In the wake of tragedy...

Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good. Romans 12:21 (NLT)

“But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you.28 Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you." Luke 6:27-28 (NLT)

Yesterday morning we woke to the news of another horrible tragedy in our nation. A gunman opened fire on a crowd at a musical festival, from his room on the 32nd floor of a hotel in Las Vegas. The last report I read said that 58 were confirmed dead and more than 500 were injured. Police investigations so far have not found any motive to the shooter's actions. This seems to be just a horrible, random act of violence.

My first thought is "What is wrong with people?" How can you just open fire and kill people that you don't know and have never done anything to you? This just doesn't make sense...

Evil doesn't make sense, but it is real. People do terrible things; they hurt others for no apparent reason. They kill without cause, steal for personal gain, and destroy without thought to the consequences on themselves or others.... that sounded familiar... "The thief comes only to kill, steal and destroy..." (John 10:10). The "thief" is the enemy, Satan, the personification of evil. His goal is to kill, steal and destroy, and he does it through the evil acts of human beings. I'm not suggesting we alleviate personal responsibility, the Las Vegas shooter chose to do what he did, and he could have chosen not to do it. He could have resisted those impulses to plan and carry out this murderous act, but he didn't. And behind every horrible act such as this, there is an evil one that is encouraging it. The enemy is real, and he is active.

So how do we respond in the wake of such evil. Politicians and pundits will argue for stricter gun laws, and various political measures to try to prevent mass killings. While laws and regulations can sometimes make it more difficult to carry out such violent acts, the real problem is evil in the human heart, and until that is eliminated, we will continue to experience these violent acts in our world. How, then, do we eliminate evil in the human heart? It is only through the love of God expressed through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our response to horrific events such as what happened in Vegas is to boldly and consistently share the good news of Jesus, and live out the gospel in our homes, communities and the world. We overcome evil with good; we triumph over tragedy with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Pray for those who lost loved ones in Las Vegas. Pray for the police, first responders and care givers that are working in the midst of this tragedy. But also pray for the Church to be the Church, to do what God has instructed us to do - overcome evil with good, pray for those who commit such horrible acts, and pray for ourselves to be salt and light in the world and boldly share the gospel through word and deed. In the wake of such tragedy and evil, BE the Church...