Since Monday, the news media have been filled with the horror of the mass-murder and suicide at Virginia Tech. The question so many are asking is: Why? This made me think of some profound words written by Dallas Willard in his book, The Spirit of the Disciplines. He described a mass-murder that took place in Wilmington, California in 1983. Afterward, a woman from that community asked: “Why? That’s what everyone wants to know. Why did something like this happen?”
Willard says, “Our ‘Why?’ in the face of evil . . . signals a lack of insight—willing or unwilling—into the forces that inhabit the normal human personality and thereby move or condition the usual course of human events. Above all, it shows a failure to understand that the immediate support of the evils universally deplored lies in the simple readiness of ‘decent’ individuals to harm others or allow harm to come to others when the conditions are ‘right.’. . . The level of this deadly ‘readiness’ to do evil in all of its forms is variable from individual to individual, but it is very high in almost everyone. . . . Once we see what people are prepared to do, the wonder ceases to be that they occasionally do gross evils and becomes that they do not do them more often. . . . What individuals are ready to do, what sits in them ready to burst forth, goes far to explain why people do the ghastly things they do. They are set to do them.”
Do Willard’s words seem overly harsh? If so, maybe we’ve taken the reality of human sin too lightly. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful beyond all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” And Romans 3 assures us, “All have turned away, they have together become worthless. . . . Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways.”
What we call “civilization” may fool us into thinking that most people have good hearts. But civilization is a thin veneer. We look at outward appearances. God looks at the heart. People—all of us—need the Lord!
If you’ve struggled with a sense of failure, of falling short of what a Christian should be like, then you can understand what I’m about to say. Awake in the wee hours after midnight, I wrestled with condemning thoughts that wouldn’t quit.
After we’ve confessed all the sin we’re aware of, what explains the continued piling on of such thoughts? Too often, I’ve mistaken them for the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Wrong! The Holy Spirit will bring conviction to lead us to confession and repentance. But after that point (with our sins forgiven), the Holy Spirit will not bring those charges up again. So the explanation must lie elsewhere.
The Bible describes the devil, as the “accuser” the one who accuses us day and night. In other words, his accusations can reach us anytime, 24-7. He disguises his accusations by dressing them up in our thoughts. Like arrows, these thoughts stab into our hearts and minds and consciences. The only way we can overcome his assaults is to stand on the ground Jesus won for us by his death, resurrection and ascension.
Last night, the Lord helped me do just that by reminding me of a song I’ve known for decades. Those words became for me a riverbed through which God’s grace flowed back into my heart and mind. Here are the words. Take the time to pause on each word and phrase. It’s possible you may need these words, too—now or in the near future:
AT CALVARY
Oh, the love that drew salvation’s plan!
Oh, the grace that brought it down to man!
Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span at Calvary!
Mercy there was great, and grace was free;
Pardon there was multiplied to me;
There my burdened soul found liberty at Calvary.
NAC began on Easter 1986. So this Easter we will celebrate the 21st birthday of this church. In a world where the antichrist spirit fights to destroy the church, let’s thank God that he has preserved us.
In my Scripture reading this morning (Psalm 46), I saw again how David knew God as his “fortress.” In fact, the Psalms refer to God as “fortress” 16 times. David used many other picture-words to describe the safety and protection he had found in God—words such as Rock, Stronghold, Shield and Strong Tower.
In Psalm 46, David poetically describes some of the things that can terrify us. Within its 11 verses, we see the earth giving way, mountains falling into the sea, nations in an uproar and wars desolating the earth. Living in this world, we Christians—collectively (in the church) and individually—face many forces that threaten to ruin us.
As we celebrate the 21st birthday of NAC, let’s thank God for the fact that the Lord Almighty has been—and is—with us, and that the God of Jacob has been—and is—our refuge.
And as we look back on God’s faithfulness as a fortress, let’s continue remaining in and counting on him as our fortress so that we can face the unknown future with courage. The Lord is the stronghold of our lives, individually and collectively. Of whom, then, shall we be afraid? (Psalm 27:1b).