COLUMBINE TRAGEDY
DR. JIM DIXON
GENESIS 4:1-8, 1 JOHN 3:11-18, 1 JOHN 4:7-8
APRIL 25, 1999
We all know that this past Tuesday, at approximately 11:15 AM, two students at Columbine High School, clothed in black trench coats and armed to the hilt, entered the school cafeteria and began to murder. We know that they made their way up to the library where they murdered in masse. We know that 12 students were murdered. We know that a teacher was murdered. We know that the two perpetrators of these murders finally committed suicide, taking their own lives. We know that 23 were wounded or injured, and we know that today there are parents and family and friends of those who died who are experiencing incomprehensible pain and emotional devastation. Our hearts go out to them, and our prayers are prayed for them.
In this community and all across this nation, people are asking why. Why do things like this happen? According to a CNN poll this past week, 79% of the people of America do not believe that what happened at Columbine High School was an isolated incident. Seventy-nine percent of the people of this nation believe something is seriously wrong with America. Many explanations have been given. Some people say that it has to do with liberal gun laws. They say it has to do with the easy accessibility of weapons. This, of course, is a controversial subject. I have no desire to be controversial this morning. There is no Sunday morning when I seek controversy.
Certainly, the right to bear arms in this nation is constitutionally grounded. Certainly, this nation has a history of allowing its citizens to purchase weapons. But it is a fact that there are a growing number of people in America who feel like the weapons purchased are just too powerful today and too easily accessible. Of course, the deepest root of the problem cannot be weapons. It has to be deeper than that. It has to be in the human heart. Now, some people believe that the real problem is the marketing of violence in our culture, the marketing of violence in movies—movies like “Natural Born Killer,” made a few years ago; movies laden with violence, movies which, in the opinions of some, glorify violence; movies like “Scream” and “Scream II,” which combine violence and gore with humor; movies that use violence for entertainment, movies like “Basketball Diaries,” which allegedly depicted or portrayed scenes exactly like what took place at Columbine High School this week.
We are marketing violence in our culture—marketing violence through our movies, marketing violence on television, marketing violence in video and computer games, marketing violence in our music and in the music of the youth culture, marketing violence through shock rockers and demonic lyrics. We are marketing violence.
Other people say, “Well, the real problem has to do with the breakdown of the American family.” And it is true, sociologists tell us, that in urban America, in suburban America, and even in rural America, there are more dysfunctional families than ever before. The strange irony is that there are so many Americans who stand against those very agencies like Focus on the Family that are seeking to strengthen the American family.
Others say that the problem really has to do with the proliferation of hatred in America. It is true that somehow in this country we have created literally subcultures of hate, people who come together because they share a common hate. For us as Christians, this should be particularly disturbing because the Bible tells us that we, above all others, are called to love, and the Bible tells us that God is love.
Others tell us that the problem has to do with marginalization. This is the view of many sociologists. They tell us that we, as a nation, are increasingly marginalizing people. This is true with regard to people of all ages but particularly in the youth culture. In high schools and middle schools, we are marginalizing people. We are pushing them into the margins. They cannot find mainstream acceptance. They are marginalized perhaps because of their color or race; marginalized perhaps because of their lack of athletic ability; marginalized perhaps because of their lack of intelligence; or marginalized perhaps because of the way they look. We are a culture that marginalizes.
There are other people who believe that at least part of the problem has to do with the media and the excessive, in the opinions of some, media coverage that is given to violence in our culture. There are those who believe that our media actually plays into the hands of the would-be violent with their excessive craving of attention. The media actually provides that, as violence is covered on television and on the radio and in the newspapers. Movies are made portraying the acts of the violence, giving some of the serial killers of history infamy, the very infamy they crave.
There are those who believe that, at least in some measure, the media shares some blame. But surely, when 15 people are killed and 23 injured, we could hardly expect the media not to cover it. I think we would all agree that this past week the media, here in Denver and across the country, has really sought to honor the lives of those who were murdered, those 12 students and that teacher. The media has really sought to honor them and has sought to honor their families.
Certainly, we would all agree there are a complexity of issues that we face in America, all of which go together to create the problems that we have today. But I want you to know, the problems we have today are not simply sociological, and they are not simply psychological. The problems we have today in this nation are profoundly spiritual. If you are a Christian, if you believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, you know that there are spiritual realities beyond the natural. You know that there is spiritual warfare, that is in the supernatural.
