What I Told My Sons

This week, looking into the faces of five different men, each from a different decade, I’ve seen pain.

“Furious.” “Reeling.” “The wind knocked out of me.”

All words spoken to me. And I’m there too, holding together heartbreak and anger.

Another wave came last night, long past the house-wide bedtime. A tap at my door, my oldest son entered the dark, tears on his face and in his voice:

“Why does God allow these things? ... What am I supposed to do?”

That’s something else I’ve heard again and again. It’s one effect of evil people doing evil things, and at such ease. The rest of us feel powerless. What are we supposed to do?

There is a lot, actually, but I’ll tell you what I told my sons.

1. Call on God

“Let’s pray.” That’s what you say, and what you do — alone and with others. It’s what I did when my dad first called me on Wednesday. It’s what my boys and I did together, huddled on the rug of their room. If we need help — and we do — we ask God for help. We cry out for mercy, for justice, for peace. And we tell him where we are. We never need to hide and seethe in sorrow or anger.

“With my voice I cry out to Yahweh; with my voice I plead for mercy to Yahweh. I pour out my complaint before him; I tell my trouble before him.” (Psalm 142:1–2)

2. Speak the truth

“Use words, not weapons.” This, of course, assumes a measure of order. I believe in just-war theory, and I know words don’t stop bullets flying from the other direction. But we’re not there in America — and I pray we never will be. For now, words still matter. And God calls us to be truth-tellers.

I told my boys that’s why they go to school, to learn the truth and how to speak it (I’ll remind them of this if they hem and haw in the morning).

3. Stand with courage

“In our moment, words require more courage than bullets, and God always calls us to courage.” We are truth-tellers, indeed, even in uncomfortable situations. That is Charlie Kirk’s legacy. It’s why my oldest admired him. He wasn’t afraid to say true things even if it meant people hated him. He bore witness to Jesus and invited others to believe, even as crowds jeered at him and Bill Maher mocked him. Kirk had courage. And we need more of it.

We need courage to be disliked for our convictions, courage to be laughed at for speaking the truth, and courage to keep believing and speaking even when things get their worse. Even if it costs us our lives.

Remember: the worst thing is never the last thing. Evil will not prevail.

“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” (Romans 16:20)

“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15)