"Stop sending your 'thoughts and prayers', Congress: do something constructive to help us prevent this kind of massacre!"
The response usually is some sort of analogy that killing could happen with other weapons instead - fertilizer bombs, poisons, and the like. No serious American government study is allowed by government decree (the worst offense Congress has committed on this topic, in my opinion - how dare you forbid us from learning the truth!), but independent research has seen a link between the mass murders and the mass destruction weapon sales - the usual expression of this is something like "no hunter or sportsman needs semi-automatic weapons". At this point, the defense moves into Second Amendment territory, with the reaction that we must be allowed weapons that would defend ourselves against government assault, at which the fabric of a democratic society begins to break down.
So we stop fighting, return to the status quo, and return to our lives, silently waiting for the next mass assassination of dozens of civilians, the kind that only seems to occur on American soil.
James, half-brother of Jesus, told us the problem with settling for the "thoughts and prayers" avenue of acceptance of evil in our world → here is James 2:14-16:
14"What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?"
(James always was fairly direct!)
If a brother or sister is in need, and you say, "Go in peace"..."God be with you," ... "Our thoughts and prayers are with you"... when you have the means to HELP them? What kind of faith is THAT? James explains more in verses 19-21:
19You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!20Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?
Just because you tell us you "believe" means NOTHING! Prove it! You can no more fake being a Christian than you can fake NOT being a Christian! If you really are a man or woman of your beliefs, prove it! The Holy Spirit within you should be motivating you to do SOMETHING within your power to help in times of need!
You see, it's NOT that it takes "works" to prove that you're a Christian. "Works" don't count towards getting into Heaven, "or else Christ died in vain", as we've said a thousand times. But if you really ARE a Christian believer, the Holy Spirit resides in you. He should be forcing you do help in whatever means you can, or at the very least making you feel guilty because you haven't!
Ephesians 2:8-10 reminds us that those works are placed in front of us by God once we've given our lives to Him!
8For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Just because you can't fix such a complicated issue yourself doesn't mean there isn't part of it that you CAN do to help. Get or stay informed on these big issues, and then let Him guide you to what you can do to share His Glory and alleviate suffering in this world. Most of the time, the Holy Spirit will prod you in the direction you should help, if you're listening to Him closely. Listen for that still, small Voice.
And don't be afraid that what you're doing "isn't enough". That's why God has so many hands on earth, why the Body of Christ extends around the globe. Consider the starfish (this story comes from one written by Loren Eiseley):
Once upon a time, there was an old man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing.He had a habit of walking on the beach every morning before he began his work. Early one morning, he was walking along the shore after a big storm had passed and found the vast beach littered with starfish as far as the eye could see, stretching in both directions.
Off in the distance, the old man noticed a small boy approaching. As the boy walked, he paused every so often and as he grew closer, the man could see that he was occasionally bending down to pick up an object and throw it into the sea. The boy came closer still and the man called out, “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?”
The young boy paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean. The tide has washed them up onto the beach and they can’t return to the sea by themselves,” the youth replied. “When the sun gets high, they will die, unless I throw them back into the water.”
The old man replied, “But there must be tens of thousands of starfish on this beach. I’m afraid you won’t really be able to make much of a difference.”
The boy bent down, picked up yet another starfish and threw it as far as he could into the ocean. Then he turned, smiled and said, “It made a difference to that one!”
Make a difference - even if it's only for one starfish at a time...
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