This Orlando shooting has hit me harder than any other mass
shooting in the recent past. Why? I think it’s because I have a former
colleague and friend who is a member of the gay community in Orlando, and his
soon-to-be husband was one of the Orlando Police officers to respond to the
scene. This is the first time I’ve felt impacted by a terrorist attack on a
personal level. I know someone who could have been there. While we aren’t close
friends, I was relieved to hear he was ok, and his fiancé was, too. For the
first time, I had some kind of personal connection to the tragedy.
I’ve been kept awake at night the last couple nights by
this. Today, I searched Scripture for some words to calm my soul, and find
guidance from God’s Word. I invite you to read some of the passages that
brought perspective for me: John 16:33, Psalm 23, 3 John 1:11, 1 Peter 3:8-17.
The politicians were quick to bring their ammunition of
words to this, but let me tell you, this is not a political issue. We can’t politicize
human life. The gay rights debate has no solution for this. The gun rights debate
has no solution for this. The debates around ISIS/Radical Islam/Immigration/etc.
have no solution for this. We need to mourn the loss of human life, of people
deeply loved by God himself. Whether you support them or condemn them,
they are all children of God, people he deeply loved and had a jealous desire for a
relationship with them.
We need to recognize that EVIL, orchestrated by Satan and
manifest in a deeply disturbed individual caused this. Anyone so consumed by
hatred and determined to inflict EVIL upon another human being will not be
deterred by more background checks, and they will side-step every check and
restriction we try to impose. Legislating magazine size, rifle design, waiting
periods, mental screening, even an all-out ban on anything more powerful than a
nerf gun would not deter EVIL from its mission.
I know I’ll get comments ranging from “how can you be
friends with a GAY person!” to ”Guns are evil! No more Guns!” but that’s not my
point.
Motivation and target are only ever changing veils that mask
the real enemy. Over history, humanity has perpetrated countless horrors upon
other humans for a myriad of causes. Using violence to inflict one’s morality
upon another has been the status-quo in every era of human history. I know its cliché,
but violence is not the answer. More guns:less guns, invade:defend, rights:privileges,
tradition:tolerance, reject:accept, love:hate. The debate on how to respond will
rage on. What it appears we don’t want to fully recognize is the influence of Satan
in our world is real, and more violence and anger will only fuel the EVIL,
which is Satan’s manifestation on earth, resolute to destroy our relationship
with God. God is LOVE, and Satan is the enemy of God, therefore, EVIL is the
enemy of LOVE. Again with the clichés, I know. But if God has conquered Satan
through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, then how do we still think LOVE
can’t conquer EVIL? It is the power of Christ in us, manifest in our LOVE for
God and LOVE for each other, that can overcome this EVIL.
Our hope and peace will not be found in war, guns, legislation,
isolation, or any other human-made means. I chose not to respond with fear,
anger, hatred, generalizations, de-humanization, rhetoric, or violence. I chose
to seek peace, love, and the hope found only in Christ.
We certainly can, and should, through intelligent debate,
strategy, wisdom and cooperation find and take steps to prevent, anticipate,
intercept, defend, and deter this kind of EVIL. My point is not to say we have
no responsibility or power to take action. Do I believe we need to defend
against evil? Yes. Do I exercise my 2nd Amendment right: Absolutely.
But we must be sure, in all we do, that we
are motivated out of a God-given LOVE for all of humanity. God sees all people,
regardless of religion, race, lifestyle, actions or ideas as His lost child,
someone he so desperately wants to know Him. Everyone, from the gay victims to
the radicalized Islamist gunman, were loved by God. Christ died on the cross
for them, all of them. It is up to us to show them, and everyone else, that EVIL
has already been defeated, and our peace is found in the LOVE of God, and our
hope in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
