Divided We Fall—The Orlando Massacre

Nearly 300 people were gunned down at the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890. I’ve visited this place a couple of times while on Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota with our ministry partner there. That place and people have never been the same.

Now, another massacre has taken place in Orlando, and I fear it won’t be the last. I also fear our country will never be the same.

It has been really depressing watching and listening to the way Americans have behaved through personal and public media outlets following the deadly shooting at the nightclub. Instead of first and foremost grieving for the lives lost, we have seen polarization and picking sides.

Was it terrorism? Yes. Was it a hate crime? Yes. Who should be blamed the most? The shooter? What about the NRA, ISIS, the President, Congress, or homosexuals? I find it disheartening that everyone is rushing to talk about the “why” while showing very little respect for the victims and their families in the immediate aftermath.

There will be plenty of time for debate. Doing it now seems insensitive. If we spent half as much time praying for and helping the affected families as we did pointing the finger and hating on those whom we believe are to blame, maybe the situation would be a little more bearable for the mourners.

I am an evangelical Christian who believes in the inerrancy of Scripture, which means I believe the Bible says homosexuality (among many other sins) is wrong. But let me make this clear: No Christian in their right mind would want harm to come to anyone. Christians are not called to hate. We are called to love everyone. Further, we are called to mourn with those who mourn.

This event is a horrible tragedy. The victims are our fellow countrymen and women. They are humans in need of a Savior, just like me. What happened can’t be reversed. What should be a unifying moment is instead only revealing the growing and deeply rooted division that will eventually lead to the death of America as we know it.

Another piece of America seems to have died this weekend. The country seems so broken that I’m afraid we’re facing an irreversible fracture without a miraculous revival. My non-Christian friends would disagree, but Jesus is and ever will be the only hope for the world, especially for America and especially right now. My prayer is that those who mourn would turn to Him and be comforted, and that the Body of Christ in the Orlando area and beyond would flood the affected families both with prayers and acts of loving-kindness.