Genesis 4 opens with the birth of two sons and the first family. Verse 2 tells us, " Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil." We know that Cain's offering to the Lord was not well received, and God told him, "And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” Sin is already in his heart, looking to devour him, and his goal, according to God, is mastery of sin, not the other way around.
Yet, later in Verse 8, " Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him."
I want you to ask a few questions about the above story. After the incident, do we see a call for "Rock Control?" Is the issue that the object used by Cain is the real problem here? Could there be a parenting issue? Is this the fault of Adam and Eve? Perhaps if they had done a better job of instructing their sons and hidden all the weapons, Able would still be alive!
I say this in just, but I see people again up in arms after the "mass shooting" at Union Station after the Chiefs rally. Guns are the issue! If Adam and Even could tell us one thing about Genesis 4, it would not be that guns led to Abel's death; it was a heart condition called sin.
Please know that I am not talking about gun control in today's blog; that would be silly. I want to talk about the bigger picture and perhaps give my two cents about alternatives to gun control. As I mentioned above, the real issue is sin and the heart, which our culture has attempted to cancel. Allow me to make three observations related to the recent event in KC and the nation at large.
1)
We need empathy before we can talk about the fix. Too
often, people will blame everything: the kids, the guns, etc., making the
situation political and dehumanizing the people involved. Let me remind you
that the shooters were two teenagers; what was going on, why did they have
guns, and what was going on in their lives?
I am not sure too many people care about the two young men more than the pastor's like me in KC. They are criminals in most people's minds and need to pay for their crimes... I am glad to hear that Youth for Christ was invited to visit with the two teens at the detention center. Just like Cain, their sinful actions affected everyone, including their futures.
2) Too often, the wrong questions are being asked. The correct question is, why did they resort to violence? Are these two and other teens who have been an ongoing issue in KC the product of the school-to-prison pipeline? Is this a parenting issue? We need to look below the water at the iceberg and resource a solution for that, and not focus on the behavior we see above the waterline.
3) Politics and Agendas have produced prophetic results. Although this was not the intended result, it is the result of decades of political design. Here are a few examples:
- Take religion, morals, prayer, and the Bible out of schools and the public sector - replace it with evolution that devalues human life, and philosophy that says if it makes you happy, it is okay,
- Sex and gender distortion that demeans what male and female roles are.
- Tough on Crime policies that are Punitive instead of Restorative.
- Taking away the rights of parents in the name of progressive politics, where the state and schools have more rights than the parents. Worse, parents are afraid to correct behavior and are not given real resources to help.
We live in a time when the message to parents, especially by the state, is "Don't Spank a child; talk to them." Missouri Trust Fund is running a campaign called "Something we Agree On," which, as you can see from the website, tells parents, "94% of Missouri adults agree there are better ways to disciple a child than to use physical punishment."
I don't know about you, but no one asked me, but I know how statistics can be skewed for your purpose, which in this case is to guilt parents into a certain model of parenting. To reinforce this ideology, they place the abuse hotline info at the top, to say passive-aggressively, if you are one of the 6% who spanks, you are a child abuser and a bad parent!
Please do not get me wrong; I totally support positive reinforcement. I have written a handbook for parents on the subject, but there still have to be physical consequences for wrong behavior. Think about it: those same people who are promoting the aforementioned model are all for punishment now for two teens. You don't hear them saying we need to sit down and have "Teachable Moments" at times like this.
How do we actually move forward in this mess? Let me give a few suggestions, and maybe a few elected officials will take this to heart.
1. As nicely as I can say this, "pull your head out of your political ass." This is not about your re-election, it is about teens, parents, and our society.
2. We need more right-minded people running for office to replace the bobbleheads.
3. We need to focus on helping parents be better parents.
4. Realize that many parents are not parenting. They need to be held accountable for their actions. Remember when going to school was required, or the parent was fined?
5. Implement Restorative Justice over Punitive justice.
6. Invest in real role models, not drag queens!
7. Think about old community models over new stuff that is not working (i.e., Block Captains).
I have more and would love to discuss them with local, state, or national leaders if they care to listen. I am just a pastor who has studied criminal justice, human nature, and history, but it never hurts to think outside of the box.
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TTFN
Pastor Tigger
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