The Answer to “Why?”

The T.V. pundits are falling over each other talking about why Vester Lee Flanagan II would murder two young news reporters while on air doing a live interview. Agenda-driven politicians are using the tragedy to advance their agendas claiming the criminal is the gun. In the murderer’s manifesto Flanagan blames the Charleston shooter Dylann Roof for causing him to go over the edge.  Claims of bullying and discrimination were found to be baseless, but even if they were valid they would not explain a desire to murder. So what is the answer explaining the violence perpetrated by such men as Flanagan, Roof and so many others? There is no mystery.

“ For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, ²² adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. ²³ All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” – Mark 7:21

So, whether one likes to hear it or not, the natural state of man is the origin of all these evil acts. This is in fact, normal for the unregenerate heart. Just study world history, or for that matter look at the headlines from around the world today. What do you see? The natural state of man that is “naturally” evil.

However, to the extent that the presence of God is in evidence, we see the good in humanity.  Just pick up a world map and trace the travels of Christianity and you will follow the history of western civilization, peace and progress. Wherever the Gospel has not penetrated a culture there you will still see violence, theft, sexual immorality, murder and every kind of evil. And so, as it is with nations and cultures, so it is with individuals. You will either have, as someone once put it, a “great big God, and a little bitty devil, or you will have a great big devil and a little bitty God.” The two will not occupy the same space, and the space will never be void.

For this reason our founders held that a requirement to hold public office was a belief in God, the Holy Scriptures and in the system of eternal rewards and punishment. They understood that the natural state of man was evil, and only the public acknowledgment of God and subservience to His will, as much as one can understand it, could help us establish a more prosperous and peaceful society. Until the Day of the Lord there will be evil in the world, but whether we see more of it, or less of it will depend on whether or not we publicly acknowledge and promote Biblical values, the greatest among these is love. Yes, the choice is ours moving forward–Great big God and little bitty devil, or great big devil and little bitty God. Which shall it be?