On May 24, 2022, nineteen students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, were fatally shot by a deranged youthful gunman [1]. Such incidents of mass violence are becoming so commonplace that the biggest temptation for many is to grow accustomed to the slaughter and perhaps accept it as the “new normal” in American life.
Though this tragedy is nearly two months old, additional information about the conduct of those responsible for public safety in the affected community has kept the eyes of the world on those still reeling from the horror and convulsed with its pain. Hurtful as it is to focus on such heart-sickening events, we nevertheless do well to pause and assess the lessons to be learned, especially for those attuned to the signs of the times.
Lesson No. 1: Genuine evil is very much a reality in this sin-cursed world. From a troubled background rife with abuse inflicted on people as well as animals [2], it might be easy to blame the shooter’s circumstances and upbringing for his eventual fate. Others may indeed bear responsibility for negative influences on the character of this young man. But as the modern prophet has written, “However great the pressure brought to bear upon the soul, transgression is our own act” [3]. The record indicates the shooter made a number of very evil choices, ultimately leading him to murder nineteen schoolchildren and two of their teachers, none of whom had done him any wrong.
Sin is a terrible thing regardless of the motive, but when destructive conduct touches those so obviously innocent, the result of the eating of the forbidden tree in Eden is felt most acutely.
Lesson No. 2. Loners and outcasts remain the responsibility of Jesus’ followers. The Uvalde shooter, like so many who shock the world with grisly crimes, appears to have suffered bullying as a child for certain personality traits, and seems to have had few friends [4]. It isn’t easy reaching out to such persons, especially in our culture where we tend to give others space and prefer to ignore rather than include those who appear strange and weird to us. Yet all men and women, young and old, normal and marginal, are the purchase of our Savior’s blood. Those who profess the name of the Lord should be out front in finding ways to address the hurts and slights that so often produce the social isolation that can breed horrific actions. It may be difficult, but those who are cast out are listed in the Bible as the special focus of those seeking to rebuke and remedy the sins of humanity, in particular those of a social nature (Isa. 58:7).
Lesson No. 3: Selfless service includes strangers, and may require the ultimate sacrifice. Perhaps the earliest social injunction in the Sacred Pages is the clear implication in God’s dialogue with Cain that we are in fact our brother’s keeper (Gen. 4:9). Those in law enforcement have a most notable responsibility in this respect, as circumstances may well arise which require them to give their lives for members of the community they are sworn to protect and serve. The failure of some in this line to do their duty during the Uvalde incident has evoked major outrage from the local community and many beyond [5].
Jesus predicted that in the last days, “because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold” (Matt. 24:12). The more self-focused our lives become, the less inclined we become to sacrifice for the sake of others. We may speculate as to why so many law officers in Uvalde failed to rush to the rescue of the schoolchildren, even if necessary taking bullets for them, but in a world of self-centeredness and “looking out for number one,” it isn’t difficult to imagine that even those with a special duty to guard society can lose their sense of responsibility.
Those who bear the Lord’s name would do well to consider the implications of this event for their own accountability on behalf of others. Most of us won’t likely be called upon to risk our physical lives to save someone. But what about those occasions when the Word of God and its teachings are under attack, even inside the church? How many of us choose to keep quiet in a Sabbath School or religion class when teachers or others raise doubts about the teachings of the Bible, or to reduce the authority of the writings of the Spirit of Prophecy? Are we willing to speak up boldly but kindly in defense of the truth when such moments arise? Or do we, like the guests at Herod’s feast who refused to speak up for John the Baptist [6], hold our peace for fear of embarrassment or a desire to keep our friends?
Lesson No. 4: “As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man” (Luke 17:26). Jesus predicted that the days just prior to His second coming will mirror those days just before the destruction of the earth by flood in the days of Noah. The Bible tells us that in the days of Noah, “the earth was filled with violence” (Gen. 6:11). Commenting on this verse, Ellen White compares the conditions in Noah’s world to those that will exist in the world before Jesus comes:
The land was filled with violence. War, crime, murder, was the order of the day. Just so it will be before Christ’s second coming [7]
So far this year (2022), as of July 22, there have been 337 mass shootings in the United States [8], with 387 dead and 1,405 wounded [9]. It isn’t difficult to see how powerfully, how painfully, these prophecies are being fulfilled.
May the Lord give us that rightful blend of compassion and courage as we seek to warn the world of the final crisis and to nurse the wounds, visible and otherwise, of the multiplied millions around us afflicted with physical, emotional, and spiritual suffering.
REFERENCES
1. “Robb Elementary School shooting,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robb_Elementary_School_shooting
2. Ibid.
3. Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 421.
4. “Robb Elementary School shooting,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robb_Elementary_School_shooting
5. Ibid.
6. White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 221-222.
7. ----SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 1, p. 1090.
8. “Mass shootings in the United States” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_shootings_in_the_United_States
9. Ibid.
Pastor Kevin Paulson holds a Bachelor’s degree in theology from Pacific Union College, a Master of Arts in systematic theology from Loma Linda University, and a Master of Divinity from the SDA Theological Seminary at Andrews University. He served the Greater New York Conference of Seventh-day Adventists for ten years as a Bible instructor, evangelist, and local pastor. He writes regularly for Liberty magazine and does script writing for various evangelistic ministries within the denomination. He continues to hold evangelistic and revival meetings throughout the North American Division and beyond, and is a sought-after seminar speaker relative to current issues in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He presently resides in Berrien Springs, Michigan