The secular world tries to make sense of the senseless, to
understand the bloody massacre at Virginia Tech.
Some point to guns. Others finger society. Still others attempt
to transform the murderer into some kind of victim. Anything to
understand, to convince themselves that this … what do we call
it? … could have been prevented and that, therefore, the problem
can be fixed.
Yes, something went wrong with the 23-year-old English major for
him to slaughter 32 people. But the problem goes deeper than the
purely secular mind can admit.
The heart, mind, and soul of man — while capable of good and
beauty and truth — are vile, disgusting, and deeply flawed, for
“the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Gen. 8:21).
This innate propensity to sin and sin again, this deep-down
darkness, must be pruned, must be rooted out, or else it will grow
like noxious weeds until the garden that is a human being will be
overrun and fit for nothing more than to be burnt for all
eternity.
Believers tempted to think people are naturally good, should
remember that people who are good would have no need for a savior.
They could save themselves. They would have no need for God himself
to die upon a cross to free them from the grip of sin, death, and
hell.
In the wake of the bloody shooting, I’ve heard the calls for
prayer and I wholeheartedly concur. Nothing else will heal those
who howl in pain and grief. I suggest the Psalms, those sacred
prayers of Israel and of Jesus himself.
“But you, O God, will cast them down / into the pit of
destruction; / men of blood and treachery / shall not live out half
their days. / But I will trust in you” (Psalm 55:23).
But I will trust in you. That is the only thing the
hurting can do. That is the only thing any of us can do.
Thankfully, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is a God of mercy
and a God of justice. But you, O God, will cast them down /
into the pit of destruction …
Do we dare think that the Holy One of Israel no longer cares
what his creations do to one another, and to his name?
“But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for
murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all
liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and
sulfur ….” (Rev. 21:8).
I must be honest. When something like this happens, I always
want to know if the man of blood and treachery put the gun to his
own temple. I hate that. I really do. I want he who holds the sword
to swing the fatal, righteous blow. I want the cop with the rifle
to draw the bead on the killer’s chest, for “he does not bear the
sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries
out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer” (Rom. 13:14).
Maybe it speaks badly of me, but I don’t want the mass murderer
to punch his own ticket to the pit. He shouldn’t have the
luxury.
May the Lord in his mercy comfort the grieving.
