“In our efforts to end the evils so rampant in our society, we must never give into the beast that is within each of us. One act of violence, one fit of temper, one moment of hate, and the beast is loose.”
It is an incredibly beautiful morning in Northwest Arkansas. The sky is nearly Colorado blue, the humidity relatively low with temperatures in the mid-seventies. Earlier this morning, I enjoyed a cup of coffee on the porch overlooking Beaver Lake, but in spite of the natural beauty of God’s creation my heart is heavy. This peaceful morning belies the reality of our world where violence begets violence and well meaning people risk becoming a monster in an attempt to destroy a monster. The thing that prompted my melancholy musings this time was the murder of late-term abortionist George Tiller. He was shot and killed on Sunday morning while serving as an usher at Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita, Kansas.
The response from both sides has been predictable. Pro-life organizations decry it as a senseless act of violence without justification, while pro-choice groups, like the National Organization for Women are blaming the tragedy on the pro-life movement. NOW has labeled the murder an act of "politically-motivated domestic terrorism" and has called on the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security to put their full resources behind the effort to "root out and prosecute...the criminal enterprise that has organized and funded criminal acts for decades." It doesn’t take a prophet to see where this is leading.
Everything about this tragedy is grievous. I’m grieved that George Tiller was murdered and that his wife, children, and grandchildren must suffer this senseless tragedy. And his murder was so pointless. Killing him does nothing to end the tragedy of abortion; in fact it probably hardens the resolve of pro-choice groups and legislatures. Without a doubt it makes it more difficult for pro-life advocates.
I’m grieved that an active churchman like George Tiller could routinely perform late-term abortions. I’m grieved that he apparently saw nothing incongruous about professing Christ while making his living as a late-term abortionist. I’m grieved that the pastor and church where he attended did not hold him accountable for his actions. I’m grieved that we live in a society that calls evil good and good evil (see Isaiah 5:20).
I’m grieved that so many of us still do not get it. The woman seeking an abortion is not the enemy, nor is the abortion provider. Of course they must take responsibility for their actions, but in many ways they are victims. The true enemy is the unjust law that makes it legal to put the child in the womb to death; a law whose unintended consequences we are just beginning to reap. But changing the law is not enough. The only hope we have of ending abortion on demand is a spiritual awakening, for only the Spirit of God can transform our hearts and minds. Of course this does not mean that we shouldn’t do everything we can legally do to end abortion, but our hope must be in Jesus Christ and Him alone.
I’m grieved that the evil that lurked within George Tiller’s heart also lurks in mine. I’m tempted to take advantage of people, to use them to further my own ends, to sacrifice them on the altar of my ambition. Never is the heart more deceitful than when we justify our sinful actions by citing the evil done by others. Author Phillip Yancey relates an incident from World War II which illustrates this truth.
According to Yancey, a friend of his served in the Army during the closing days of the War and participated in the liberation of the infamous Dachau concentration camp. He told Yancey that the most shocking part of the whole experience was not the atrocities which the SS officers had perpetrated upon the helpless Jews, though such cruelty was beyond human imagination. The thing that stayed with him was what he discovered about himself.
The captain of the liberating forces asked for a volunteer to escort twelve SS prisoners to the interrogation center. The most volatile soldier in the unit, a man named Chuck, volunteered. Grabbing a submachine gun, he herded the captives down the trail where they soon disappeared into some trees in a shallow ravine. Shortly thereafter, a burst of machine gun fire shattered the afternoon stillness. Chuck came swaggering back and announced with a kind of fiendish leer, “They tried to escape.”
In that moment, Yancey’s friend experienced a nauseating fear that he might be called upon to escort the next group of SS guards to the interrogation center. The thing he feared most was that he too might give in to his unspeakable rage and gun down the guards as Chuck had done.
“The beast that was within those guards,” he said, “was also within me.”
While most of us will never be involved in the liberation of a Nazi death camp or tempted to gun down an abortionist, we must all contend with the beast that is within each of us. In our efforts to end the evils so rampant in our society, we must always guard our heart lest we give into that beast. One act of violence, one fit of temper, one moment of hate, and the beast is loose.
This is Richard Exley straight from the heart.
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