I originally posted this blog piece on November 27, 2022 through social media. At that time, my blog was down. I continue to work on my blog to restore it to full functionality. I believe there are still software and hacking issues. Sadly, this post is timely again after another rampage in California:
Poor Virginia! My heart aches for the Commonwealth I called home for most of my life, after two multiple murder rampages, and a senseless shooting in a Lynchburg restaurant between the two. But it’s not just Virginia. There was killing in a nightclub in Colorado and slaughter in a college town in Idaho. In an underreported update, fifty-five police officers have been shot and killed in 2022, as of October 31, according to the Fraternal Order of Police. Thanksgiving was upon us but impacted families and communities faced shock and grief.
Questions race through our minds. Who does this? Why is this happening? Answers don’t come easily but one factor stands out to me: our familiarity, even glamorization, of gunfire and violence in this culture. How can something to be played, a game, be called “Death Race” or “Bulletstorm?” Why is there a music group named “The Killers?” Songs and music videos, especially Rap and Heavy Metal, glorify all types of violent behavior. Movies, videos, and apps like Tic Toc stream disturbing, vulgar, and bully-inducing material that young children can access. I’ve noticed that even if you go to a cleaner movie in the theater, you will be subjected to violent and sexual content in the previews: the stuff you and your families wanted to avoid!
On the flip side, how many families regularly gather for togetherness and screen-free dinner hours or game night (the safe kind, for fun!)? Do young adults enjoy outdoor adventure and healthy indoor interaction over late hours at a bar or beer bash? Most importantly, who is in church on Sunday morning enjoying worship, community and sound preaching rather than sleeping off a Saturday night of binge-watching Netflix or scrolling through social media with morning coffee? According to statistics about American church attendance, the vast majority are the latter.
Services at my church this morning beautifully combined the gratitude of the season with clear teaching from Scripture, and ended on a note of doxology and praise ushering in the Advent season with “Behold Your God … Come let us adore Him.” (Jonathan Baird, Meghan Baird, Ryan Baird, Stephen Altrogge; Sovereign Grace Worship, see YouTube link for the song below) I pray for peace in our land, but know that ultimately it only comes as we commit to peace with God through Jesus’ work on the Cross.
