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Stop the Madness

...preventing future school shootings

The worst school shooting since the Columbine massacre unfolded this Spring in a remote reservation in Red Lake, Minnesota. By now you've heard all of the horrific details. A disenfranchised seventeen year old boy shoots two of his grandparents and then walks into his high school with guns blazing. In total this teen killed 9 people and wounded 13 others before taking his own life.

Why?

There were many of the same external issues that we saw in the Columbine case. An oft-made-fun-of-teen who wore black, thought of himself as the angel of death, had been showing signs of potential violence. School officials were afraid he would try something soon and their worst fears came true on Monday afternoon.

This young man had lost his father to suicide four years ago and his mom was in a nursing home due to brain injuries after a bad car wreck she barely survived. Only God knows the strain and pain that racked his soul before he went on his violent, selfish rampage.

The anger, disillusionment and despair exploded like a volcano on Monday afternoon when he destroyed, not just lives, but the psyche of this peaceful community. The school of 300 students will never be the same, forever scared and marred by this heinous act of evil.

There is an angry young man at a public school near you right now thinking about doing the same thing, maybe even at the school your teen attends. What can you do about it? How can you prevent a massacre in your neighborhood?

Some say that we should lobby for more security. But the school in Red Lake had a security guard who was shot dead by this teenager. And, let's be honest, most schools can't afford to provide the level of security that would truly prevent a teen intent on the destruction of his fellow classmates.

What about moral education? In the typical public school this centers around situational ethics, not timeless Biblical principles. When we keep God out of education we keep true morals out as well. In its stead teens are told that they are the random result of accidental evolution. Human goodness is ultimately a sophisticated form of animal ethics and mammal morals. "Survival of the fittest" in the evolutionary world means the strong survive and the weak die. With a couple of guns at his side he was now the strongest and the fittest. And the weakest were about to die.

Thoreau said, "For every thousand hacking at the leaves of evil, one is hacking at the root." Increased school security, moral education and governmental intervention, at best, are hacking at the leaves of evil. So what can we do as Christians to hack at the root?

  1. We become lighthouses to our communities!

    What if that teenager was living next door to you and you knew that he lost his dad to suicide and his mom was in a nursing home? Could you look past the black clothes and scary externals into his pain-stained soul? Would you reach out to invite this teen over to dinner or out with your family to show him the love of Christ?

    Sound dangerous? Its dangerous not to!

  2. We equip our teenagers to reach outside their comfort zones!

    There are innate school cafeteria boundaries that most teens never cross. Jocks sit with jocks, cheerleaders with cheerleaders, band members with band members and losers with losers (or all by themselves). We must equip our teenagers to reach out across their comfort zones and share the gospel of Jesus Christ on their campuses.

We must give them the eyes of Jesus.

They need to see the students on their campus with the eyes of Christ. How did Jesus see? Matthew 9:36 tells us, "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." That word compassion means "to suffer with." In other words Jesus empathized with the crowds of hurting people who were following him. He felt their deepest hurts. We must help our teens to do the same.

We must give them the hands of Jesus.

After Christ saw their pain he met their needs. He fed them, healed them, taught them and loved them. Our teens must be equipped to do what Jesus did. They must engage these hurting teens on their campuses, listen to them, love them and share the gospel with them.

Paul told the Roman believers, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes..." That word power means explosive power that transforms the soul. Only the gospel of Christ can pull the root of evil that dwells in the hearts of men and boys.

Are you equipping your teen to reach out to the "losers" on their campus? Do it. Do it now. Their lives may depend on it.

Greg Stier is the founder and president of Dare 2 Share Ministries International based in Denver, Colorado. Dare 2 Share is now partnering with Focus on the Family in effectively training teens to share their faith with the friends, classmates and families.