I can already see it coming. The rush to empathy for killers begins before shocked Americans like me can even take time to pray for the families of the victims.
Everybody’s gonna tell me not to “demonize” the left. And yes, let us not demonize those who bear the image of God, but neither let us humanize the demonic.
The murders we have witnessed this week leave us grasping for phrases. Some reach for words like “monster” or “animal.” Others will say “emotionally disturbed” or “radicalized.”
Our culture can’t summon the nerve to use the word “demonic.” People who cannot identify the work of Satan find themselves at an intellectual impasse. How can a human commit these monstrous acts?
Our Puritan forefathers had a helpful category for these kinds of things: They called them evil.
They called them the work of Satan. Humans under the influence of the one who comes only to kill, steal, and destroy will become murderers, thieves, and rioters.
Secondly, people are concerned — rightly so — that the right is going to terrorize the left to exact revenge. This must not happen.
God’s word commands, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” A Christian who takes vengeance is a trespasser and thief, taking what belongs to God.
But then God delegates his authority and his wrath to the government which bears the responsibility to carry out the wrath of God.
An important part of the reason I pay my taxes every April is for the government to terrorize evil-doers and do what individuals are not permitted to do.
Romans 13
3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval,
4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.
5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.
6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing.
I shared these thoughts this morning with a group of pastor friends around the country. One asked, “What’s the application?”
- God’s people should prepare to objectify right and wrong as good and evil. There is an old war between God and Satan for the praise and participation of mankind, the pinnacle of God’s creation. You may not be interested in this war, but this war is interested in you. The workers of evil are not simply doing subjectively wrong things; they are objectively on the wrong side.
- We’re going to have to develop political will to do what is good. We bear no shame when politics and governance execute goodness and righteousness, even partially or imperfectly. We must not be embarrassed when it happens through one party over another. For too long, those who see the difference between good and evil have been bullied by the blind.
- I’m at a loss for words here, but we need better language than “mental health issues.” Some folks are straight-up demon-possessed.
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