Extras

I heard a thought-provoking analysis this past week on the mass killings that continue in this country. The blame game these days is to label mental illness as the cause, but some who study the shooters and the shootings point out other issues to consider. The availability of guns and our inability to control their proliferation is huge. But in studying the shooters themselves there seems to be a real sense among these young men that they do not matter in this world; that they are unwanted and unloved. If they are teenagers they will often say they feel invisible in school. Whether or not they were there did not seem to matter to anyone. For those a little older it was a sense that society just pushed them out of the way like garbage. They too feel invisible. Guns make them feel powerful and even if they know they will die in the shooting rampage (because suicide is another component of this problem and suicide is a product of despair), they will experience a moment’s power and for a short time they will be seen by other people.

The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy pointing out that if you are going to preach the gospel of Christ, you are going to have to be prepared for false teachers and for difficulty and problems that come as a result of it. In 1 Timothy 1:5, Paul gives instructions and encouragement to Timothy as he works among the false teachers in Ephesus causing difficulty and problems.