Central Abbotsford

Much of the news of the past two weeks, and related commentary, have been centred around acts of violence. Last week, of course, was the 24th anniversary of the September 11 attacks in the United States, which always serves as a sombre reminder of death, destruction, and the presence of evil in our world. 

With this as backdrop, the news cycle was then dominated first by the release of footage of the seemingly random killing of Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte, North Carolina, and subsequently two near-simultaneous incidents in neighbouring states – a school shooting in Colorado (the fifteenth fatal shooting at a school in the US in 2025) and the killing of Charlie Kirk in Utah. While none of these events took place in our immediate geographical context, their impact was clearly felt in Abbotsford (as a point of interest, pastors at some of our Abbotsford sites referenced Kirk during the weekend gatherings and some did not – in each case, we received criticism for the choice). This week, I’d like to offer some thoughts as to how we, as Christians in our context, process these events (and others such as these).

1. Resist the Urge to React Quickly to the News

I am far from the first person to note how the predominance of social media has shaped and discipled its users, and culture more broadly. As Marshall McLuhan famously said, “the medium is the message.” Paradoxically, all of the major social media platforms rely on immediacy. Therefore, the message that their users are discipled (conditioned?) to take to heart is that nothing need stand between my experience of something and my comment about it; certainly neither time nor sober second thought. Proverbs 29:20 convicts us with this question and observation: “Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.”

Although we live in the era of the “hot take”, Paul calls all Christians to “take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). I have read many articles (dating far back beyond this week) about people who have fired off a quick comment online only to face backlash and have to apologize thereafter, often with an explanation that their original words were not in line with their values/beliefs. Whether you view such statements as genuine or not, we as believers should be exercising discipline (and allowing others, and the Spirit, to discipline us) to take all of our thoughts captive, and ask whether in expressing them, we are displaying obedience to Christ, or capitulating to the schemes of the enemy.

2. Refuse to Push Your Narrative

Almost immediately (again, thank you social media), many people rushed forward with an explanation for the events, usually in support of a preferred political position, and often supported by nothing more than bare speculation. 

It is not surprising that we, as humans, want to discern meaning from the events in the world around us, particularly those that have a high profile or have a significant emotional impact. However, narratives change from day to day, and we are far from omniscient – we never have the full picture. The challenge for the Christian is to widen our scope, and see the world’s events from an eternal perspective.

In Luke 13, we see Jesus facing a similar situation. We hear of a pair of tragic events involving the loss of life – a situation where the governing authorities, under Pontius Pilate, cracked down on a group of Galileans, murdering them and mingling their blood with their sacrifices. We also hear of a tower that collapsed, killing eighteen people. It is clear that these instances were being talked about widely, and some people brought them to Jesus’ attention, presumably to get His first century equivalent of a “hot take”. 

And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:2-5)

We are not called to be unwise, or unaware of world events, but we should also push back against the rush to use them to justify our own positions. Jesus’ challenge in interpreting them, though, is therefore rather than projecting our understanding of them outward, to look inward, with an eye on eternity, and ask ourselves whether we are truly living righteously, or whether there are areas in our own lives and hearts – maybe even areas that are revealed by our reactions to world events – that need to be repented of. I know that the events of the past few weeks have revealed this anew in my own life. How about you?

3. Remember that Everyone Involved Is Made In God’s Image

This principle is the one that undergirds the others. In his book The Life We’re Looking For, author Andy Crouch describes an exercise that he undertook while stuck at a long airport layover. He walked the halls, and with every person he passed, he repeated quietly to himself the word “image-bearer”. Here’s how he describes the effect of the exercise:

By the end of the walk … I had passed people in every stage of life and health, [many] national and ethnic backgrounds, some traveling together, most seemingly alone. The stories I would never learn behind each of those faces … the possibility and futility each one had and no one would know … carried an emotional and spiritual weight that I can still feel, years later. From time to time, I repeat this exercise on a city street, in a coffee shop, even driving on the highway when faces are just a blur behind a windshield. Image bearer, image bearer, image bearer. It never fails to move me.

Every human being, from our closest loved ones to the person who has committed the most despicable act imaginable, is made in the image of God. This reality therefore represents a comfort and a challenge, because it means that nothing that anyone does can actually forfeit that image. John Piper writes that the image of God “is not a quality possessed by man; it is a condition in which man lives, a condition of confrontation established and maintained by the Creator. Thus in no sense can we speak of man losing this image.” We can comfort ourselves by dehumanizing others. Enemies, or people who do the unthinkable, become “demons” or “monsters”. But in using this language, we are comforting ourselves with a fairy tale, or, more bluntly, a lie. This is not to deny that there is not demonic activity in the world – Satan still exerts any influence that he can – but he is not so strong that He can take a gift that God has eternally given.

After all, it is on the basis of all of us being made in God’s image that Paul can write in Romans 12:15 that a call of the true Christian is to “Rejoice with those who rejoice [and] weep with those who weep.” No guardrails are placed on that call. And Paul knows this all too well – after all, the early church had good reason to view him as someone who would have been far along the scale of those who had committed despicable acts – in our modern terms, he might even have been considered a “terrorist” (or at bare minimum, an “agitator”) by those first disciples. 

So, when we look at world events that challenge us or even prompt us to anger, let us pray that the Spirit would discipline us to have a first response more in line with Paul’s call. Lament. Grieve. Weep with the weeping. Pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. But in our desire to have all the answers, let us not lose sight of the One who has already given them to us.