Tuesday, September 23, 2008

The Consequences of Our Inaction


Here is another paper I wrote about ten years ago.


Recently, as everyone is now aware, we had a massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. This event weighs heavily on our national conscience. The price that we have paid in Littleton is something that we must explore and come to terms with. This tragedy should be very instructive to today's Christian.

You may be asking why I might think that this tragedy would be instructive, especially to Christians. To me, the answer is quite simple. This event shows clearly the extent that others will go to persecute, torture and kill those that they do not agree with. No longer are we living in a largely Christian culture, nor a world that follows a set system of values and morals. Thus, we must be prepared to shine the Light of His salvation, even if it means our death.

Young Cassie Bernall, 17, went to school on Tuesday, April 20th, believing that it would be like any other. Unbeknownst to her, she would become her generation's most famous martyr. When asked if she believed in God, she very quietly answered, "There is a God and you need to follow along God's path." Would we have blamed her for answering that there was no God, or that she didn't know? Would we have had the courage necessary, at the point of our greatest distress, to answer as she did? Will we have that same courage when it becomes our turn?

We say that the murders were a great tragedy. Indeed, they were. But, the greatest tragedy is the fact that these two young gunmen died without first giving their lives over to God. For eternity, they will have the opportunity to be tormented by the response that one of the gunmen gave to Cassie, "There is no God." How much is their anguish? They are eternally cut off from the presence of God. No more joy, no more laughter, no more anything except torture at the hands of Satan and his minions. Eternal darkness, gnashing of teeth and only the thought of escaping the fiery pit of Hell.

The second greatest tragedy that comes out of this incident is that no justice was or ever will be done. We will point fingers at our popular culture, at violent video games, at movies that lack any social benefit, at the rampant gun-worshiping sub-culture, at the parents of the two teens and at our own indifferent society. None of this finger pointing will solve the core problem. The problem at the very heart of this incident is the fact that these two young men and our society at large are indifferent to the call of God.

Why? Why are we, as a society, so indifferent to God and His message? I can only speak for the sinful life that I have lead and in many ways continue to lead. I am just as guilty for the eternal damnation of those two boys as any other person within helping distance could be. Why? I have not heeded the call of Christ! I have ran for all of my adult life and most of my adolescence. If I do not follow Christ as He requires me to, then I can not expect anyone else to follow Christ. Your salvation is not sufficient to save me from my damnation or anyone else's. We must all work out our salvation with fear and trembling.

We will ask several popular questions about this tragedy. The first one is why? Why did God allow this tragedy to occur? The second one is how? How could this tragedy occur or have been prevented? I say, let's forget about such trivial questions. Let us instead ask this question: what? What can we do to ensure, not that this never happens again, but, what can we do to ensure that we are ready. Ready to present the Gospel message. Ready to provide comfort to those in need. Ready to die, if that is to be our lot in life.

How do we present the Gospel message in a society that is so quick to plug it's collective ears, turn it's back and sneer at our "narrow-mindedness"? First, we must live each day, each moment as if it we our last. This would give us the proper perspective, the perspective that is known as having "eternities values in mind". If I live in such a manner, I will not miss any opportunity to present the gospel to the "dying". Second, we must live out our salvation in a credible, tangible fashion. Our friends, family, co-workers and acquaintances would see how Christ would have lived. They will see that salvation is more than our souls being saved. It is about living and breathing our Christianity.

This is not to say that we must shove God down everyone's throats. We must be quietly proclaiming the Gospel with our actions, not just our words. We must truly walk the walk. We must prove that not all Christians are just talk. In our meekness, we must boldly proclaim Christ's Lordship of our lives.

If we do not do these things, then we are just rejecting Christ and His redemptive sacrifice. If we do not do these things, then we will be just as guilty as those two boys are for taking those lives. If we remember that we are the only living representation of Christ and His redemptive work on Earth, then we will have Christ's values in mind. We must be ready, in season and out of season.

If we wake up in the morning and we do not know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we would go to heaven if we are to die, then we need to do some soul searching. I have no doubts that Christ wept for the lives of those two boys, the lives of those who were not saved and died, and ultimately, for those sleeping Christians who stood by and failed to reach out to those two tortured souls.

Ultimately, we must be the ones who show this ailing world the love of God. For if we don't, then who will?

No comments: