Shooting at FSU: What Are We to Make of "A Close Call?"

This morning a gunman shot three people at FSU's Strozier library. A place that was one of peace and studying has now been stained by violence. Thankfully, as far as I know at this point, all of these individuals will survive. This has not been the case with other shootings in the US or with attacks in other parts of the globe. Even though the FSU shooting could have been worse, its "close to home" aspect has no doubt shaken many in our community (as it should).

How are we to think about this event?

We Live in a Dangerous World

First, we should recognize that Christianity gives us the proper worldview to interpret this world. We live in a dangerous world, and it is one which seems to get more dangerous by the minute. 

Why is this? It is because we live in a world that is in rebellion against the Creator. As Romans 1 says, men and women suppress the truth in unrighteousness and from that flows all sorts of sin including murder (and attempted murder). While the media asks the why questions and people speculate on the reasons, we know that, while each individual's reasons for such violence may differ, it is all a symptom of the fact that we live in a world that is in rebellion against God.

What Are We to Do About it?

Second, we should recognize that Christianity tells us what we should do knowing that we live in a dangerous world. In Jesus day, a tower fell on some individuals killing them. About the same time, a ruler of the day had many Jews slaughtered. Why did this happen to them? Were they worse sinners than others? Well, they were sinners (we all are), but we do not know why a tower falls on that sinner and not me or you. If the tower fell on me I could not complain against God for I deserve nothing but his just wrath against my sin. So, how should we process the bad things that happen to those around us? How should we think about a close call? Jesus said that we should repent (Luke 13:2-5).

A close call is a reminder to us that death is coming for us all, and we must be right with our Maker. We must repent or turn away from our rejection of God and the disobedience to God's law and turn to Jesus as our only hope of forgiveness and salvation. He lived the life of obedience to God that we should have. He died on the cross to take the punishment sinners deserve. He was buried, but rose again having conquered sin and death for all who will trust in him. He is the only way to God (John 14:6). We will all die one day whether it is at the hands of a gunman, behind the wheel of a car, or quietly in our sleep. A close call is a call to repentance.

For those of us who have repented, we are to go about our daily lives knowing that physical death is a reality for us too but that it does not have the final word. God has not guaranteed us a life of ease. We still live in a sin cursed world, but we are not as those who have no hope. We have a Savior who has defeated the power of sin - eternal death. This frees us to serve God without fear for all the days of life he gives us knowing that when we die we will be in the presence of the Lord (Phil. 1:21-24).  

Let's carry on, not because it is the only thing we can do, but because Jesus is our hope. This is not a "keep calm and carry on" slogan.  Keeping calm makes no sense if you still have to fear death and God's judgment. But as those who know we serve a living Savior who has removed the sting of death, we have an imperishable hope. Let's live as those who have real hope, and let's call others to repentance so that they might have this hope too.