My heart is breaking for those 50 men and women who lost their lives.
My heart is bruised for those 53 people who were injured and are now having to deal with aftershocks of being attacked.
My heart is crushed for those families who will never see their loved ones again.
My heart is weeping for the family who's son took his own life.
My heart is aching for that man who was so blinded by hate and misguided beliefs that he decided to snuff out both the lives of 50 people and his own.
I know some of you are saying things right now like "How can you hurt for a wicked man like that? We shouldn't be hurting for him! We should be hunting down and destroying everyone like him!"
We start pointing fingers, "It's ISIS's fault. It's the anti-gun control groups fault! It's the gun lovers fault! It's all the Muslim immigrants fault!"
And on and on it goes. As soon as there's a tragedy like this we jump on our political band wagons and start screaming at each that it's the Political Right's/Left's fault this happened.
But we ignore the hurting. We ignore the people who are literally bleeding out in front of us.
How dare we.
There's a time and place to discuss and fix our problems, but not now.
Now is the time to tend to the wounded, to weep with the hurting, and love the unlovable.
You wouldn't scream at a wounded soldier "You know if you had just avoided that sniper, you wouldn't have a blown out shoulder right now! You should have ducked! This is why you need to take proper evasive measures!!"
You would do whatever you could to get stop their bleeding, and get them ready for surgery. You would see to their immediate needs first and foremost.
Don't think for a second that I don't believe that we shouldn't seek justice for people who were killed or injured. We absolutely need to pursue justice for them, but it shouldn't come at the price of persecuting a particular people group.
Over generalization of certain population group is an extremely slippery slope, and can quickly turn into something as evil as the atrocity that happened in Orlando.
I was reading a friend's Facebook post she had shared regarding something along these lines, and someone couldn't help commenting "Doesn't God tell us to hate evil? You can't tell me I have to love the people who are trying to destroy Western Civilization! I won't do it!"
Well, angry Facebook troll whom I'm assuming identifies as a Christian, you're only partly right. God does tell us to hate evil, but I think you're forgetting the rest of that verse.
"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil. Cling to what is good." Romans 12:9 (NIV)
Here's the same verse in the New Living Version which I like even better:
"Be sure your love is true love. Hate what is sinful. Hold on to whatever is good." - Romans 12:9
(NLV)
We can hate the evil deed that that man carried out in Orlando, but we cannot hate the man himself, because that would be evil too.
Why?
Because Christ says in Matthew 5:21 that to hate someone is to commit murder. Guess what? Murder is a sin. So that makes hating another person a sin too. Sin is evil, and we are to hate it. Understand where I'm going?
The second part of that verse says to hold on what is good, and what is good?
Well friends, not only is it one of the Fruits of the Spirits, but something that all Christ followers should be exhibiting (see Galations 6:10) along with love.
Are we doing that? Am I doing that? Am I doing what is good? Am I loving all people?
God doesn't let us pick and choose who we get to love, who we can show goodness to. We don't get to love just the people who we like. We don't get to just love those people who have our same beliefs. We don't get to love those who think like us. We don't get to help just the people we think are worth it.
In fact, Christ goes even farther and tell us to:
"But I tell you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you." Matthew 5:44
Love your enemies...
Whoa.
We have to remember that the majority of Muslims are not our enemy, and hate ISIS and terror cells like them just as much as we do. After all ISIS and the like are going after them much more than they are us.
Do I think that we need to do something about ISIS? Absolutely.
But remember, even though we consider ISIS our enemy, we still have to love the people who are part of it.
We can't forget that the people in these terror cells are still people, and Christ loves them just as much as He does you or I.
Don't forget that these people are carrying out their terror because they are being deceived by the Master and Father of all lies.
And what does God want to do to deceived people? He wants set them free. After all He set you and I free, and in His eyes our sins are no different than theirs.
How can we do anything, but want the same?
Remember.
Now is the time to come alongside the hurting and doing what we can to help them. Offer a hug, and a shoulder to cry on. Pray with them. Love them unconditionally, no matter their beliefs or ethnicity or religion, because that's Christ does.
Remember.
Now is the time to hate the evil that was committed, but to love the lost soul that committed it.
Remember.
Now is the time to cling to what is good.
