The recent tragedy at the Florida high school has once again left Americans in agony to deal with the violence within our culture. Christians are often forced to deal with these headlines in a mix of their faith, the latest claims screaming for their attention on social media, their own cultural biases, and more.

I’ve found the following links helpful for thinking about the recent tragedy.

Nikolas Cruz And the Unmasking of Sin and Evil
Tom Ascol writes concisely:
“The reason that people carry out murderous rampages is not because of poverty, mental illness, guns, lack of education or any other social ill. At the root of such actions is the consistent outworking of sin—blatant rebellion against God.”
Founders Ministries Article

A Gun-Control Measure Conservatives Should Consider
While we look to deeper issues in the face of moral evil, this does not mean that there are no pragmatic answers to be offered. Political conservatives are often seen as the group most resistant to changes in firearm policy in America. David French (a respected conservative) writing for the National Review (a conservative publication) offers one tentative suggestion. Whether you agree with his proposal or not, Christians can use sanctified common sense to see our society improved.

What if, however, there was an evidence-based process for temporarily denying a troubled person access to guns? What if this process empowered family members and others close to a potential shooter, allowing them to “do something” after they “see something” and “say something”? I’ve written that the best line of defense against mass shootings is an empowered, vigilant citizenry. There is a method that has the potential to empower citizens even more, when it’s carefully and properly implemented.

French On GRVO

Doctrine & Devotion
This Reformed Baptist podcast helpfully traces some of the most important aspects Christians should remember about this debate.

Link

Why Does God Let Random Fatal Shootings… Occur?
A Q&A with the late Dr. R.C. Sproul. He notes, “If there were no sin in the world, there would be no suffering. There would be no fatal accidents, no random shootings. Because sin is present in the world, suffering is present in the world…”
Q&A With Sproul

No matter where you find yourself landing personally on the many, complicated, inter-connected issues of gun control, American culture, culpability, and other factors, may Christians resolve to be unified by our shared commitment to the doctrines of sin, responsibility, and God’s theodical triumph over evil at the Cross through Christ.