Acting as Beloveds Should: A Challenge in Times of Tragedy

I'll be blunt with this one--I'm not here to add insight into a tragedy that's already been talked about from a million points of view. What I am writing about today, however, is what I've seen and heard from people since the shooting tragedy struck the Connecticut elementary school last week.

I understand fully that people not just from America, but from the entire world, have been shocked, saddened, and hurt by the murder of twenty-eight innocent children and staff at the school. In turn, we're all grieving. Hearing of the murders, my mind instantly flashed to my young campers from the camp I work at, and then to my cousins who are all under the age of six; I literally felt sick. Even as I write this, horrific images cloud my mind and shake me to my very soul. I can't imagine what it's like for the parents and family members who will never see their cherished, loved--no, adored--little one again.

Listening to the president speak last night at the memorial service in Connecticut and quoting Scripture, however, gave me hope. It wasn't because it was our nation's leader, or even because of the tragedy, really. It was because the words President Obama quoted were the words that Jesus Christ spoke regarding children. "Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these"(Matthew 19:14). Before the nation stood a man who didn't stand as our president, but as a human with a broken heart, a grieving man, and above all a father. The fact that people from both sides of the political spectrum have even thought of making this tragedy into a political theater sickens me. In fact, it's incredibly hard not to get angry. You've either got to have a lot of guts or be incredibly stupid to drag up the likes of gun control, abortion, or anything related to the secular political discourse in the wake of this or any similar tragedy. I'm voting for the latter in this case.

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness."

Matthew 23:27-28

When did we go so far as to lose sight of Christ's words? Has our hypocrisy and adherence to a set of religious morals blinded us to the point where someone else's grieving heart is somehow less than our own, therefore annihilating our ability to grieve regardless of who it is? I'm not going to go on a humongous political rant about the theology of Presidents Obama, Bush, Clinton or whoever. But his words ring true time and time again regarding this tragedy. I don't care about his politics. I stand with him in grief as I would any other person who is affected by this. As Christians we are in NO position to drag down someone, especially in their grief. To do so is to be like the Pharisees that Jesus called white washed tombs--we look good on the outside, but on the inside we are unclean; full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

What we need now as a people (no, as a world) to do is come to the Father as He has so longingly implored us to do. I don't care whether you're pro or anti gun, I don't care whether you're pro-life or pro-choice, I don't care WHO or WHAT you are...I care that you seek and find peace in the only One who can provide it. If anything, it's times like these that almost show us who we really are. Do we let human emotions, ideologies, and a filthy thing such as politics color our view? If you do, I truly pity you. We need to be weeping and mourning with those who are doing the same because their baby won't ever come home again. We need a loud and clear reminder of what Love endured for us so that we won't ever make the error of withholding that grace from another.

I know for a fact that some people will read this, and take offense. If you are one of those people, your issue isn't with me. Clearly God is seeking to change your heart because it's gone cold. In the meantime, I challenge you to reach out to those who aren't like you and open your hearts to them, regardless of who they are or what they believe. After all, Christ died for them too, did He not? As Christians, the only difference between "us" and "them" (I cringe as I write those words even now) is that we know the Prince of Peace. Well, we all claim to. Seek His face, especially in a time like this; don't hide behind some nauseating abomination of religious tenets and political ideology. You claim to serve and love the King? Act like it in all you do--ESPECIALLY in loving any and all unconditionally. That's my challenge.