The Real Issue at Heart

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. Proverbs 14:12

After a crazed man shot and killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, the issue of gun control shot through the minds of many. The Aurora shooting in Colorado still rings in our ears. And now the death of 12 citizens from a slaughter in the Washington DC Navy yard puts a bullet in our hearts.

I’m not writing a heated argument on why the government should or should not control our guns (although I might in a later musing). I am going to simply take this issue from a different angle. What better way to start than with a Bible verse: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

Guns kill people to the same extent as pencils make mistakes and cars break the speed limit: the instrument does not play beautiful or ear-splitting music, but the player who performs determines the outcome based on instruction, practice, and a steady hand. “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person” (Mark 7:21-23).

The depravity of man is not a new thing. God flooded the world because “every intention of the thoughts of [man’s] heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). We’re shocked at the baseness of the shooters, yet it is what we would do in our natural, sinful state without Christ. It’s the reason why we need a Savior.

The problem lies in mankind’s sinful hearts, not the means of destruction used by corrupt men. Take away our guns, give us more guns... that will never completely resolve the real issue. Only Christ can fix the true heart of the matter.

Instances like the shooting in DC should not merely cause us to consider gun control. As Christians, we should not hear these tragedies and ruminate on how dreadful a hole the world is sliding into, but how much the world needs Christ, how much we should share the good news, how much more we need to live like lights in the midst of this darkness.

“…children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life…” (Philippians 2:15-16, NIV).

~Klipsie

Also check out Haiku’s article “Why Bad Things Happen.”

All Scripture references are ESV unless otherwise indicated.