Shining the light of God's love in the darkness
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A crime beyond most people's imagination took place in Orlando. A swirling vortex of hatred, radical ideology, and madness led an evil man to murder over 50 men and women in cold blood. An outrageous, devastating, and confounding attack.
And it wasn't even the first one that month.
Only days before, two other gunmen drew weapons in the middle of a restaurant in Tel Aviv, killing four and wounding a dozen more. In Paris, an off-duty police commander and his partner were stabbed to death in front of their home. The killer took a video of their murder with the intention of broadcasting it to inspire other evil men to further acts of violence.
Many of us can't even wrap our heads around this kind of senseless hatred and violence. We don't understand what could drive a person to such unspeakable acts, how they could EVER feel justified or righteous in what they do. We're left with nothing but shock and pain. We're feel an outpouring of sympathy for those families left broken, we gaping holes where their loved ones used to be.
That's good. That's natural. But as Christians, we need to do more.
We have a responsibility to be there for our fellow man in need. We have a duty as Christ's children to demonstrate his love and mercy in times of crisis, to act according to the standards that he has set out for us. We need to do more than feel bad for the victims of terrorism and hate, we need to extend our hand, to embrace them and share the comfort of our community with them.
We need to show Christian love in action. Sometimes, this may mean putting aside feelings or judgments about another person's lifestyle. Everyone is a child of God, no matter who they may be or what they may do. It's not our place to play favorites with victims, to offer unhesitating love for one and then an awkward, distant kind of sympathy for another. Jesus wouldn't embrace one while paying mere lip-service to another, and neither should we. Every death is a tragedy, and we need to offer support, compassion, and kindness to every victimized person and community.
We need to pray diligently in times of darkness. We need to turn our concerns to the Lord as we try to make sense of these tragedies and ask for his protection and guidance. Pray for the victims and their families who are suffering in ways most of us will never truly comprehend. Pray for the first-responders who risk their lives and subject themselves to the horror of these sorts of attacks firsthand to selflessly try and save lives. Those who will carry the burden of witnessing evil for the rest of their lives. We need to pray for our leaders to do more to prevent these sorts of attacks. To make smart legislative changes that put an emphasis on avoiding tragedies rather than apologizing for them later, or exploiting them to push an agenda. We need them to call terror and hatred out for what it is.
Most of all, we have to welcome those seeking solace and support. We need to be ready to stand beside our brothers and sisters in Christ during their time of need, even if we may not agree with every choice they make. The unconditional love of Christ must rise above everything else. As Christians it is our absolute imperative to share that love, to shine brightly in the darkness.
The horrors of this past month are not the first tragedies we've seen, and they won't be the last. When evil makes itself known, when hatred, terror, and warped ideologies manifest in tragedy, we need to shine God's love all the brighter.
