Thought for Today
Genesis 4:8 Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let us go out to the field." And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him.
Genesis 6:11 Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence.
Matthew 11:12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.
1 Timothy 1:12 I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, 13 even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief,
At what point did humanity collectively decide that violence is the solution . . . to everything? I missed the meeting when the vote was taken. I’m guessing, however, that the decision was made about the time Cain entered puberty. Evidently, his doing so resulted in the mutation of some link in his DNA, causing Cain and all the rest of humankind to consider violence as the solution to every problem, including our relationship with God.
I thought about all of this as I watched the morning news today, the day after our nation’s birthday party. Across our nation, in large cities and small towns and villages people celebrated with picnics, parades, fireworks and fun. People flocked to the beaches and the mountains, the prairies and the grasslands to commemorate the ratification of the Declaration of Independence. For most of us, it was a day of joy, of eating traditional foods, attending favorite celebrations in favorite locales.
The morning news in Boston this morning included stories of 2 different, separate shooting incidents. Both were in communities close to the central city, close to the sites of the Boston Tea Party, the Boston Massacre of 1770, the ‘shot heard ‘round the world’ and so many other historic sites. Did some patriotic citizens think that firing handguns in parks where children often play was a proper way to celebrate our nation’s birthday? Maybe we have just become so inured to violence that resorting to it on every occasion seems appropriate?
Reports of ‘shots fired’ and of random shootings have become so ubiquitous that few of us are surprised or shocked by them any longer. Road rage, domestic violence and other incidents have become common fodder for local news in almost every city, town or village in our nation.
Was Cain correct? Is violence the solution to everything? Hint for those who haven’t read the Bible lately or ever: It didn’t work out as Cain planned. Evidently, God did not approve of Cain’s solution to Cain’s problem of why God rejected Cain’s offering! It may seem self-evident, but if it is, many of us have managed to ignore it.
Are there times when violence is necessary? My parent’s generation would have responded by mentioning Pearl Harbor. Our nation was attacked by Japan without warning while Japanese envoys were in Washington, D.C. in the midst of peace negotiations with our government. We were effectively at war without either nation declaring war.
Many of us learned about bullying in elementary school. Some of us witnessed or were victims of bullying on playgrounds in our formative years. Individuals and even nations can be bullies. The only way to deal with bullies is by direct confrontation. Certainly the massive loss of life during WWII was horrific. Yet, the violence inflicted on so many by the Axis Powers could only be thwarted by the violence inflicted on them by the Allied Powers.
Jesus said, “Mark 13:7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come.” We did hear and we still do hear of wars and rumors of wars. Wars between nations; wars between gangs; wars between police and criminals. Sadly, we also hear of random acts of violence. Violence between nations; violence between gangs; violence between police and criminals; violence between individuals. How sad!
What can Christians do? "Luke 10:27 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." Love will conquer all!
Stay safe, live love, trust God,
Pastor Ray