A milk man open fired on a classroom of old order Amish girls in Lancaster PA today. (Click here for the news story) Apparently there was some disturbing notes left about a suicide attempt by the killer but other than that no one really knows why he unleashed his fury on innocent school children. In a cell call to his wife during the hostage situation he told her that he was getting even for something that had happened 20 years ago.
Help me out on this one. Killing innocent people makes things even - to get revenge? Many, many lives will forever be changed because of someone who felt the score needed to be settled. A wife, sons and maybe daughters of a murderous dead man, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends; on and on the list goes. How could this happen? One man's revenge is everyone else's demise. Why?
What drives people to even want to get revenge? Selfishness drives us to settle scores, get revenge, and make sure everyone knows how right we are. Grudges only eat and destroy like a cancer the person holding it. Grudges cause sickness (physical) and emotional instability.
I fear that what we have seen in recent days is a lack of value for human life, and this is directly proportional to our cultures lack of acceptance that we have a creator who has endowed each of us with inalienable rights and ultimately we are responsible to God and God alone. And when we toss God out of a society, all hell breaks loose. People kill one another. Innocent people die. Marriages are broken because a younger, sexier person (that looks like those "hotties" on TV) walks by and offers a temporary fix. (oops, I'm ranting now)
What should be our response? First of all, let's pray. Pray for the wife of the deceased murderer. Pray for the Amish community of Lancaster PA.
Are you harboring resentment toward someone? Have you been secretly seeking an opportunity to get revenge?
The Bible says that vengeance belongs to the Lord. I think the reason is because when we get revenge, uh, even the score, get even, etc., it NEVER solves the issue, resolves the hurt, and sets things right. Only the Lord knows how to balance the scales, so we should leave that up to him.
I know this is getting long (that's why I break it up into short paragraphs) but I have to say a word about forgiveness and justice. We are called to forgive people who have done evil things to us. God is love and we are called to extend that love to others which includes forgiveness. On the other hand, God is a just God and therefore he must punish sin. God solved this problem in the person of Jesus Christ. Accept him today as your Savior. He is the only hope for our world.
I'm done.
No comments:
Post a Comment