Hey, Cobblestone,
Can we be frank and earnest with each other for a minute?
Yes, the world has gone crazy. Yes, it’s a scary, turbulent, unruly place…
…but that’s not a new development.
The insanity predates the shootings last week in Buffalo, New
York and Irvine, California. The turbulence is older than Tuesday’s news out of
Uvalde, Texas. For each and every person who lost someone they love in those
awful events, the shock of the world’s depravity and violence must be horribly
fresh and totally overwhelming. If you haven’t prayed for all of these precious
souls yet, please stop what you’re doing and pray now. But the fact is, the
world went crazy a long time ago.
When Cain slew his brother Abel, the human race consisted of
four persons: these two brothers and their parents, Adam and Eve. Twenty-five
percent of the world’s population died at the hand of one. Is that crazy, or
what? And it’s not just the math that makes it so thoroughly insane – the very
idea of one image-bearer of God murdering another must have shocked the whole
universe. Why didn’t the North and South Poles switch places? Why didn’t the
planet begin to spin backward? Either of those events would have been less
crazy than what had just happened. And to add insult to insanity, it kept on
happening.
Cain became a murderer because he was jealous of his brother.
Each brother had brought an offering to the Lord – And the LORD had regard for Abel and his
offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was
very angry, and his face fell (Genesis 4:4-5). Cain had options at that
point; he didn’t have to become a murderer. He could’ve asked the Lord what
kind of offering was acceptable. He
could then have brought an acceptable offering. Here was a pivotal moment –
perhaps the angels held their breath. We don’t know for sure whether Cain even
considered his options; we only know what happened. In great anger and with a
fallen countenance he plotted his brother’s demise, and carried it out. The
earth became a place it had not been before.
Nearly three thousand years ago a songwriter named Asaph,
breathing in the words God breathed out, wrote, the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence
(Psalm 74:20).
No kidding. And remember: darkness ensues at precisely the
rate light ceases to shine. Dark places happen, quite literally, at the speed
of light. Ever since that awful day in a field somewhere outside of Eden, it
can truly be said that no place on our planet is exempt from the possibility of
violence. Now, the world’s population is fast approaching eight billion – as it
relates to undoing the craziness loose in the world, there are basically two
ways of engaging that figure. On the one hand, we could say there’s no way to
lasso the potential violence of that many humans. On the other hand, we could
say, “Gotta start somewhere.” If we choose the second option, the key is to
figure out where to start. I have a few suggestions. Your job, Church, is to
ask the Lord whether my suggestions are worth hearing, and if so, what your
particular part would be in rolling them out.
One is to pray for civic leaders, from council members and
trustees through presidents and prime ministers. First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions,
and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in
high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly
and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in
the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved
and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1Timothy 2:1-4). This
is the top-down method. Within this scriptural mandate, there’s a more specific
prayer I often pray: for the Holy Spirit to well up in every believer who’s
involved in government. Imagine a Spirit-led believer in a position of civic
authority – wow.
Another is to pray for gentleness within ourselves that
becomes evident to others. Let your gentleness
be evident to all; the Lord is near (Philippians 4:5, NIV’84). This is the inside-out method. Another Bible
version gives “reasonableness” for “gentleness.” Every single one of us has a
choice, just like Cain had, to bring what’s gentle and reasonable – or
conversely, what’s violent and unreasonable – into the situations and lives we
touch.
The third suggestion… Wait. This is where we have to be the
most frank and earnest with each other, Church. I want you to make a list of
every man you know who has a son under the age of about 25, and pray diligently
for those dads, that they can raise their sons to be responsible, caring adult
males – in society, in marriage, in fatherhood, and in every life role they may
find themselves in. And have you forgotten
the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly
the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the
Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”
It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons.
For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? (Hebrews 12:5-7).
This is the bottom-up method. What son is there whom his human father does not
discipline? Apparently, there are many, or else we wouldn’t be in the mess
we’re in. A male child needs somebody to jerk a knot in his tail every once in
a while. Every boy needs to be taught – and shown a constructive example – of
what to do and what not to do with his voice, his hands, his sex organ… and yes,
his trigger finger. Whether it’s gun violence, domestic violence, or a shouting
match in the workplace or on a playground, males need to be compelled, when “sin is crouching at the door” (Genesis
4:7), to turn to the Lord, and “rule
over” that sin – which is exactly what Cain did not do.
You could say to me that it’s not just men who are violent,
and you’d be correct. But if you take time to fact-check the events of the past
week-and-a-half, or the past century-and-a-half for that matter, isn’t the term
“gunman” – as distinct from “gun-woman” or “gun-person” – sickeningly accurate?
There is a special responsibility, given by divine authority, for men to curb
violence, to nip it in the bud at every level. There is a special
responsibility, given by divine authority, for dads to teach their sons to turn
in humility to the Lord our God. It started with the very first dad, who
failed, and appeared in the very first son, who had been set up for failure.
Shortly after the first man sinned, God showed up in the
Garden. (A)nd the man and his
wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the
trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said
to him, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:8-9). The Lord God called to the man.
The Hebrew for “you” is singular here, not plural. This was Adam’s chance to
say something like, “Here I am. I messed up. Please fix me.” He didn’t. In the
next generation, in the firstborn of that generation, who was a son, the same
opportunity presented itself – “sin is
crouching at the door,” (the Lord God said to Cain), “Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it” (4:7).
Would God have instructed Cain to do something impossible? Of course not. But
without a better example, he fell into his father’s pattern. Five generations
later, Cain’s direct descendant Lamech became the next murderer on record (and
for what it’s worth, the first polygamist as well). And on it goes.
As you might have guessed by now, I’m challenging you to
employ all three methods of prayer: the top-down, the inside-out, and the
bottom-up. As you might further have guessed, I’m presenting the third one as
the most urgent. Given the track record of the human race, we must be way
behind the curve in recognizing the need to pray pointedly and fervently for
dads and sons. The best benefits may be far off – years or even generations –
but the progress, when it comes, will be the most measurable.
Yes, please, let your heart ache for the families and friends
of the victims in Buffalo and Irvine and Uvalde. Let your heart ache for the
families and friends of the victims in Sandy Hook and Charleston and Denver and
Dayton. Let your prayers for them be filled with much anguish – How long, O God, is the foe to scoff?
Is the enemy to revile your name forever? Do not deliver the soul of
your dove to the wild beasts; do not forget the life of your poor forever
(Psalm 74:10, 19). Let your heart ache, also, for men who have the terrible,
awesome responsibility of raising sons. Some of them don’t even know it. Some
know it, but have no better example than Cain had. Some of them know it and
want to do their level best, but need our prayers and encouragement to turn to
the Lord for every critical nugget of wisdom and fortitude. Let the tally of
victims go into decline because Christians are lifting up dads in prayer.
Having scrolled to the end of this letter, I thank you for
sticking with me so long. There’s much work to do. If a paragraph or even a
single line or word of this letter has compelled us in any way, I hope it’s to
do the diligent work of prayer, and to put legs to those prayers wherever the
Lord allows. There is no new crazy suddenly under the sun. The bane of violence
has caroused our planet ever since the first dad failed the first son. Pray to
push it back.
Grace and Peace (and a special measure for dads),
John
