My thoughts on the shootings this weekend

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, c wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, d unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.  Romans 1: 28-32

Someday the Church will wake up and stop being everything it can be but the Church.  Right now, we have a Church of the subjective opinion.  One religion is as good as another.  Ours might have a little more, but it's hardly worth dwelling on.  Be a swell person, do good things, and apparently focus on our own individual awesomeness, and we're pretty much to go.  After all, God's the happy God of love and wouldn't have us do things like offend others with notions of exclusive revelations of eternal truths.  And that's a more mainline view of our Faith nowadays.  We won't get into those traditions and groups that have all but abandoned the historical Faith while still calling themselves Christian. 

No.  It's time we reclaim our truth claims.  That doesn't mean everyone outside of the fence will burn. It does mean everyone outside the fence is wrong.  A nation or people taking great pride in jettisoning the truth of God's revelation can expect nothing more than what we saw this weekend.  In fact, it's a miracle of God's divine spark within us that we so seldom witness such things.  

The World will be scurrying about for the next few days, making hay from this, advancing agendas, insisting their horses and chariots are the only hope for our salvation.  And in some cases, an idea or a proposal might do some good.  But it will be a bandage on an amputation at best.  It might momentarily stop a few things that lead to the bodily death of the innocent.  But it won't stem the tidal wave of death encroaching on the world, nor will it help the souls of the innocent.  

I realize that Christian societies at their best have never been equal to God's Kingdom.  I get that the Christian tradition has been honored as much in the ignoring as in the practice.  But it's one thing to have the ideal and fail to grasp it, it's quite another to altogether jettison the ideal.  We live in an age where the World would have us abandon our truth claims, and other religions would do the same.  So far, we've been happy to oblige, no matter what the visible cost. 

Whenever the Church has lived out its commission in an imperfect way, we can look back and see the results.  How much more disastrous will it be when the Faith has abandoned its charge altogether for the sake of getting along with others who have no intention of abandoning their own erroneous beliefs?  After all, it's not just our biological lives that matter.  I wonder if sometimes we forget that.  It's about the whole person: mind, heart, body and soul.  If we really believe that, then we'll get back to the foundation of the only thing that can save us in the way we need wholly saved.

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.  Matthew 10.28