In the book of Genesis, the 4th chapter, we’re told that Cain was “of the evil one” and murdered his brother. As Christians, we understand that there are demonic powers in this world. There is a prince of darkness the Bible calls Satan, or the devil. There is supernatural evil. We understand that there is a struggle between the powers of light and darkness, a struggle for the souls of men and women the world over. We understand the struggle that exists between divine love and demonic, malignant hatred.
When you look at the web page of one of the students who perpetrated these murders—if you’ve read those words, if you’ve seen his drawings of Satan, his espousing of hatred… It’s hard to read his words. The hate just flows from his mind and heart, a hatred that can never be completely explained by his simple alienation, a hatred that literally comes from hell. As Christians, God wants us to understand the spiritual struggle that we are involved in this country and in this nation. Our problems are not simply sociological, not simply psychological. They are profoundly spiritual.
This morning, as Christians, as we look at the world that surrounds us, and we think of what has happened this past week. What does God want to say to us? What is His message to us this morning? I believe God has given me three thoughts to share with you today, three messages from Him. That first message is “do not fear.” I believe that’s the first message Jesus has for His people today—do not fear. These are the exact words of Jesus as recorded in the gospel of Mark, the 6th chapter, the 50th verse. Jesus said to His disciples as they were in the midst of the stormy sea at night, “Do not fear.”
Some of you feel like it is nighttime. Some of you feel like you are on stormy seas. But Jesus comes to us, and He says, “Do not fear.” The Bible acknowledges that Satan is the archon, the prince of this world, but the Bible tells us that he who is in us is greater. He who is in us is greater. Jesus said, “I have all authority in heaven and on earth,” and He says to us, “Do not fear.”
There are many children today who are afraid to go to school, and we can understand that. There are some parents, perhaps some here, who are at least a little bit afraid to send their children to school. In the wake of what has happened in recent days, there are little children who are afraid to turn off the light at night in their bedrooms. There are parents and adults who don’t feel quite so safe in their homes. There are young married couples who are questioning whether or not they should even bring children into this world, afraid to raise children in a world that is as scary as this, as fallen as this. But Jesus comes to all of us who believe in Him, and He would say to us, “Do not fear.” If ever we needed Christian families to raise Christian kids, it’s today. He comes to us, and He says, “Do not fear. I’ll never fail you or forsake you.”
Our daughter Heather and her husband Chris are going to be moving to Indiana in June. Chris receives his doctorate next month, and then in June he will begin his residency in Indiana. That’s hard for Barb and me because we love them very much and we’re going to miss them, but they’re kind of excited. Chris has been told that in his residency there are going to be days when he works 16 hours. He’s been told that in his residency he will sometimes work 12 days in a row before getting a break. Chris knows that our daughter, Heather, is going to sometimes get a small piece of him, and she’s going to sometimes be kind of alone, so he’s bought her a dog. He bought her a little puppy, a boxer. He bought her a boxer with the idea that this dog will keep her company when he’s gone and perhaps help her feel a little bit protected. Of course, boxers cannot box, but they can become formidable. This little dog will grow up to be about 80 pounds.
But Heather and Chris really know that dogs can’t protect them. They know that. They know that security systems cannot protect. We know that bank accounts cannot protect us. We know that doctors and hospitals and medicine and diet and exercise—none of this can really protect us. We know that this world is a dangerous place, but the Bible says safety is of the Lord.
Jesus Christ was not a Pollyanna. He promised us that in the world, we would have tribulation. But He said, “Be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.” There is nowhere in the Bible where Jesus promises that we who believe in Him will live a long life in this world. That is not promised. And, indeed, some of us die young. But what is promised is that He’s with us in our days. He never fails us or forsakes us. He protects our souls. Even in death, He protects our souls. He’s capable of intervening to protect our bodies. I truly believe that even our bodies are protected by Him until the day He’s ready to bring us home. He wants us to live lives of faith. He wants us to trust Him. The promise is given that our lives will have meaning, and even our death will have meaning. If we love Him, He will use our lives for good. That promise is given. And He doesn’t even want us to fear death. He doesn’t want us to fear death.
The Bible says, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” The Bible says, “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself, likewise, partook of the same nature, that by His death He might destroy him who has the power of death—that is, the devil—and deliver those who, through fear of death, are subject to lifelong bondage.” He doesn’t want us to be in bondage throughout our lives to a fear of death. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he dies, yet shall he live.” The Bible promises that the day will come when “Death will be no more. Neither will there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore.”
