EVEN THE WORLD KNOWS “EVIL,” BUT WHY?
The shooter at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX, killed 20 people. That is evil.
The people killed were children. Somehow, this feels “more” evil, and it goes deeper than mere sentiments about missing out on their lives or the fact that they were helpless victims in a senseless spree.
Everyone knows this is pure evil.
I’m crushed for the victims’ families. I’ve seen the pictures, and so have you, of the sweet little kids, and I’m glad for the swift and final capital punishment of this evil.
Even when Israel was under the law, the law made allowances for killing in self-defense, so the killer would not be guilty of breaking the sixth commandment. Further, in the New Testament, God showed that government is to be the protector of good and the punisher of evil. Capital punishment is a necessary measure in this evil world. And people generally accept it.
I doubt there’s anyone who’d argue that the shooter was just living “his truth” or that he was in ANY way justified in what he did. Our society screams foul on anything that’s truly evil, but, as Christians, what is our view of the situation?
Well, we start, truly, with prayer. This week, pray for the families.
God did not cause the evils of mankind. He is NOT the author of evil, and I find nothing in the Scriptures that tell me He somehow caused this evil for His own glory. That notion goes beyond the goodness and love of a God who IS love, and I cannot accept that this is somehow by God’s grand design. Evil never is.
The evil of the cross was not God’s doing, nor was the evil of Joseph’s imprisonment. Although God CAN bring good out of any situation—as He did through the evil intentions of mankind at the cross, and the evil intentions of Joseph’s brothers when they sold him into slavery—God’s not causing those evil situations. That’s all on man.
Let’s call evil for what it is. It’s not the work of God; it’s the heart of mankind that’s in rebellion against God and is actively running away from him. “That’s evil!” is as true about the shooting as it is about our lying. The implications aren’t the same; the results are not the same; but the end is the same without Jesus Christ. “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” Rev. 21:8
This is why we proclaim the Gospel to every creature. Mankind is in sin, and that same evil is inside all of us. If you believe the shooter deserves punishment for this evil, where’s your foundation for your belief? We know that God has written the law in our hearts (see Romans 1–2), so that even a lost world will look at such heinous acts and cry “Evil!” And they’re right.
Similarly, let’s pray that the Gospel exposes our own hearts to its own need for Jesus. –Pastor Ryan