7/7 LIVESMATTER:

7/7 LIVESMATTER:

The terrorists attacks on that infamous day 9/11/01 claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people, and injured over 10,000 others (source).

Last night, on 7/7/16, terrorists tragically ambushed Dallas Police Department (DPD) and Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) officers from sniper positions during a peaceful downtown protest. According to recent reports, twelve officers were shot and five of them were murdered (source).

In the midst of these tragedies, and the countless others that happened before, and those that will follow, there is rightly an outpouring of support for the people, families, and communities involved.

The question we’re all left with in the midst of this tragedy - and these kinds of tragedies - is “Why the senseless violence?” In the wake of 9/11 there were the posters, candles, flowers, rallies, banners, and memorials - but the only thing that really changed long-term was tighter security for the airlines.

All the candles, flowers, and worldly sentiment amounts to absolutely nothing of eternal value. It doesn’t prevent, answer, or resolve anything. The only thing that kind of fleeting sentiment accomplishes is to give a false sense of understanding and comfort. It doesn’t bring our loved ones back. Candles, flowers, and worldly sentiment don’t provide any real answers or lasting comfort to the families of those senselessly and violently taken from us.

Some would say that times like these are NOT the time for religion, but for us all to “come together” in unity. I agree 100%. Times like these are neither a time for religion, for Political Correctness, or superficial coexistence, but instead are absolutely the right times for calling out for, and living out, authentic faith in Jesus Christ.

The fact that cities shut down, that the entire world is instantly made aware, that we can simultaneously be horrified at this tragedy - yet completely indifferent to the fact that 3,000 babies are murdered every day (the total number of deaths on 9/11 every single day!) in the United States (125,000 daily worldwide) SCREAMS of our depravity and utter hypocrisy.

Some of the same people crying out, “We need to come together,” simultaneously demand autonomy, freedom, and government subsidization for “consequence free” and “alternative” lifestyles that result in terrorist attacks against THOUSANDS of defenseless fetuses EVERY DAY. Babies with beating hearts, developing bodies, growing inside the wombs of their mothers.

We can either maintain the pseudo-bliss of ignorance and personal autonomy under the auspice of “coming together,” which has only perpetuated and expedited the steep downward spiral of our culture(s), or we can become active recipients and participants in the exclusive truth and reality of the gospel of Jesus Christ, our God of eternal Holy Trinity, God’s mission (Genesis 12:3), and Christ’s kingdom.

Blue lives matter, black lives matter, unborn lives matter, every life matters because as Genesis 1:26-27 notes, we are all made in the image (community) and likeness (altruistic) of God. Coexistence is a farce. Equality of truth claims in internally incoherent. “All roads lead to God” is contrary to what God Himself says in John 14:3: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

We’re not talking about choosing a favorite football team based on geography, team colors, or fantasy points. We’re talking about the reality of eternity. We’re talking about loving, praising, and honoring God Almighty who created us in Their image and likeness.

I agree, we all need to come together, but not in some nonsensical 1960’s, flower children, “let’s all just get along,” hippie sentiment sourced in euphoric pipe dreams, unicorns, and fairy dust. Evil is real. Humanity has an enemy, accuser, and adversary who is not defeated by incense, candles, crystals, or well-wishes. Satan, death, and sin are exclusively defeated via the incarnation of Immanuel, His Cross of Calvary, and the glorious hope of His resurrection that first Easter morning.

He’s called our Savior for a reason. He’s known as our Redeemer for a reason. So if you want to talk about “coming together” then I’m with you if you’re talking about coming together in unity as Jesus prayed to the Father in John 17:20-23:

“...I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

Every life matters to God, that’s why EVERY life should matter to us. So let’s not just “come together” in some nebulous ambiguous way, but in a real, holy, and perfect unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

In doing so let’s confidently pray prayers for the families of those fallen Dallas officers that will not simply float off adrift and impotent in an impersonal universe, but prayers to Christ that will actually be heard by God Almighty. Let’s pray impactful effective prayers that will truly heal and comfort, give life, spread truth and light, overcome evil, and wreck the very gates of Hell - in the name of Jesus.

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” -1 John 5:14

Blessings,

-Kevin M. Kelley

aMostUnlikelyDisciple.com