Life As an Afterschool Special

You know I’ve seen a lot of what the world can do
And it’s breakin’ my heart in two
Because I never wanna see you a sad girl
Don’t be a bad girl
But if you wanna leave, take good care
I hope you make a lot of nice friends out there
But just remember there’s a lot of bad and beware

Oh, baby, baby, it’s a wild world
It’s hard to get by just upon a smile
Oh, baby, baby, it’s a wild world
I’ll always remember you like a child, girl

Cat Stevens Wild World

I sat on the bus this morning with tears streaming down my eyes. I was reading the Star Tribune, and the front page stories were heartbreaking.

In local news two men were killed execution style late night in a normally quiet neighborhood in the cities. They were robbed, force to kneel in an alley, and then shot execution style in head. The three suspects in the killings are a 15-year-old boy, his 17-year-old girlfriend, and their 19 friend. There was no motive for the murders other than the desire to kill.

Making national news were videos made by Cho Seung Hui, the man who killed over 30 people at Virginia Tech this week in the nations deadliest single man killing spree. The videos, along with pictures of Hui posing with guns, were sent to NBC news the day of the murders.

The package included 29 photographs, several short videos and a 1,800-word manifesto in which Cho expresses a desire to get even, though it does not say with whom, according to the NBC News program. In the videos Hui painted himself as a moralist who decried his audience’s hedonistic tastes. It brimmed with recriminations and a sense of persecution, and referred to the killers at Columbine High School in Colorado as martyrs.

“You had a hundred billion chances and ways to avoid today, but you decided to spill my blood,” Cho said in one of the videos. “You forced me into a corner and gave me only one option… You have vandalized my heart, raped my soul and torched my conscience. Thanks to you, I die like Jesus Christ to inspire generations of the weak and the defenseless people.”

Along with the articles were pictures and descriptions of some of Hui’s victims. They were daughters and sons, fathers, brothers and sisters. They had hopes and dreams and goals. They looked forward to a future. They were loved. They were real.

The contrast between the hope of young college students and professors and the despair and hate of Hui and the people involved with yesterdays local shootings took my breath away. It brought tears to my eyes and I felt angry and sad. And I wanted to know why.

What is happening to the world we live in? How did people become so hardened, so cruel, so hate filled? How did we become a society who glorifies death and killing and pain and hate? And where do we go from here?

I think the answer, ironically, lies in some of Cho Seung Hui’s last words. In his last video Hui states “I die like Jesus Christ to inspire generations of the weak and the defenseless people.”

As a Christian, this statement made me angry. Hui is nothing like Jesus, and his death is selfish and cowardly.

Jesus died for us, for our sin and our mistakes. He went to death not as a guilty man, but as a blameless man who received our punishment. Bu it’s easy to look at men like Hui and compare ourselves.

We begin to think in comparison that we really aren’t that terrible. We don’t need a savior. We haven’t killed anyone; we aren’t so hateful and evil. But God says that if you have hate in your heart it is the same as killing. And how often, even in little ways, do we hate and lie and steal and cheat and hurt others with our selfishness?

The truth is killings and death and pain will continue to happen because we are a wicked and fallen generation. We are lost. And we know that any moment our time may be up. No one is guaranteed tomorrow. We are not immortal, and no matter how people one may kill or how many headlines scream our name today, tomorrow we will be a distant memory, or forgotten all together.

There isn’t hope in this world. There isn’t peace in the world. And the truth is, it is a wild world, and there a lot of bad people out there.

But even as I sit and cry and for the lost and the hurting and the broken I have hope. I have peace. Because I know that this life is passing, but when I put my hope in Jesus Christ I can see there is something bigger and better then this crazy wild world we call home.

If you don’t know the peace and hope I am talking about, if you don’t know Jesus, I just encourage you to seek him. Seek him and ask questions and demand answers. Feel free to email me or comment and I will answer as best as I can. But seek him and he will be found. Seek him now before it is too late.