You see, the Lord Jesus wants us, as Christians, to have an eternal perspective. If we have an eternal perspective, we’re going to live life in this world a little differently. We won’t live recklessly for that would be bad stewardship, but we’re going to live our lives with confidence and courage if we have an eternal perspective and we really believe that He is with us always and He takes us home by His timing and He gives us eternal life. So, He comes to us, and He says, “Do not fear.”
His second message to us this morning is, “Pray without ceasing.” Do not fear and pray without ceasing. Now, these words are stated explicitly by the Apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians, chapter 5, and in Ephesians, chapter 6. In both of those places, the Apostle Paul says to those who believe, “Pray without ceasing.” In one case, Paul was in prison when he wrote those words. In another case, he was out of prison and living in relatively good conditions. But as Christians, in all conditions, we are called to pray. If ever we needed to pray, it’s today. If ever we needed to be a praying people, it’s today. If ever we needed to be on our knees daily, it’s in these times.
We need to pray for those students who are still in the hospital, some in critical condition. We need to pray for God’s power to be released in their bodies, and we need to pray for the families of those who are injured. And, of course, we need to pray for the families of the dead, those who are deceased. We need to pray for their parents, their families and friends. It’s hard to comprehend the pain that they are feeling this morning. We’ve been called to pray that somehow God would comfort them and use these circumstances to bless them, to bring some good.
We need to pray for the students at Columbine High School, and I think even around the city. You know, you look in the newspapers, and you watch the television, and you see students hugging each other and crying. You see students placing flowers on the lawn by the school. You see students lifting up their hands together in prayer. You see students crying as they kiss the empty car of a friend who died. When you see these things, you’ve got to cry. I mean I’m sure we all have tears in our eyes as well. We need to pray for the students. We need to pray for the teachers. We need to pray for the faculty at Columbine High School and for the administration as they try to put things back together. We need to be people of prayer.
We need to pray for the parents of the two who perpetrated these murders. I know for some of you, that’s hard. I talked with a person after the first service who has a counselor friend who is counseling one of the families, the parents of one of the boys who committed the murders. They said these parents are moving from hotel to hotel because they’re trying to get away from the hate phone calls and mail. I know that it’s easy to judge their parenting, but we need to be careful because we don’t really know what it was like in their home, do we? It wouldn’t be Christlike if we refuse to pray for them. Christ has called us to pray for all people, so we need to be people of prayer. We need to be people mighty in prayer, and we need to pray for this country. We need to be praying for our country every single day.
You know, the Bible tells us evil entered the cosmos with the fall of the angels, described, perhaps, in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28. It is described certainly in Revelation, chapter 12. The Bible tells us that evil entered our world in the fall of man, described in Genesis, chapter 3. The Bible tells us that evil has spread over the earth, and we are all born with sin natures. The Bible tells us in Romans, chapter 13, that it is the responsibility of earthly governments to deter evil and to reward good. It says clearly in Romans, chapter 13, that earthly governments and nations are called to deter evil and to enhance and reward good. We need to pray for our government and our nation that this would be true.
Paul Harvey, on Thursday morning, made the statement that prayers were allowed in Columbine High School after the shooting started. “Prayers were allowed at Columbine High School after the shooting started.” Is that not true? Suddenly, students and teachers were praying in the classroom and in the hallways and under the tables in the library. Prayers were allowed after the shooting began.
It was 1962 when the Supreme Court of the United States banned prayer from American classrooms. It was 1963 when the Bible was banned. Since 1963, violent crime on public school campuses has increased 792%. I am not so naive as to believe that this increase in violence should be attributed solely to the absence of prayer and the Bible, but I do believe that these are causative factors. I believe that there is a spiritual void in this country, and a lot of children are growing up in the midst of that spiritual void, and they have no moral compass. They have no moral anchor. They are morally adrift in a sea of situational ethics. A lot of kids are growing up without God, and they have no boundaries but those boundaries they themselves create.
In 1980, the Ten Commandments were banned by the Supreme Court of the United States from public school classrooms, the final decision coming out of a case in the south, in the state of Kentucky. The Ten Commandments could no longer be posted on the walls of our schools. The tragedy of this is that the Ten Commandments were appreciated not simply by Jews and Christians but by non-Jews and non-Christians, people who recognized that the Ten Commandments provided an appropriate standard of behavior for any society. You think of that 6th commandment, “Thou shalt not kill.” It would have been nice to have that posted on the wall at Columbine High School.
