I have spent this year writing about the practice of Christian evangelism. What is a Christian who hears the call of God to follow Jesus and share the Gospel to do in light of these violent shootings?
In Oak Creek, WI, yesterday (August 5), a shooter entered a Sikh temple and killed six and injured four before he was killed by police. Two weeks before that a random shooter several people in a theater in Colorado. In February of this year teenager Travon Martin was killed by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman. And how many killings aren't in the national news?
What is a Christian committed to sharing the Gospel with a lost and hurting world to do?
We are to open our arms and offer compassion, comfort, love, and prayer to all who experience such tragedy. Specifically regarding the shootings in Wisconsin, we need to love our friends who are Sikhs. I do not know a lot about that faith. There are Sikhs in North Carolina, but I do not know any personally. What I know is Jesus loves them and calls us to love them.
In another time, a more peaceful time, that love can include sharing why Jesus is so important to us. For now, with such psychological devastation and emotional pain inflicted on their community, not to mention the tragic, senseless deaths, we should reach out with compassion and love and with no judgment. As human beings and as Christ followers, we express to our Sikh neighbors in our state, in Wisconsin, and throughout America our support and our care. And we do the same for others who have had violence imposed upon them.
There times when God speaks through our words. This is a time for God to speak through our acts and hearts of love.
In Oak Creek, WI, yesterday (August 5), a shooter entered a Sikh temple and killed six and injured four before he was killed by police. Two weeks before that a random shooter several people in a theater in Colorado. In February of this year teenager Travon Martin was killed by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman. And how many killings aren't in the national news?
What is a Christian committed to sharing the Gospel with a lost and hurting world to do?
We are to open our arms and offer compassion, comfort, love, and prayer to all who experience such tragedy. Specifically regarding the shootings in Wisconsin, we need to love our friends who are Sikhs. I do not know a lot about that faith. There are Sikhs in North Carolina, but I do not know any personally. What I know is Jesus loves them and calls us to love them.
In another time, a more peaceful time, that love can include sharing why Jesus is so important to us. For now, with such psychological devastation and emotional pain inflicted on their community, not to mention the tragic, senseless deaths, we should reach out with compassion and love and with no judgment. As human beings and as Christ followers, we express to our Sikh neighbors in our state, in Wisconsin, and throughout America our support and our care. And we do the same for others who have had violence imposed upon them.
There times when God speaks through our words. This is a time for God to speak through our acts and hearts of love.
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