformation of our consciences via the Good News of the gospel. So, let’s spend some time in the coming month praying for the young people of the world. Ask the Lord to open their hearts to the truth that He created them in His image, that sin is an intruder in the world, and that through Christ, they can find belonging, love, purpose, and security. Pray against the work of the evil one, whose intent is to destroy the image of God in mankind. Be prepared to answer hard questions by considering them ahead of time and finding your answers in the Bible. The government cannot resolve the cultural chaos stemming from the fall—only the Holy Spirit can. So let us ask Him to do it.