A couple of days ago I was watching CNN interview Carolyn Goodman, the mayor of Las Vegas, about the mass shooting there. When asked about her thoughts on Stephen Paddock, she said, “May he rot… ,” and then she suddenly stopped. It was an awkward moment.
“Go ahead,” I thought. “Say it. May he rot…in hell. Why won’t you say it? He just killed 58 innocents and wounded over 500 others. That’s what everyone is thinking. He’s the worst murderer in U. S. history. MAY HE ROT IN HELL!”
And then it dawned on me. Could it be that Mayor Goodman didn’t want to complete the sentence because, even in this most atrocious situation, she didn’t want to suggest that maybe, just maybe, there really is a hell? It would be bad for business if the mayor of Sin City even hinted that we are accountable for our actions before a holy God who has the power to consign souls to hell for eternity.
Turns out, the eat-drink-and-be-merry-for-tomorrow-we-die crowd that Las Vegas caters to faces a paradox when it comes to Stephen Paddock. On the one hand, materialists condemn – and rightly so – with righteous indignation the “pure evil” of such a horrific act. They instinctively call on God to judge. They demand justice. They seek retribution. “God damn you!” is their clarion call.
But on the other hand, in their more rational moments, materialists immediately revert back to their “This is all there is” mentality. Existence ends at death. Life is irrational. There is no ultimate good or evil. The universe doesn’t care what we do or even that we exist. There is no God and no heaven or hell. Everything we see is the result of mere chance. Therefore, live it up in front of a slot machine, “because tomorrow we die.”
Unfortunately, materialists don’t understand that such a philosophy is exactly what Stephen Paddock, judging from his lifestyle, must have believed too. If a materialistic view of reality is true, if we really do cease to exist when we die, if there really is no ultimate accountability for our actions, if human beings are just animals and nothing more -? animals who have simply won the evolution jackpot, then ultimately it does not matter what we do in this life. And if what we do does not matter, then why not go out with a quite literal bang? Why fear a God who doesn’t exist?
I’m not saying all materialists are mass murderers. But I am saying that mass murder can be considered a rational outcome of materialism. And when materialists consign someone to “Rot in hell!” When they curse, “God damn you!” – as reprehensible as that sentiment may be – they nevertheless at that very moment step outside of their myopic, materialistic worldview and into a quite different one; a worldview they intuitively know is true, impulsively profess is true, and subconsciously fear is true: the Christian worldview.
“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One?who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” – Jesus (Matthew 10:28)
This post first appeared in NewCommandment.org.
_______________________________________________________________
Learn how to form teams of men for every widow, single mom
and fatherless child in your church at NewCommandment.org.
_______________________________________________________________
