Do you remember what the first day of summer felt like when you were a kid? Can you recall the freedom of sleeping in and doing whatever you wanted to do all day long? When you’re a kid, there is no better time to be alive than on the first day of summer vacation.
Today was supposed to be the first day of summer for kids in Uvalde, Texas, but late Tuesday morning, nineteen children and two of their teachers were slaughtered in their classroom by a depraved young man wielding a handgun and an assault rifle. Since this tragic story broke, some Christians have taken to social media to offer their thoughts and prayers to the grieving families in Uvalde, and in response, many have suggested that we stop thinking and praying and that we start doing something about gun violence in America.
While I sympathize with those who express frustration when Christians offer pious platitudes that ring hollow instead of “doing something”, I also happen to believe that if everyone in the world’s most powerful nation suddenly ceased to think and to pray, the result would be even more terrifying than a madman with two guns.
Just to be clear, praying is doing something. To the Christian, in fact, prayer is the most powerful thing that a person can do. While legislation can change what a society deems lawful or illegal today, prayer has the power to change what human beings call good and evil forever. Both forms of action are important, and both can save lives. Indeed, prayer and justice need each other. A nation of praying people should always value laws that protect the sanctity of human life, just like a nation in pursuit of real justice should always value the thoughts and prayers of its people.
Still, it would be naive to suggest that the solution to our nation’s gun violence problem is as simple as stricter laws and more prayer. How, then, should followers of Jesus respond to the evil we’ve seen in Uvalde?
First, we should allow ourselves to grieve. It’s always interesting to observe different kinds of people in our culture reacting differently to tragic events. One pattern I’ve noticed is that, when a particular tragedy challenges a person’s political preconceptions, they are less likely to grieve its victims. For example, while preparing this Sunday’s message on abortion and the sanctity of unborn life, I have noticed that it is exceedingly rare to find leading voices on America’s political left who express any grief at all for the sixty million innocent human lives lost to abortion since 1973.
Why can’t abortion advocates allow themselves to grieve such an overwhelming loss of life? Because their grief would be a confession of sorts. Reacting appropriately to this horror could potentially imperil their politics.
Since Tuesday, I’ve noticed a similar reluctance by some on the political right to truly grieve the violent deaths of nineteen children and two of their teachers. Instead, many seem anxious to offer school security solutions and to decry the preponderance of fatherless households in our society. These are worthy topics of conversation, but why can’t they simply grieve first?
I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure it’s about the second amendment. If I allow myself to publicly grieve, or so the thinking goes, it might look like I’m going soft on guns.
Listen, brothers and sisters in Christ: your impulse to grieve these nineteen children and their teachers is God-given and good. Don’t let the Devil take that from you because of something as petty as politics. Remember:
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. – Psalm 34:18
Those whose hardened hearts can’t be broken have no need of a savior, so be sure you allow this pain to pierce you. To that end, here are the names and ages of the children and teachers who were murdered on Tuesday morning in Uvalde:
Uziah Garcia, 8
Eliana Garcia, 9
Alexandria Rubio, 10
Alithia Ramirez, 10
Amerie Jo Garza, 10
Annabell Rodriguez, 10
Eliahana Cruz Torres, 10
Jackie Cazares, 10
Jailah Nicole Silguero, 10
Jayce Luevanos, 10
Jose Flores, 10
Layla Salazar, 10
Makenna Lee Elrod, 10
Rojelio Torres, 10
Xavier Lopez, 10
Miranda Mathis, 11
Maite Rodriguez (age unknown)
Tess Marie Mata (age unknown)
Nevaeh Bravo (age unknown)
Mrs. Eva Mireles, 4th Grade Teacher
Mrs. Irma Garcia, 4th Grade Teacher
Second, as we grieve, we should also listen. The tragedy in Uvalde represents an inflection point for many people in our culture. Everyone around you is feeling afraid and angry right now, and rightfully so. As Christians, we should be aware that, when people are in this vulnerable state, they will often say things that we find offensive, divisive, or even immoral. In response to such emotionally charged outbursts, most of us are tempted to counter-punch, but for Christians, I believe this is a time to listen.
Jesus was always willing to listen to vulnerable people:
But Jesus kept looking around to see who had [touched him]. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” – Mark 5:32-34
It always amazes me how, every time I take the time to listen to someone who is not a believer, I hear the heart of God being revealed through the heat of their arguments. This is especially true in times of great pain and chaos. This week, for example, I’ve heard and read skeptics, cynics, agnostics, and atheists professing total conviction that human lives – and especially the innocent lives of children – are sacred and worth protecting at all costs. When we hear non-Christians voicing a clearly Christ-like position on the sanctity of life, we should honor it. An unbeliever’s faithful truth-claim that human life is precious represents the all-important common ground on which we may stand as we gently lead them toward a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.
Third, as we grieve and listen, I believe we should repent. It’s easy to look at a crisis like Uvalde from a distance. You and I have never shot up an elementary school, we tell ourselves; the only guilty man here is the shooter. Well, yes and no. I may not be guilty of taking twenty-one lives on Tuesday morning, but by no means am I innocent. And neither are you. Remember what Jesus said about murder:
“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment…anyone who says “You fool!” will be in danger of the fires of hell.” – Matthew 5:21-22
We can be so quick to condemn other people. We want to condemn the Uvalde murderer, and rightfully so. I’ve also seen people rushing to condemn one another over what they believe about guns, policing, the southern border crisis, abortion, family values, violent video games, and other factors that have contributed to a culture of death in America.
In our rush to condemn, however, we conveniently avoid our own complicity in sin and our need to repent. Jesus was clear that, before we can wisely judge the sins of others, we must reckon with our own iniquities first (Matthew 7:5, Mark 1:15, Luke 13:3). The Apostle Paul really drilled down on the relationship between grief and repentance in his second letter to the Corinthian church:
For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. – 2 Corinthians 7:10
And in the Old Testament, God made it clear to His people that repentance was a necessary step in their healing process:
If my people, who are called by my name, humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. – 2 Chronicles 7:14
In the aftermath of this massacre, everyone has been quick to condemn others, but so few of us have been willing to repent. Christians, this is where we must lead the way. I’ve never murdered anyone at an elementary school, but I have been guilty of malice, especially toward those with whom I disagree. I’ve espoused political opinions that do not align with a truly pro-life ethic, from womb to tomb. And until I repent of my own sin, the Bible says that I will never experience the freedom of God’s forgiveness. If you’re a Christian who wants God to heal our land, it won’t happen through argumentation or legislation alone, but through believers who, on bended knee before God Almighty, contemplate and confess our many sins.
Thoughts and prayers will never be enough if all we’re thinking and praying about are the sins other people have committed. But if our “thoughts and prayers” begin with confession and repentance, there is nothing more powerful we can do at a time such as this.
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” – Jesus, speaking in John 16:33
