- In the face of such enormous tragedy
as has come upon our nation this past week, how should the
Christian respond? Here are some thoughts to chew on.
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- Respond in Love:
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- Agape, that is, life-changing
compassion, is always an appropriate response to tragedy. People
need comfort at a time of great trouble and who is better equipped
to offer comfort to a person who is hurting than you who receive
comfort directly from God? Check it out in 2 Corinthians 1: 3-7. A
compassionate Christian friend can bring life-changing love to a
neighbor who’s hurting. You can help them step from anxiety over
the condition of the world to trust in God’s ability to bring
them safely into His presence.
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- Respond with Truth:
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- The Bible, and especially Jesus
(Matthew 24) warns us that calamities will befall the world. We
will not stop what is coming because it is not driven by politics,
the economy or class/educational inequality. It is driven by
spiritual forces which are at war. "For our struggle is not
against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the
authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the
spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms," Ephesians
6:12. God will ultimately win, and the only appropriate response
to the calamities of this world is to be on God’s side. Only
when a person makes Jesus his/her ultimate life authority are they
on God’s side. Deep-seated spiritual peace, a kind of peace that
is just impossible to conjure up by one’s self, is the result of
fully submitting to Jesus’ authority.
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- Respond through Faith:
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- "Now faith is being sure of
what we hope for and certain of what we do not see," Hebrews
11:1. The Christian is convinced to the core of his/her being that
God has saved them (i.e. sure of what we hope for) and equally
convinced that God rewards them who seek Him (i.e. certain of what
we do not see). So the Christian is committed to living a
lifestyle consistent with heavenly standards, (i.e. the acceptable
result of the certainly that God rewards those who seek Him). So
what does a heavenly lifestyle look like in a time of crisis?
Well, at all times, but even more so during great tragedy the
Christian is to look like a priest. That’s what we read in 1
Peter 2:9). The priest stands between the people and God and
brings them together. In other words, when everyone in the office
is standing there with their mouths open, just horrified by the
onset of some unspeakable tragedy, you, dear Christian, need to be
the one to say, "Everyone who wants to join me, I’m going
to offer a prayer in my cubicle in five minutes." Then you go
to your cubicle and pray like crazy for those next five minutes
for the courage to do what you just told everyone your were going
to do. God will be with you. Never mind the first petty excuse: I
can’t pray in front of people. We’re talking major trouble
here and you’ve got to do the right thing regardless of your
fears. Never mind the second petty excuse: I don’t know what to
say. You have the Spirit of God living within you! The Sprit of
God will know what to say. Ask Him. And never mind the third petty
excuse: I’ll look foolish. Yes, you just might. But how foolish
does it look to your peers when they see you -- the religious nut
of the group -- not seeking God in a time of great tragedy? It
sure must look foolish to them that the person among them who
claims to be a Christian doesn’t pray.
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- Respond to this tragedy, respond to
all tragedies, in Love, with Truth and through Faith and you will
be a blessing to those around you, and blessed by Him who
surrounds you.
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