Yesterday (April 17) the normal activities of over a million people in Colorado were brought to a halt by the supposed threat of a potential “Columbine” atrocity near its twentieth anniversary. Media reports raised the panicked alarm that a young woman, who her friends said was obsessed with the history of the Columbine killers, had come from Florida to Colorado to act out her obsession. She had bought a pump-action shot gun and was possibly intent on doing harm at some high school in Colorado.
Supposedly, after she was tracked through Denver International Airport to a place where she was able to buy the shot gun, she disappeared. Because nobody knew exactly where she was, she was suddenly, in everyone’s imagination, right around the corner intent on killing. Every school district along the Front Range shut down. Even a goodly number of small businesses closed for the day.
When the day was over, we learned that the panic had been caused by one anorexic, mentally depressed teenager, whose real obsession was to see snow. Remember, she came from Florida. She also had a death wish, but it was for herself, not for others. She went up into the foothills far enough to be in a snowy area, and killed herself. This is a very sad story.
But to me, it is not the saddest part of the story. God uses many human circumstances to reveal the flaws and sins in the hearts of His people, and He used one troubled young woman yesterday to reveal irrational fear in the hearts of Christian parents.
The school in which I teach meets in a downtown Greeley church building. It looks entirely like the small program it houses. On April 17, a handful of students were scheduled to take make-up tests and do academic evaluations. The ratio of staff to students in the building was nearly one-to-one. But some questioned the decision not to shut down entirely for the day; some thought we needed to be in “lock down” mode. What if the supposed shooter decided to attack a church in Greeley, rather than a large high school in suburban Denver?
Protecting against that possibility is like protecting yourself against being struck by lightning from a clear blue sky. If we rationally analyze probabilities, which is part of Biblical “prudence,” we would have to realize that the physical life and well-being of our loved ones is exponentially more at risk from automobile accidents on the way to the grocery store, and even more at risk from eating tainted veggies from that very same grocery store, than from a lone random act of physical violence.
The radio talk people this morning were all asking, “How could this happen? How did one troubled teenager shut down a million people?” My bigger question is, how did she shut down people of “faith”?
At some point there needs to be at least an intersection between what we say we believe (orthodoxy) and what we practice (orthopraxy). Proverbs 22:3 says, “The prudent sees the evil and hides himself…” One could answer my question by saying, “We were being prudent; we hid ourselves.” But prudence also demands that we “see” the evil. It should be clear and imminent.
Many years ago, our neighborhood was alerted to a crazed man wandering through the neighborhood shouting threats. We were told by reverse 911 to shelter in place. Looking out of our front window, we actually saw the man and later saw the police apprehending him. We exercised prudence in not going outdoors to watch the excitement. He was a clear and imminent danger. The decision to shut down the schools of half a million children because of one girl with a shotgun was more like a woman I know who didn’t want to come to Colorado because she had heard there was a “freeway” shooter on the loose in the state, and she was sure she would die if she came here for a family reunion.
Think about it. A young lady carrying a pump-action rifle is a strange and obvious sight. Such a person could not have gotten close to any public building without notice. Anyone who saw such a person would have good reason to hide and alert the authorities. But when we allow our fear of some invisible and improbable danger to paralyze our God-given responsibilities and activities, we are not being prudent: we are demonstrating a lack of faith in the sovereignty and power of God.
Look at another verse from Proverbs that describes the paralysis that can come from irrational fear. “The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road! A lion is in the open square!” (Prov. 26:13) The person in view here is making an excuse because he doesn’t want to be responsible for his inactivity. He is motivated by laziness as well as fear. It doesn’t really matter what the core motivation is, however. There is no lion in the street, but his alarm gives an air of respectability, and even wisdom, to his paralysis.
Another sadness for me is that many parents will go to extreme measures to protect their children from some highly improbable physical peril, but will actually encourage their children to do more risky things, like extreme sports such as parkour or skateboard skeleton, that could harm life and limb, preventing future service for Jesus. Then take it to the next level– what about the imminent danger to the spirit of wrong companions, imbibing false philosophies in free public school programs, idolizing pop musicians and immoral sports heros, excessive video gaming, and unsupervised use of the internet? Do we really believe that spiritual death is worse than physical death? Then why don’t we take measures against the things that threaten vibrant spiritual life?
We should take the words of Jesus to heart. We need to “do” them, not just “hear” them.
26 “Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 27 “What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops. 28 “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 “So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows. Matthew 10:26-31
We need to live in the reality that our times are in God’s hands.
14 But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord,
I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in Your hand;
Deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me.
16 Make Your face to shine upon Your servant;
Save me in Your lovingkindness. Psalm 31:14-16
As the politicos say, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” As Christians, we can use each crisis to test us, to bring the scum to the top, and then remove it from our lives. He is willing to deliver us from our fear itself– not just the things that caused the fear in the first place. Then we can be like Sarah, who was commended because she was not frightened by fear. (1 Pet. 3:6)
4 I sought the Lord, and He answered me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
5 They looked to Him and were radiant,
And their faces will never be ashamed.
6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
And saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him,
And rescues them. Psalm 34:4-7