I think, as a culture and as a nation, we have ceased to value human life the way we should. We’ve lost our understanding that human life is sacred, the sanctity of human life. Of course, it was 1973 when the Supreme Court of the United States in Roe v. Wade made abortion legal in this country. In 1983, in Akron v. Akron, the decision was made by the Supreme Court of the United States to restrict the rights of states to regulate abortion. Today, abortion is legal on demand in this country—wholesale abortion for all reasons, in any and all trimesters. Life is cheap. More than 35 million babies have been aborted since the passing of Roe v. Wade.
If some of you today have had an abortion, we’re not trying to judge you, and God loves you. There is forgiveness for you. Even if your abortion was simply a belated effort at birth control, there is forgiveness for you. But, you see, we live in a culture where human life has lost its sanctity. It’s all part of whether we value human life or we don’t. If we value it, we value it from the womb to the grave.
Somehow life is not valued in the movies, where there is so much violence and murdering. It’s not valued on television. It’s not even valued in our courtrooms. So we need to pray for America and pray without ceasing.
Finally, Christ says to us that we need to love. We need to love one another. In the words of the Apostle Peter in the book of 1 Peter, we need to “love earnestly from our heart.” In the words of our Lord Jesus, we need to love with all of our heart, soul, strength, and might. We need to love God and we need to love our neighbors as ourselves. Do not fear. Pray without ceasing. Love with all your heart.
This last Wednesday, Barb and I were driving down to Colorado Springs. We had a 3-day conference there on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, a Trinity Forum Conference. On the way down, we stopped at Wendy’s Restaurant in Castle Rock. We’re on a new health program. While we were waiting in line, there was a young man ahead of us. I think he was a Christian. He had a T-shirt. On the front and back of the T-shirt, it said, “Fear only God. Hate only sin.” Those are good words, but I would love to have seen one more phrase. “Love all people.” As Christians, we are called to fear only God. That is true. As Christians, we are called to hate only sin. That is true. But we are also called to love all people.
Jesus sent a message to the church at Ephesus as recorded in the book of Revelation, the 3rd chapter. He warned the church that they had “abandoned their first love.” I sometimes wonder if the church of Christ today hasn’t lost its first love. The early church had so much love. Have you ever wondered why it was the early church was able to literally conquer the Roman and Greek worlds? Have you ever wondered how the early church in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd centuries were able to literally take the gospel to the nations? If you go back and you read the writings of the early church and you read the writings of historians regarding the activity of the early church, you see that the early church was empowered by love, the love of Christ. The early church was love in action, and their compassion extended to all mankind.
Who were the people that were helping the wounded, the sick, the marginalized, and the poor in the Greek and Roman worlds? It was the Christians. They were reaching out in compassion, and compassion empowers the gospel. As Christians, we are not called primarily to transform the world. We are called to take the gospel to the nations and to disciple them. We are not called primarily to transform the world, but we are called to be transform agents. We are called to be salt and light on the earth.
We cannot do that politically. We can’t be transform agents politically (maybe we can to some extent and some measure). We really cannot do that ecclesiastically. We’re never going to bring the whole world into the church. There are always going to be unbelievers. But if we want to be salt and light in the world, we must be instruments of Christ’s love. If we want to be transform agents in this city and in this culture and in this nation, we must let the love of Jesus Christ shine through us. We must make a decision today that in the midst of our busy lives where we’re sometimes just too busy to love, we must make a decision today that we’re going to be instruments of God’s love—not just to our families, but outside of our family and outside of our friends. We’re going to reach out in love to try to make the world a better place. That’s why in this church we are constantly reminding you of programs that will take you into the inner city or take you to help the poor or take you to help some segment of our city and culture, that you might, in the name of Christ, bring the love of Christ to people. It’s easy to love theoretically, isn’t it? It’s hard to love real people. Most of us love humanity, but it’s hard to love real people.
