What will it take for us to Change?

What Will It Take for Us to Change??

Devotion by Pastor Richard

This morning my mind and heart are filled with so many emotions and thoughts about shooting at Robb Elementary yesterday. To be honest, I am struggling to figure out what God wants to say to me and through me in relation to yesterday’s inexcusable tragedy. So, to be clear the following thoughts are my personal thoughts and feelings coming out of my relationship with Christ and what I believe God is about. Some of you may not agree with some of this, but that is okay, God’s love is bigger than any difference of opinion.

I could talk about the issue of gun control or lack thereof. I could talk about the issue of lack of mental health care, especially for those most vulnerable. I could talk about our children and youth who are now being tagged as the generation living in fear. Can you imagine? Being the generation known as the fearful ones? They fear out of control politics and government, worldwide instability, rampant climate change, incredible family and community instability, then you throw on a pandemic that took a million American lives on top of everything. Plus, on top of all that, they have instant access to every horrible event at the tips of their fingers, or at the command of their voice. Can you blame them for being a little afraid?

Nope, I am feeling the need to talk about responsibility. We are at times, the most irresponsible collection of people. We allow senseless tragedies to happen and instead of trying to do something to prevent the next one. We just sit back and wait for the next one to happen. Then we wonder why and we point fingers at everyone else and blame them for some kind of failure, real or imagined. This happens over and over again. Very few step up and actually say that something must change.

What must change is that we all must take responsibility for ourselves and for those around us. I work with children and teens, and it is a never-ending battle to get them to pick up a piece of trash someone else left behind. Their answer is always, “that’s not mine!” or “I didn’t do, so why should I be held responsible?” After thirty years of hearing those responses, they do not hold weight with me anymore. Same thing applies to our day to life and culture. My response to my youth these days is, “yes, it IS your responsibility, you live here too do you not?” Guess what? I am beginning to see change in their behavior. Small changes, but I see them becoming more responsible for themselves and even becoming more responsible for one another by holding their peers accountable for their actions.

Jesus calls us to action. He tells us directly and without any hidden meaning that we are to do two things, love God and love our neighbors. When we as a collective do not move, then we are not living into what Christ intends us to become. When we try to find blame somewhere else we are not living into our God given potential. When we remain complacent and fail to fight for justice and fail to fight for our own children, and prefer to sit back and blame the government, or the video games, or the weapons manufacturing, or the lack of mental healthcare, or even the lack of plain and simple caring for our neighbor, then we must head back and spend time at the foot of the cross once again where His blood can wash away our sins, again.

Pastor Richard