"What's Happening to People?"

The same wonder seems to be with everyone: How could a man booby-trap his apartment, weigh himself down with weapons, and go into a crowded movie theatre with the sole purpose of killing as many people as he can?
People he doesn't even know--that he could have no reasonable grudge against?

What's happening to people, anyway?


I'm a preacher and we're supposed to have all the awnsers (an urban myth). But I do have some that I can share with you in the hope that it will help.

The downward path of our society is easily traceable. One writer on this tragedy spoke of recent mass killings and said, "I'm 60 and nothing like this has happened in my or my parents' generation."

I agree.

We have been nervous about terrorists here since 9/11--but America seems to be creating its own terrorists!

Gangs in Chicago are killing so many, including children, that the mayor had to make an appeal to values (I appreciate the effort, but I doubt it did any good). Like the chaos in Mexico, these crimes are financed by the drugs Americans casually use.

Crimes against women, including rape and murder, continue to climb as a pornography industry worth billions continues to twist what men see as normal sexual behavior.

Where did all this come from? The Colorado shooter said he wanted to be "the Joker." Are movies the problem?

The body count in action movies soars as movie makers look for ever more lurid thrills to bring in millions. "Action heroes," seemingly without natural fear (or personality either!) march across screens with guns blazing. Movies and television shows (which frequently feature autopsies) portray psychotic killers with absolutely no human compassion or regret.  These killers seem to be having fun--they play "games" with police--and show no fear when captured.


The Batman movies are so dark that one actor, playing the Joker, committed suicide.

Is is possible for movies to be too dark? I believe it is.

But can movies really cause us to kill? I remember attending a Clint Eastwood double feature with a friend when I was a teenager. When I left the theatre, I was ready to fight somebody. The feeling lasted for about five minutes. Then I was normal me again.

People blame guns and the ease of buying assault rifles and pistols with high-capacity magazines. This certainly makes it easier to kill...but does it make people kill?

Other people blame poverty, the lack of opportunity to build a decent life. But this shooter--and others--have had every educational and social door open to them.

And the Colorado shooter still chose to be "the Joker."

There must be a deeper reason, right? Most people seem to know that. The phrase I hear most often is, "What's happening to people?"

As a Christian, I am not asking that question. In fact, many Christians who have what Charles Colson called "a Christian worldview" are not asking.

We know.

God makes it clear in the scriptures that as we near the time of Jesus' return, the restraints that hold people back from savagery will dissolve.
The apostle Paul prophesied about this in a letter to his protege Timothy. He wrote, "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days [before Jesus' return]. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness [they show up at church sometimes] but deny it's power [to change their lives]. Have nothing to do with them" (2 Timothy 3:1-5, emphasis mine).

Many overlook that fact that Paul wasn't talking about his own time! Most people would consider Paul's time--the time of ancient Rome--pretty brutal. But Paul was talking about a later time, when the love of God is rejected by this world.

Paul also warned, "for the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine [the teachings of Christianity]. Instead, so suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear" (2 Timothy 4:3).

Many now teach that "good" and "evil" are relative terms, and that one person has no right to tell another what is "evil." This politically correct thinking paves the way for people to create their own morality--as sick as that might be.

Jesus said, as he talked about the last days before his return to earth (the event we call "the rapture"),
"Because of the increase in wickedness, the love of most [for God, for people] will grow cold, but he who stands firm [loving Jesus] to the end will be saved" (Matthew 24:13).

How can you possibly love people when you have no connection with the God who is love?

The apostle John in a vision given him by Jesus, saw the end result: "When the Lamb [the crucified and risen Christ] opened the second seal I heard the second living creature say, 'Come!' Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword" (Revelation 6:6, emphasis mine).

Is it possible that this horseman is already beginning his ride?

I believe it is.

What can we do?

First, make sure your life is connected with Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father but by me" (John 14:6).

Second, remember that as this nation rejects God's help, God will pull back until we call on him. Only when we call on God will he come to our aid and heal this country (2 Chronicles 7:14). Until then, we can expect to be "on our own" as people nurse grudges to the point of mass murder. And there's not enough security in the world to stop that.

Third, develop what Charles Colson called "a Christian worldview." Read your Bible and understand how God deals with nations that reject him, and those that embrace him.

Last, pray for the victims of this tragedy. Your prayers can give them peace beyond their understanding and reassure them they they will be united with Christian loved ones again--in a place called "the kingdom of God." In that place there will "...be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away" (Revelation 21:4).