Today, a young man shot and killed another young man in the cafeteria at Central High School in the minutes before school started. It's a horrible thing that you hope never happens in your community... It's a shame and there's no way around that fact, regardless of the reasons that may come out for the violence in the future.
What made me want to post is some of the discussion that I heard today about the shooting. I heard some folks talking at lunch, and one made the comment that "this wouldn't have happened if we still had corporal punishment in schools." He claimed that students misbehave in school because they aren't paddled anymore.
Going back to "the good ol' days" will not make everything in our society better. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure child abuse, alcoholism, teenage pregnancy, and other social ills occurred 50 years ago, people just kept that stuff quiet.
But, just as people weren't "better" 50 years ago, people aren't going to find themselves in some state of utopia in another 50 years. If you believe what God has to say about the matter, reactionism won't save our society. But, then again, neither is humanism the answer. Like legalism and license, both of these philosophies are in error; one is just erroneous to the rght and the other is wrong on the left side of the truth.
The Bible has a great deal to say about this type of thing, and Romans 3:9-24 is a great passage to read.
The Bible shows us that the real illness humanity has to deal with in order to find peace is our sin problem. Our sin caused a severed relationship with God starting with Adam and Eve. The root of our behavioral and emotional problems that lead to things like school shootings is simply our separation from God. The true answer to all the problems taking place around us is a restored relationship to God. And that can only happen via a life-transforming faith in Christ.
The Gospel has the power to change individuals and has done so for 2,000 years. Not only can the Gospel change individuals, it's truth can change families, neighborhoods, communities, towns, cities, and nations. If we truly care about our world and want to see it reconciled to God, we must do what it takes to earn the right to share the truth of Christ with others.
That way, instead of bringing back paddling to public schools to keep kids from "smarting off," we'll do the smart thing and help people to discover what they really need--Christ.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
So, how did the weekend go? Was it a "success"?
The weekend went very well, thanks! Our picnic was a great time.
Post a Comment