I asked Tedd Tripp for his thoughts about Newtown:
Human beings are instinctively and compulsively worshippers. When we fail to worship God we make an exchange and worship created things rather than the Creator. All problems of living come from that great exchange. The Apostle says it like this:
“They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.”
Faithless, heartless, ruthless – this describes the evil of Newtown. Mankind’s problems are not solved on the level of behavior, they are solved on the level of worship. This helps answer the question, why do things like Newtown happen? The necessity of the incarnation and the life and death of Jesus Christ is because the world, yes, even you and I, are this broken.
Tedd is on target. Evil is a matter of worship. The solution is a matter of the gospel. Life is not random. The judge of all of the earth, always does what is right. The why of Newtown is ultimately connected to the evil of worshipping anything or anyone other than God. The hope of redemption for Newtown and for all of us is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Nothing else has the power to change us to become worshippers of God.
Yes, hug and love your children. But do more. Tell them about what Jesus did for sinners. Tell them about his grace. Tell them evil has been conquered by the cross. This truth alone will free us from evil. This alone provides hope.