The April Bullet Train
Wednesday, April 9th, 2008By Charlie Albertell
Violence…April seems to be a bad month for it. I can’t believe that it’s almost 9 years since the Columbine tragedy (April 20) when 12 students and a teacher were killed. And April 16 is the one year anniversary of the V Tech Shootings where 32 were massacred. We’ve gotten our ticket punched for a bullet train. Our kids are living in the shadow of a smoke screen. The guns fire yet the smoke of a longing culture lingers. It’s almost like I can smell the stench of gun powdered death as I think about it. The thoughts of babies killing babies don’t give me even a hopeful glint. I just can’t stop thinking about the violence among young people. So I guess my only hope is that somehow we will all see some sort of moral victory….even through these seemingly relentless tragedies of death that are plaguing our country. Our “amber waves” goodbye.
We are so concerned about terrorism (and indeed we should be!) that we forget how extra painful it is when the terror comes from our own. Parents, church, schools, colleges, and communities must begin to rally together.
Unfortunately, it goes much deeper than knowledge and the law. There must be something “foundational” to this chaos. I have a couple of gnawing questions that I am sure we all share: What is it in a teenager, young adult, or anyone that makes them want to take the life of another, especially when there seems to be no sense of remorse? Or, what snaps in a person that makes them want to take their own lives? These are questions for which we may never have satisfactory answers.
Soon after the Columbine incident we witnessed the stories of more killings in San Diego and an 8th grade girl in PA shooting another girl. In 2006 we dealt with the horror of a madman killing 5 young girls aged 6-13, before turning the gun on himself. And of course last year’s sobering reminder of college campuses vulnerability when 32 people were massacred on the campus of Virginia Tech University. It wasn’t a “peace on earth” type Christmas last year when, in early December, a gunman broke loose in a shopping mall in Omaha, NE killing 8 and then himself. The next event doesn’t involve guns, but its disturbing nature warrants inclusion: Just this week you may have caught the “YouTube” craze as 8 teenagers were arrested and charged for being involved in the brutal beating of 16 year old Victoria Lindsay in Poke County, Fl. She was beaten unconscious. The reason? Alleged comments the victim made on MySpace. Click YouTube and do a search for “teenage girl beaten” to watch video and analysis. Warning: the video is extremely graphic and disturbing. What is going on in this world? Are you as confused as I am? What or who is responsible for all of this?
Jesus once said in referring to Satan, “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.” (John 10:10) I don’t know about you, but I’m glad there is someone to blame it on. The purposes of Satan are to steal, kill and destroy. If we can’t see this in the spiritual realm then we are blind to his activities and his purposes. We must pray every day for the protection of our children and our schools, for our workplace and our cities. We must pray for the full life that Jesus promises for our families, our schools, our communities and ourselves. Are we willing to stand in the gap and be the answers to our own prayers?!
It’s amazing to me that so many Christians today are asleep in the light. We selfishly and hypocritically declare “victory in Jesus” in poetic song on Sunday mornings while the world outside is dying. There is so much pain out there and all too often it seems we just try to cover it up with band-aids as we argue about light fixtures and what color the new carpet should be for our church buildings. People are hurting and dying, period. Thank God for the churches and ministries that are making a difference!
We are such a band-aid society. What we really need is surgery. But our society is too afraid to let the Master Surgeon grace its courtrooms, hallways and classrooms. Ask any Christian middle school, high school, or college student if they feel they have biblical or even governmental freedom of expression at the schools. They will probably tell you that they don’t. Pretty sad. Ask them if they feel safe at school. I’m sure they would say that the feeling of safety wanes with each new threat or tragic incident.
I guess I’ll always have a lot of questions. That’s not such a bad thing. Is it really a gun problem? Is it a bomb problem? Is it a TV problem? Is it a video game problem? Are people that angry? If they are, why? Is it that our society glorifies death and violence?
Or maybe, just maybe, we are becoming what Paul warned Timothy about: 2 Timothy 3:1-5 NLT “You should also know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control; they will be cruel and have no interest in what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act as if they are religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. You must stay away from people like that.” Not a pretty picture. I venture to say again that what we have is a heart problem not a culture problem…plain and simple. The Surgeon can do a heart transplant if we let Him. And in the meantime, let’s pray this bullet train derails.
*Thanks to the “Lost Dogs” for the “Bullet Train” and “amber waves” inspiration!
