Speaking of the Unspeakable

July 20, 2012 is one of those days when evil rears its ugly head and we are left speechless. The suspect, James Egan Homes, walked into the midnight premiere of the Dark Knight Rises at a theater in Aurora, Colorado, and begins a shooting spree. 12 killed 58 wounded. It is unspeakable to even describe. We can invent words to describe great injustices and tragedies, like “genocide,” but they never really come close to the intenseness of the experience.

Aurora is not the first place. Great evils occurred elsewhere, such as Auschwitz, the Cambodian “Killing Fields,” Rwanda, Columbine, the 9/11 attacks in New York, just to name some. History is littered with these kinds of events.

How do we come to grips with the kind of evil that happened in Aurora?

The aftermath of such acts of evil leave us with questions. Did friends/acquaintances see any signs that he would do such a thing? Is the problem physical a brain malfunction? Was the person in the right state of mind at that time? Who brings a baby to a midnight movie? Can this political lobby group use the incident to foster their cause? Will answering these questions help us come to grips with this great evil?

Evil reminds us that something is not right in this world. We can imagine what the world ought to be like, but this is the way it is. There is this lingering evil that we experience, either as the victim or the victimizer. Evil rears its head in many different ways on account of the fact that we are in a sinful and fallen world. God created man in His image, both male and female. Man sinned and fell away from God. Evil, suffering, and death are the results of the fall.

In spite of all this, God still enters into this world to redeem it from its curse. Christ died upon the cross for sinners, and He rose again that whosoever believes would not perish but have everlasting life.

Evil also forces our resolve. It leaves no room for fence sitters. As fire removes dross from metal, suffering unveils a person’s character. Like fire to clay, it can set the shape of one’s heart. Two people enter into the fire of adversity, both are radically change, yet never in the same way. Some can become callous, bitter, and cynical about life. Curse the very day of their birth. Others shine forth like diamonds and inspire others to press on through their tribulation. For the justified, tribulation produces perserverence, perserverence character, and character, hope.

I believe the reason a person endures the sufferings of this world is hope. It is the hope that this world is passing away, and a new one is coming. It is a hope that one day Christ will return. That one day there shall be a final reckoning of things, the righteous will be raised to eternal life, and the unrighteous will be raised to everlasting punishment. It is hope in a new heaven and a new earth where indwells righteousness.