The Massacre in Orlando

It was headline news in Jesus’ day; - ‘Tower in Siloam falls, kills Eighteen,’ (Luke 13:4, 5). When Jesus’ disciples questioned Him about this incident, He responded to their queries about the spiritual condition of those who were slain.

     “Do you think they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no: but, except you repent, you shall all likewise perish.”

     While some Pharisaical Christians were verbally dancing with glee upon the graves of the homosexuals who were shot by a radical Muslim in a gay bar in Orlando, Florida; God was weeping over these ones He sent His Son to die for. –

Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? says the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?
For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dies, says the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live. (Ezekiel 18:23, 32).


     It is unfortunate that the homosexual has been targeted by segments in the Christian camp as sinners above all sinners, when the Word of God declares:For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23).

     All have sinned and all need repentance, and Biblical repentance requires a willingness to turn from sin.

     Divorce without Biblical grounds is adultery according to the Lord (Matthew 5:31, 32), and even though God says in His Word it is something He hates (Malachi 2:15,16) Christians divorce with little regard as to how God has classified their behavior. Yet, somehow this sin is diminished when compared with other sins that are deemed more despicable. In other words, when some Christians view the landscape of human failings, they tend to focus their binoculars of condemnation upon what they deem as mountains while ignoring the failings of their own massive elevations, hills and valleys.

     Judgment begins at the house of God (I Peter 4:17). And before we start celebrating the demise of those we see as sinners, we need to understand that God beholds the sins of the heart first. In the depths of these inner chambers lurk sins as heinous as any that can be manifested outwardly. For example, pride is a sin that is classified as abomination along with homosexuality (Proverbs 6:16, 17, Leviticus 18:22). How many of us are guilty of the sin of pride?

    The Bible’s list of inner sins is extensive and many of the Christians who are quick to condemn the unsaved sinner, are just as guilty in another realm. The judgmental, self-righteous, unloving response some Christians have expressed concerning the tragedy in Orlando, is just as wrong as the sin they are condemning in others.

     As I studied the cover of a magazine displaying the faces of the people who were killed in that bar in Florida, I felt saddened that their deaths had triggered such a spiritually ignorant, apostate and callous response from those who profess love for Jesus. But, at the same time, I thought that if these victims who had been murdered had given their lives to Jesus and were following Him through the guidance of God’s Word and His Holy Spirit, they would not have been in that bar, and would still be alive.
     God gives His Word to us for our good and protection. When we refuse Him through that abominable sin of pride, then we must all accept the consequences of our own choices.

     The bodies that were crushed by the fallen tower of Siloam in Jesus’ day, and the souls that were severed from life in Orlando, all have one thing in common: they all needed repentance, they all needed the Lord’s salvation. –

For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.– John 3:17

Copyright 2016 by H.D. Shively


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