Jump Start # 1652

Genesis 6:11 “Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence.”

  Our verse today is very old. It describes the conditions before the flood. It gives reasons for God’s disappointment with mankind. Before this we find, “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (v. 5). These sobering statements makes a person wonder what God thinks about our times.

• Shootings in a French church
• Shootings in a Florida night club
• Stabbings in Japan
• Shootings in Germany

All this was in the past few days. It is to the point that nearly every day there is violence. It would be nice to go one whole week without a newsbreak about a mass killing somewhere.

Why is there so much violence? Some say guns, but that’s not the right answer. The killer in Nice, France drove a truck that killed 84 people. The Boston Marathon killers used home made bombs. The 9-11 assassins used airplanes. Some say that the killings are fueled by an extremist religion. The cops killed in Dallas were not killed by a Muslim.

There seems to be another thread that runs through all of this violence.

First, there is a hatred for other people. Most of the people killed were innocent. Most never knew or met their killer. So it isn’t personal. It’s a hatred for a race, a religion, a nationality, a lifestyle, a freedom. People don’t know what to do with their hatred. This is the first step in the downward spiral of violence. They hate others. It may be that they never have gotten the opportunities of others. It may be that they are jealous. It may be that they have been neglected. Hatred is a poison. It changes a person. It distorts things and like a drug, they can’t think straight.

Don’t hate others—that’s easy to say. What about your child who gets bullied at school? What about everyone around you getting scholarships to college and your family has to foot the entire bill? Hatred builds out of frustration and anger. Dealing with this begins at home. Kids hearing their parents rant and rave about things only gives them permission to do the same in their own world. Hatred must be turned.

Second, there is a loss for the reverence of life. Life is not seen to be precious. Hatred builds until it explodes. Not knowing what to do, not having any moral compass in their lives, the decision is made to take the lives of others. Why hurt people you don’t know? There is no decency nor respect for life. Fingers may be pointed to viewing hours of violence in video games and movies, but the thousands that do that have not gone out and killed others. There is more to it than just being fed a steady diet of violence. Behind all of this is the loss of what life is. It is precious. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. It doesn’t come back in this world. Uncaring and unloving, hatred can take a person down the road to murder.

Third, there is no God in their lives. This is the greatest factor of all. We are not talking about just going to church at Easter, but rather, someone who walks daily with the Lord. A person who considers things and measures things by God’s word before they become actions. Words that are filtered by God. Thoughts and attitudes that are shaped by God. Hearts that have experienced grace and forgiveness and now extend those to others. The lack of Christ in our world is what is truly missing. I was watching a highlight of a recent Indy car race. The driver spun and hit the wall. Moments before he hit, he took his hands off the steering wheel and crossed his arms over his chest to protect himself. Those final few seconds, the car was completely out of control. The car was not being steered. The driver was along for the ride. This illustrates where so many hearts are today. Without Christ, no one is at the steering wheel. The person is going along for a ride. His emotions, his moods, his reactions are all over the place. He is not in control. He might explode in anger. He might walk out mad. He might say things that are not appropriate. God has a way of governing us. We need that. We see what the world looks like without God at the helm. Anger. Hatred. Violence. Those are the common components of a life without Christ.

The prophet Habakkuk cried to God about the violence in his days. He wanted to know what God wasn’t doing anything. The Lord replied. He said, “You wouldn’t believe it if you were told.” God was doing things. He was bringing the powerful and mean Babylonians up to punish the wickedness among His own people. It’s easy for us to declare, “Why won’t God do something.” He probably is. We just can’t see it yet. We may not like what He is doing, but He is in control.

A week without violence would be lovely. That is something we can only wish for and pray about. What we can do is have a week without anger, hatred and out of control thoughts and words in our own hearts. Walking with Jesus is the answer.

O’ to be like Thee, blessed Redeemer…

Roger