This past week, as we were at this Trinity Forum Conference, we were actually involved in a study of many of the classics and many of the great authors of history. One of the authors we studied briefly was Fyodor Dostoyevsky. I think most of you have heard of Dostoyevsky. He was Russian. Lived in the 19th century. He was perhaps the greatest novelist of all time. He was a Christian. He accepted Jesus Christ while he was in a Russian prison. The only book given to him was the New Testament. As he read that book, he fell in love with Jesus. He gave his heart to Jesus. He sought to follow Jesus as long as he drew breath, and to let the love of Christ flow through him. He understood how easy it is to love humanity and how hard it is to love real people.
There’s this little passage in one of his books. I wanted to read it to you. “I love humanity,” he said, “but I wonder at myself. The more I love humanity in general, the less I love man in particular.” “In my dreams,” he said, “I have often come to making enthusiastic schemes for the service of humanity and yet I am incapable of living in the same room with anyone for two days together, as I know by my experience. As soon as anyone is near me, his personality disturbs my self-complacency and restricts my freedom. In 24 hours, I begin to hate the best of men—one because he is too long over his dinner and another because he has a cold and keeps on blowing his nose. I become hostile to people the moment they come close to me. But it has always happened that the more I detest men individually, the more ardent becomes my love for humanity.” Maybe in some measure, we can identify with that.
A few weeks ago, Barbara and I went to see a movie called “October Sky.” Some of you, I’m sure, saw it. It was a wonderful little movie. I marvel as I grow older how sentimental I’ve become. I seem to cry easier at movies, and I feel like a wuss sometimes. We’re watching this movie, “October Sky,” and there’s this son who has a strained relationship with his dad. His dad’s a good guy, but he’s just kind of stern. There comes a kind of tender moment in the movie where the dad says something loving to his son, and I found myself crying. The son has this desire to build rockets, and he begins with these little models. He can’t get them airborne. When finally he’s able to launch a rocket successfully, I teared up again. At the end of the movie, just before they have the credits, they had little written capsules of the main characters and the outcome of their lives. The main character went on to have his dreams fulfilled. When I saw that, I teared up.
Isn’t it easy to tear up at movies? Isn’t it true that when we go see a movie and somebody dies or somebody is hurting or grieving, we tear up? We might suffer from the illusion that we’re compassionate people because we cry at movies. Wasn’t it easy to tear up when you watched TV this week and you saw the people crying and you saw the kids hugging, and you saw the families profiled? Wasn’t it easy to tear up? Yet, we shouldn’t labor under the illusion that we’re compassionate people because we tear up at these things. You see, the Bible defines compassion differently. It’s love in action.
You see, in the Bible, there’s the word “sumpathos” that describes the compassion of the Christian. Sumpathos is an action word. It means “to suffer with somebody.” It’s different than the Greek word “empathos.” All of us are capable of empathy. Empathos is feeling what someone else feels, internalizing it. We do that when we watch a movie. We do that when we watch TV. Empathos. That’s not enough. Jesus has called us to sumpathos. We begin to move from empathos to sumpathos when we begin to pray, when we begin to take action, then when we begin to go and reach out to those who are hurting or suffering. This is the call of Christ upon His people, that we would be people of action and that we would take love to a world of hatred, and that we would model the love of Jesus, and that we would find time every week to do something special. That’s why we offer ministries through this church and invite you to be part of them. You might take time every week to show the compassion of Christ in action.
I believe as we look at our country we can change it. I don’t believe we can change it politically. I don’t believe we can change it ecclesiastically, but I do believe we can change it with the love of Jesus Christ. If, like the first three centuries of the church, we were impassioned with the love of Christ and we begin to change our lifestyles to reach out in love to our culture and our city, I think we could begin to change the world. I think the gospel of Jesus Christ would be empowered by our acts of love.
So this morning, as we look at our country, and perhaps we say with so many others, “What’s wrong?” We have three different messages from Jesus, and the messages are, “Do not fear. I’ll never fail you or forsake you.” “Do not even fear death for I am the resurrection and the life,” He says. “I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am, there you may be always. Do not fear. I am at work in you, and I will use your life for good if you love Me and follow me. Do not fear.”
“Pray without ceasing.” Pray without ceasing for the people in the hospital, for the families of those who died. Pray without ceasing for the students, for the faculty, for the administration. Pray for our police departments, our law enforcement agencies. Pray for our government. Pray for our nation. Pray that our government would indeed deter evil as it says in Romans 13 and reward the good. Pray for the hearts of Americans, that we might turn towards God.
And love. Love with all your heart, with an active love, a love in action that reflects the compassion of the gospel, the love of Christ. Let’s close with a word of prayer.