Seth Udinski, FISM News
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Following the deadly Colorado shooting at a homosexual nightclub late Saturday night, President Joe Biden renewed his calls for an “assault weapons” ban across the United States in a statement yesterday.
More than 25 people were injured and five killed in the deadly midnight shooting spree at Club Q in Colorado Springs before several heroic citizens stopped the shooter, according to police reports.
The President released a statement via The White House on Sunday, in which he expressed grief over the tragedy and reiterated his administration’s support for LGBT persons. In this statement, he also renewed a popular argument in his administration and his political party, that “assault weapons” — a vague and typically undefined term — should be banned in the nation.
Biden wrote,
We must address the public health epidemic of gun violence in all of its forms. Earlier this year, I signed the most significant gun safety law in nearly three decades, in addition to taking other historic actions. But we must do more. We need to enact an assault weapons ban to get weapons of war off America’s streets.
The President also said he and the First Lady were praying for the families of the victims, as well as those who were injured.
Author’s Biblical Analysis
Christians need to be able to articulate the truth of the good news always, but especially in the wake of a tragedy such as this shooting at the bar in Colorado.
There is much we can take from this report. Certainly, we see a double tragedy at play. Any deadly shooting is horrific, but the fact that it took place at a venue that celebrates the things God hates is equally tragic.
Some may say “Well, they had it coming!” I say that response must be found nowhere among Christians. We must mourn the senseless loss of human life, regardless of the fact that those who were killed were living in open, unrepentant sin.
In some ways, it is even more tragic to consider because of the fact that the five victims, presumably homosexual, were clearly not living for Christ at the time of their death. We need to pray and hope that a miraculous deathbed conversion occurred for these five individuals, for the sake of their eternal souls.
In the midst of those theological questions, we see a vital reminder as we consider the sinful plight of man. The reminder is this — Guns are not the ultimate problem. Rebellion against God is.
I personally believe in the right to bear arms, but let us put aside the morality of the assault weapon question for a moment. The president and many others like him have sadly ignored the true problem behind this shooting, and every shooting and every murder that has come before it in human history.
The problem is not any particular type of weapon or access to guns in general, or even gun violence itself. The problem is an outright hatred of God that manifests itself in every human heart since the Fall of Man.
In our sinful state, we naturally hate God. Therefore, we also naturally hate each other. The catalyst of the Colorado shooting was not the gun that fired the shots. It was the reprehensible disregard for human life and for the commands of God that was present in heart the shooter when that person pulled the trigger.
Let us not become overly proud and haughty, however, and forget that we, like this shooter, are equally guilty before God. We have all sinned and woefully missed the mark of God’s righteousness (Romans 3:23).
Where do we turn?
As I stated above, it is in tragedies such as this, when the total depravity of the human heart is on full display in all its odiousness, that we need the truth of the gospel.
Praise God, we have a remedy for this wretched problem. We have a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who has come to make right what is wrong.
On the cross, the Lord Jesus Christ became sin for us. He made the necessary full payment for our sin. He provided the antidote to the sickness, freedom from the curse, and eternal life to those who were spiritually dead. The gift is of utmost value, and receiving it is remarkably simple — Confess with your mouth “Jesus is Lord” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9).
When we ponder horrid tragedies such as this most recent shooting, let us resolve to keep our eyes firmly fixed on our Savior, the Lord Jesus. Without Him, we would truly be hopeless.
O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! – Romans 7:24-25