Since the days of Cain and Abel, mankind has been engaging in ways to harm one another. The weapons change and become more advanced, but the intent of a murderous human heart remains the same. Whether the motive is jealousy, envy, or hatred - one thing is clear; there will always be some who choose to become instruments of evil.
Spiritually, the question often becomes one of causation I think. In other words, we want to know what initiates or drives this evil and causes it to lash out? And that is what I want to discuss today. America has lost its way. According to K-12 data in the United States, there have been about 1,400 school shootings from 2016 to 2025. Keep in mind that this doesn't even include mass shootings at public events. What happened to Charlie Kirk recently is a symptom of a spiritual war that has been getting worse over the last twenty years. My heart goes out to his wife and young children.
I am old enough to remember when the Columbine shooting was considered to be out of the norm. On April 20th, 1999 Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold walked into their own high school wearing trench coats hiding automatic weapons. We know what happened next, as they began murdering students and teachers. The general public was both appalled and horrified. But we thought that surely this was an isolated incident. Flash forward to almost thirty years later, and people barely blink an eye when another such incident shows up on the nightly news.
And let's be honest, our national morality has changed in many ways. Emotions are now given free reign in the public marketplace of ideas, without much concern given to facts or history. Personal opinion is now king. We can virtue signal on social media without much consequence of getting in trouble, and our hearts appear to be pre-programmed to adopt an attitude of self-righteousness regarding ideas we don't agree with. The phrase "I don't agree" has been replaced with the mantra "how dare you?"
In many respects, we have stopped listening to each other altogether. But what possesses someone to go that next step and perpetrate such horrific actions on another human being? I have a feeling that the answer is much more complex than just labeling them as "crazy."
I recently watched a series on Netflix entitled 'The Iceman Chronicles.' This documentary delved into the mind of famous serial killer Richard Kuklinski. He was regularly employed by the mafia in the 1980's as a hitman, sent out to assassinate people. In these interviews from prison, the psychiatrist referred to him as an anti-social personality type, with sociopathic tendencies. He said that this stemmed from not only Kuklinski's lack of empathy for others, but also a brutally abusive father while he was growing up. He regularly witnessed acts of violence as a child, and absorbed that into his world view as an adult.
Kuklinski said that once someone offended him by questioning his authority in any way, he would make it a point to exact revenge. The horrifying thing about this was that the soon-to-be victim would often have no idea that his demise was forthcoming. All it took was one careless comment or offense, and the Iceman would earn his name one more time.
I think this isn't far from where we stand today as a nation. Since we no longer always allow ourselves to disagree in a civilized way, things can quickly escalate to revenge or retaliation (at least symbolically). No doubt that Charlie Kirk's assassin thought that he was doing what needed to be done - no matter how misguided that notion is to most rational people. And it was misguided, in a way that defies explanation.
I promised to offer a spiritual answer to the problem of violence. I think it has a lot to do with isolation and a narrow-minded set of divisive morals. People today can often find themselves isolated from others. The fellowship and regular meeting together with others in a church setting has fallen by the wayside for many. People are more apt to dive down the rabbit hole of dark Internet websites, which help to indoctrinate sketchy values and unhealthy habits.
The second step toward violence might happen when someone doesn't know God, or more to the point - doesn't know who God originally made them to be. In essence, they don't have an identity in Christ - so they assume the identity of the false teaching they are engaging with. If we don't know that we are made in the image of a Holy God, then it isn't long until the Devil slips in and begins whispering to us the wrong kind of truth.
Couple these things together with the uptick in mental health issues and untreated depression/anxiety in our culture today, and it's easy to see how people turn to hatred as a vehicle for self expression. They have no other coping skills, no one else to offer them a different path. No understanding of Scripture to help edify them in times of darkness. The tools of destruction are easy enough to come by; anyone can get a gun if they really want one. There are entire subcultures in America that hinge on modifying weapons and preparing for some theoretical civil war that may or may not happen. The us against them mindset is alive and well.
We are in a type of war though. And it is the difference between good and evil, healthy discourse or indoctrination. Matthew 24:12 issues a warning to believers about the end times. It says, "Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold." This statement could not be more true with every passing year.
So what is to be done? One speaker put it very eloquently at a seminar on gun violence that I attended last year at a local college. He said, "Hope is not a strategy. We must actually do something." What this 'something' becomes is up to us as a society I think. Do we continue to mock each other online, argue about politics, or even worse - stop discussing ideas completely? Or do we show the love of Christ, even when we disagree with each other vehemently? But our capacity for grace seems to be diminishing rapidly. We are running out of time to steer the ship in a better direction.
Since the truth is that we are made in the image of God, personally I will try to continue to love others with the courageous, sacrificial love of Jesus. As certain as Cain murdered Abel in the book of Genesis, we will have suffering in this world. At least until Jesus returns for the Second Advent. But we can choose to offer each other the olive branch of grace and mercy in the meantime (even when people don't deserve it). Honestly, do we always deserve it ourselves? How you do this in your own life is up to you. I would suggest less of an 'eye for an eye' approach, and more of a grace perspective.
Protect your schools and your families, tell the authorities if you overhear someone making threats, and don't give up on the faith. Continue to love with courage and fortitude, because you never know who may be watching from afar. Do you argue with people and engage in hate speech? Or do you encourage people authentically, and with a radical Christian love? What kind of model are you putting on display for young minds to absorb? A community is only as strong as the people who participate in it, and how we participate will shape it's ultimate outcome. In the meantime, don't let evil win the day.
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