Over the past several months, it feels like the world has been absolutely slammed with tragedy, hatred and more strife than we ever could have imagined possible. There has been high tension between the public and law enforcement. We have watched in horror as a truck drove directly into a crowd of innocent people who were just trying to enjoy a celebration of their country. We have looked on as people we call our friends and family have turned against each other in the waves of opinions that stem from events like these. In all honesty, it has felt like our world has stopped. Because as the song says, love makes the world go round, and we seem to be fresh out of love.
As a young Christian woman, all of these things are very startling. As an 18-year-old college student, the real world is becoming very real to me. It is not the sunny place I often dreamed of living in as a child. I used to imagine that the grown-up world was filled with fun and freedom; now I am beginning to see that childhood was an innocently beautiful place to live. The other day as I watched the news of the attack in Nice, France, the video footage showed people running in pure terror after a truck had driven straight into a crowd of people. They had been watching fireworks. All of these people had simply come together to enjoy each other and take pride in their country. Instead of shouts of admiration for the colorful sparks in the sky, the streets rang with screams and cries of horror and fear. Later on in the week, I was drawn to an article talking about the aftermath of the attack. It showed a video of the place where the attacker, the driver of the van, was shot and killed. The spot was covered in large stones. People were spitting on the stones. My first instinct was to feel satisfied and laugh and be joyful that this man was dead and his death was being proclaimed publicly. But then I began to think about it: was this the right reaction?
I began to think about this man. This man killed 84 people by driving a truck directly into a crowd of people. He caused terror and has completely changed the lives of families around the world. But this man has a mother and a father too. Once upon a time, a woman held a tiny baby named Lahouaiej-Bouhlel in her arms. She loved him, she raised him. I imagine her watching the news, seeing strangers spit onto the ground where her son lay as he took his last breath. I imagine his father feeling the hot feeling of shame in his gut as he goes to work or walks home from the grocery store. I imagine the insults he endures on behalf of his son who made a decision that would rattle the world. Lahouaiej-Bouhlel had three children and a wife. Although he separated from them, three young kids once looked up to him. They might have asked for bedtime stories, or waited until he came home so they could play with him in the evenings. This man, Lahouaiej-Bouhlel the murderer, also had a heavenly Father. Despite his horrific actions, which are by no means acceptable, this man was a child of God.
As a Christian, I am commanded to love everyone. Jesus did not come here for one person exclusively. He died for everyone. John 13:34-35 says, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” These words often sting me right in the heart, because it is so hard to remember. It is hard to remember that Jesus loved even the harshest of crimes. It is hard to remember that Jesus loved even the darkest of sinners. But He did. He loved them so much that he gave up his life for them.
In 2 Samuel 11 and 12, we meet a man named David. David was a shepherd who had been selected to be a mighty king. He did what was right in the eyes of God, until one day when he saw a woman. Typical boy. He sees a pretty girl and forgets all logic. He saw her taking a bath on her roof and wanted her for his own. Strike one. David then slept with this woman named Bathsheba when she already had a husband. Strike two. In a vain attempt to fix his situation, David had Bathsheba's husband killed in war. Strike three, right? Wrong. David had a firm talking-to by Nathan, who was a prophet at the time. David saw that what he had done was a HUGE sin, and he genuinely felt sorry. He wept and asked God for forgiveness, and then he repented. David went down in the Bible's history as a man after God's own heart. Imagine that. God loved David even after all he had done wrong.
Christians claim to be all about love. We preach love, we say that we act out love. But it is so much harder than it looks. Could you have loved David even after all he had done to Bathsheba and her husband? Can you love a man who drove a truck into a crowd of onlookers? We don't have to LIKE people's actions, and we don't have to love the things they do. But if we are true Christians, we will follow God's commandment, and we will love as Christ did. Jesus saw souls. Do you? Do you see Lahouaiej-Bouhlel as a ruthless killer, or do you see him as a man who desperately lacked the knowledge of God's love and mercy?
I am by no means condoning the actions of the terroristic attacks of recent times. Murder and lack of compassion as seen in the attacks are clearly labeled as sins by God. In fact, God hates sin. He hates it. But He doesn't hate us. In 1 Peter 2:9, we read how God knows we're in darkness but still wants us to be a part of His kingdom anyways. We just have to find Him and choose Him. What these people do and have done is tragically wrong and should not be tolerated. But as Christians, we are commanded to love these people. Jesus died for them just as much as He died for you. Jesus saw you at your worst. You and I may not have killed anyone, but we have sinned just like Lahouaiej-Bouhlel. In regards to sin, you and I and this man are on the same playing field. Jesus saw you as a soul that He could extend love to. See the soul of a person. Show them love. It isn't easy; if loving was an easy thing to do, we wouldn't see the shocking things we do today.
I am a Christian. I am of God. It will not be easy, but I am going to love others for their souls. I don't have to love their actions, but I do have to love them as Christ would have, because every person is a created child of God and ought to be treated as such (Colossians 1:16). Remember that every person, no matter how vile and despicable, is loved by the Lord just as much as you are. We as Christians have a duty: to make the world keep turning through the bountiful love of Jesus Christ.
