Last week a young man at a Texas High School, who had been the victim of bullying, harassment, and physical attacks, drew a gun from his backpack and opened fire. Four people were wounded, including a teacher. Shockingly, he was released on bond soon after being arrested.
To say there are lots of arguments and debates being had about this, in various forums, would be an understatement. Your high school kids are almost certainly talking about it. I know for a fact that adults are talking about it. Everyone is going to have a position or a stance or a hot take on what happened, but as a Christian I need to let my life in Christ be the guiding force behind whatever position I take on the subject.
One thing I’ve noticed over the past few days is that a lot of people—who usually are very reliable in coming down definitively on one side or another whenever there’s a national story—seem paralyzed and unable to form a concrete opinion. Why is that? I suspect it’s because the particulars don’t align cleanly with either side of the political spectrum, which means you can’t rely on Fox News or MSNBC to spin it for you and give you the talking points to parrot. People are having to think objectively about this news story and that’s hard because in the two decades since “Cable News” has dominated television ratings, Americans have been letting the media think for them. You can’t do that here.
Based on the (no exaggeration) thousands of comments, arguments, and debates I’ve read about this event over the past several days, here are some of the differing points being argued…
- There’s no justification for using a gun.
- The shooter was being bullied so that justifies the use of a gun
- The shooter felt his life was threatened so that justifies the use of a gun
- He’s getting better treatment from the law than he deserves because he’s black
- He’s getting worse treatment from his peers than he deserves because he’s black
- His being attacked before shooting his attackers is a great argument for the 2nd Amendment
- He left the fight to retrieve the gun, and ended up shooting innocent bystanders; this is a terrible misuse of the 2nd Amendment
And on it goes.
Some of those arguments are being made by teenagers. And while you might be quick to dismiss them for that reason, I would remind you that it was a teenager who committed the crime in the first place. Dismissing the comments and thoughts of teenagers is the wrong way to approach this. Teens need to be listened to, especially when things like this happen. I was in 9th Grade when the Columbine shooting happened. You better believe we were talking about it amongst each other, and those conversations included wondering which student(s) at our school might be capable of such things. Now is the time for parents, preachers, youth ministers, elders, etc, to talk to young people about these things.
If there is any common element to the many different takes being given about this, it’s that no one has a center. No one has a firm foundation. No one has a solid ground on which to present whatever arguments, attacks, or defenses to whatever the case may be. A world without Jesus is very aptly described as “lost.” It’s a world adrift. It’s a world confused. It’s a world that never knows what position to take because the circumstances are sometimes messy and complex.
What is the Biblical response to all of this? Keep in mind that the world is going to do what it’s going to do and sometimes God’s people have to let the world go its way. We can only do what little we can in the time we have here, but when confronted with questions like “what do you think?” and “what would you do?” it behooves the child of God to have a Biblical answer.
Does being bullied justify the use of deadly force against those who are attacking you?
Thus saith the Word of God…
Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.(Romans 12:19-21)
We are not called to punish those who attack us. We’re not called to take vengeance on those who harm us. We’re not even called to try and dole out equal-justice against those who wrong us. Vengeance and Justice belong to the Lord. The only things we’re supposed to do to our enemies is serve them, feed them, and do better to them than they do to us. The result may be additional bullying. The result may be the same amount of bullying. The result may be no more bullying. We don’t know. We can’t control what people do, but we control what we do, and in that case God commands us to do nothing vengeful.
The last verse of the text, “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good” could be translated: “Do not let evil defeat you, but rather defeat evil by doing good.” How might I let evil defeat me? A person who retrieves a gun, targets his attackers, and shoots them, is a person letting evil defeat them. It’s a person who sees his enemy as someone who needs immediate justice from their hands, and not as someone who needs to be served the way Christ served His enemies. Evil is defeated, not with more evil, but by doing good. What is doing good? Paul tells us in the context: It is feeding and giving drink to our enemy when they are hungry and thirsty.
Remember the Master telling us to do good to “the least of these” (Matthew 25:31-46)? The “least of these” in this context is my enemy that is attacking me. It’s no challenge to love my neighbor who smiles at me, says good morning, or even just leaves me alone. But I would remind you of something else our Master says…
Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.(Matthew 5:43-48)
To be “perfect” in this context is to be “complete.” When we only love people who are nice to us, that’s an incomplete love. Complete love means loving the people who actively hate us and try to hurt us.
I remember getting into a fight in seventh grade. And I say “getting into” a fight for lack of a better phrase. I didn’t choose to get into anything; this kid who was two years older than me decided to pick a fight with my 120lb, trombone playing, self. The “fight” lasted ten seconds, which was enough time to be grabbed in a head lock, try and squirm away, only to be spun around and chucked, head first, into the concrete walls that lined the interior of the school. This happened in the classroom five minutes before the bell rang at the end of the day. It was a Thursday. Science class.
Where was the teacher?
She was in the classroom, not twenty feet away, chatting with another teacher on Yahoo Messenger. She never even saw it. But she did see me lying, semi-conscious on her floor, after the bell rang and everyone left the classroom. “Go home.” is all she said to me. I can sympathize with the young man in Texas. I can even understand him.
But as a Christian I cannot condone his actions. The Bible is far too explicit about how I am to treat my enemies, and retrieving a gun from a backpack and spraying bullets in their direction is not the solution. The solution, in fact, is no “solution” at all, because it does not directly cause an end to the suffering. It’s not a solution but a response: The response to being abused by my enemies is to love and serve my enemies, even while they mean to do me harm, and to let God handle justice in His own time.
~ Matthew