When we began the journey of planting a church, many things were whispered and gossiped about what would motivate a group to do such a thing in such a small community. I even heard a few individuals suspect that we were trying to disrupt things or manipulate others.
Well, I have a confession to make: they were right.
A change of heart and mind is desperately needed in our community and in all of contemporary society; It is the disruption and manipulation of the status quo we're after as Christians. We are conditioned to see everything through the lens of how events impact us and the things we hold near-and-dear. When this conditioning comes into conflict with something trivial... the placement of a statue or the date of a community event... it can lead to disagreements and arguments which typically last for a couple of days before disappearing into the background. However, when this conditioning is placed opposite of something terrible and tragic, it can lead to a response from many well-meaning Christians that comes across as cold and callous.
Today we were greeted with news of yet another mass shooting at a school. It is a disgusting reminder of the evil which pervades our society and the hopelessness of this world which is tearing itself apart to find meaning, purpose, and fulfillment. In this moment, we would hope society could pull itself together. We would hope that 100% of our attention would be on solace to the hurting and prayers for the broken. Maybe we would want to take action by coalescing around charities which can provide aid to the broken families who are forever changed or area churches which have their work cut out for them as they attempt to piece together the brokenness in their communities.
Instead, we come face to face with our modern, western conditioning. Article after article marries facts of the tragic shooting with political posturing and agenda-driven calls to action. Rather than lifting up the souls of those injured, killed, or families impacted, it's not a stretch to suggest that most Americans today are reading these stories and lifting up their opinions of gun rights, gun control, or our elected officials.
This is the heart and mind problem of our generation.
In Ephesians 4:20-24, Paul writes about what a new life in Christ looks like. In verse 23, he says we should be "renewed in the spirit of our minds". Having a relationship with Christ means transfixing our attentions away from how things impact us and onto how things impact God's mission for us: to love God and love people. In the midst of tragedy, how events impact us should be the last thing we think about. Instead, for so many of us, we scour news articles of events around the country trying to see if the correct combinations of words appear so that we can either be elated or outraged.
As we go through the next several days, there will be ample time to bicker and argue about what law or policy will prevent further violence against the innocent. Rich men and women 60 miles away will try to tell us how if you only donate to their campaigns and support their pieces of legislation, you will be vindicated as a "good person" in this tragedy. Between now and then, I would encourage you to do what is probably the simplest, yet most powerful thing you possibly can in this situation: pray. If you want to be an activist tomorrow and defend your right to bear arms or your desire to curb gun violence, that's all well and good. But let us live lives which are transformed by the Creator and focus first on the hurting, the lost, and the broken in this world.
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