In a dark world that’s only getting darker as the calendar ticks by, Christians shouldn’t be found with any amazement when the nations are faced with terrible or terroristic events. But just because we shouldn’t be astonished doesn’t mean we need to pay them no mind. In fact, the Bible-believing Christian should be so in-tune with the heart of God that events like natural disasters, wide-spread illnesses, or mass shootings cause us to mourn alongside Christ. In the mourning, however, we need to understand how the Lord would have us process such events.
Connect to Christ and other Christians
[Modern Christians] seek to connect with others in the lost world…
Mankind’s current problem is defined in Isaiah.
Isaiah 31:1 Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord!
In the Bible, Egypt is a picture of the lost world, and in this verse we see that humanity (including many of today’s Christians) turns away from the Holy One of Israel to seek the strength and ability of Egypt and their chariots. They seek to connect with others in the lost world, whether it be community members or internet gurus.
It’s necessary for the Christian to turn to Christ and his body in the wake of tragedy to encourage, edify, and exhort one another to biblical processing. Once we’ve gotten our thinking in line with God’s word, we can then reach out to others (saved or lost) who need help seeing God’s perspective.
Create secure structure with spiritual disciplines
Traumatic events like national tragedies destroy structure. Terrorists’ main goal is to destroy the current structure of whatever society, community, or ideology they are attacking. Natural disasters destroy our physical, and often therefore social, structures. Pandemics force our structure to shrink inward and change dramatically. When faced with national destructuring, it can be easy to let that carry into our own lives. We must in response create truly secure structure by establishing spiritual disciplines.
When our societies seem to be crumbling, the Christian can still stand firm on God’s word. Certain individuals in evangelicaldom have gone so far down to Egypt that they say you cannot tell people to just read their Bible and pray and share the gospel; you must be an activist for any number of causes to save the world. But it is taking heed to the doctrines of the word of God that saves us and those around us (1Ti 4:16). Additionally, prayer automatically establishes in our mind and heart that everything of the day is under God’s providence. So once we pray, regardless of what happens, we know God is in control, which builds our faith (Php 4:6-7).
People need personal devotional time in God’s word and prayer. They need biblical discipleship. They need to be involved in church services and moments where they are serving in ministry with others (though certain destructors may necessitate that the church look more digital). They need to evangelize to the lost and hurting world. All of these elements create biblical, true (and therefore lasting) structure in our lives, and prayerfully in our communities.
Acknowledge the Holy Spirit's presence so you have his power and peace
The lost world is all about spirituality and higher powers, having a form of godliness but lacking the power thereof (2Ti 3:5). They are missing any real ability to change the status quo and they have little to no peace, which only lends to the chaos surrounding tragedies.
Instead of buying an amethyst and saying a prayer to Mother Nature in the name of spiritual enlightenment, we must turn to the Holy Spirit (received by grace through faith in Christ). We need the Holy Spirit to bring us power, love, and a sound mind (2Ti 1:7). Realizing and recognizing the presence of the Spirit has the advantage of developing your spiritual life and soul-consciousness, and will in turn let you witness of the peace found in Christ.
Overcome fear by fearing the lord
The world has no choice but to give into and dwell on the fears that consume them in the midst of tragedy. But the Bible tells us that “there is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear” (1Jo 4:18).
Drive out fear with God’s love for you and your love shown to him through fear of him by obedience. Because at the bottom line, your personal inner world is secured by faith, hope, and the crucified life. So don’t just give "thoughts and prayers", but pray for grace and peace. Proclaim “for God so loved the world” that others may hear and cast out fear as well.
Give your attention to the right things
Dwelling on the world, the flesh, and the Devil's attacks will defeat you. These enemies are actively conspiring against you, and you don’t need a tin hat or the History Channel to figure it out (1Jn 2:16). If we give our time to immersing ourselves in the tragedies of the world, we will only be giving ourselves a greater opportunity to be distracted by fear.
Take steps to lay down the news aggregators and your cell phone, unless you’re taking it up to get in God's word. Find a passage that stokes your passion to reach the lost before they are taken away by horrific, violent, or traumatic events. Stay informed, but make sure you are first informed by biblical authority.
Many of us knew brother Bob Weston, a man with an obvious church-age gifting of an evangelist. With his passing, along with those of men like Manley Beasley and Leo Humphrey, there are too few true evangelists today. Men who we could call in to do a campaign or challenge our churches with evangelism. I believe this is symptomatic of the Laodicean age. Now that these men are with Christ, more than ever do we all need to be evangelists.
Christians cannot just offer the best things a lost man can do on a good day. We need to take these moments when people are overwhelmed with national traumatic events, when the world looks to churches and pastors, and bring those people the gospel. After all, Jesus said the answer to tragedies was to repent (Luke 13:2-5).
We are engaged in a spiritual battle in which we want people to encounter Christ’s gospel. We must not settle for man’s devilish best attempts at wisdom, but become masters in the pure and peaceable wisdom from above (Jas 3:17).
For a more in-depth discussion of the topics addressed in this post, listen to the August 9th, 2019 episode of Theology Roundtable, in which pastors Jeff Bartell, Brett Bartlett, and Alan Shelby talk about biblical responses to national and personal tragedies.
Alan Shelby is the senior pastor of Harvest Baptist Church in Blue Springs, MO and the dean of Living Faith Bible Institute.