In this post I would like to share an article written by Fred Liggin concerning the shootings in Aurora, CO.
We are shaken by mourning as we hurt for those suffering due to the
horrific events in Aurora Colorado on July 20. And I am reminded of a most sobering reality.
No government, regardless of how strong or well-meaning can
thoroughly legislate morality. To be sure, it can create laws that limit
behaviors destructive to society (“You shall not steal”). But as a
Christ-follower I am led to believe that what will bring lasting and
systemic change is Jesus (“You shall have no other gods before Me”); by how He
lived–bringing peace through a life of sacrificial love that paves the
way toward a humanity invited to live for a cause greater than self. His
life gives breadth and depth to both how and why He died and was risen.
It is His life, death, resurrection and ascension as Lord that makes
possible eternal realities in our present world; God’s love,
righteousness and peace, indeed God Himself, accessible to all of
humanity in tangible ways. It makes these eternal realities present
because it is a life that follows Jesus as Lord out of hatred into
sacrificial love; out of violence into peace; out of judgment into
mercy; out of darkness into light. Jesus as Lord and Creator shows us
what kind of life really works when God is King.
The events of July 20 remind us that there is too much godless,
dehumanizing, hatred and injustice in the world filled with lost hearts
for Christ-followers to lose this focus. Too much is at stake to be
tangled up in various debates. If
Jesus truly is King of kings and the only hope for the world, we must
live like it as everyday people in every day places in every day ways.
As Christ-followers our lives must be the proof of our theology. Not
just our words or persuasive arguments. For what cannot be up for debate
is that “faith without works is dead” and the world will know us by our
love. (James 2:14-26; John 13:35).
So we must go. Go into the public square, the city streets, the
cubicle next to yours, your neighbor’s house, your child’s bedroom, and
tell the story of the One who brought peace through sacrificial love,
and not through violence. Offer them Jesus the Son of God and Son of
Man, not just a plan. If Christ-followers want lasting change in this
present world, then we must tell His story because only it can shine a
light on where true hope, restoration, redemption and salvation is
found.
May His Kingdom come and His will be done on earth, as it is in
Heaven. And may God’s comfort be known in the hearts of those suffering
due to the brokenness and depravity of this rebellious world.
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