It’s a No-Brainer

This Sunday we were shocked to learn of another mass killing in our country, this time taking place during a church service in Sutherland Springs, Texas. Over forty worshipers were killed or wounded by a man who apparently was angry with his mother-in-law and decided to attack her church. Ironically, and fortunately for her, she missed church that morning. I say “fortunately,” but imagine how she must feel knowing she was the target, and that so many others were shot instead of her. The whole situation was a tragedy, and we will pray for all the victims and their families, to “the God of all consolation, who comforts us in our sorrows, that we may comfort others in their sorrows with the consolation we ourselves have received from God” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

Before the news broke about the Texas shooting, I was already going to blog about a previous shooting, and in extension, about all the other murderous acts which have been performed recently around the country, and around the world. What “triggered” my attention was a report about the Las Vegas shooter, specifically the news that the authorities were arranging for the dead killer’s brain to be examined, in an effort to learn whether there was some disease involved, such as a brain tumor or some other degenerative illness that could have caused, or at least influenced, his actions.

My immediate response was to shake my head at the attempt. And the results so far have validated my doubts that the answer to the horrific murders can be found in a laboratory. According to the Clark County, Nevada, coroner, the exam showed no signs of abnormality. The next step will be a neuropathological examination of the brain tissue by Sanford University’s Department of Pathology. They may find something abnormal, or they may not, but I continue to doubt they will find the answer they’re looking for to the question, “Why did he do it?”

In one sense, we already know why he – and every other killer, mass or otherwise – did it. But before jumping to the answer, there are several things we need to consider first.

1. Our brains, along with the rest of our bodies, have been affected by sin and God’s curse upon his creation. When God pronounced death on all living things, that meant that our bodies (including our brains) would eventually all break down and die. This has led to all our diseases, including those that directly affect our brains, such as tumors, dementia, strokes, and formative defects.
2. Because of the intimate connection between our brains and our minds, the health and functioning of our thought processes – our minds – can be directly affected by what happens in the brain. Alzheimer’s, brain tumors, injuries, and even low blood sugar and dehydration can greatly affect our perceptions and reasoning functions. So do psychotropic drugs, prescribed or otherwise – which is why they are taken in the first place.
3. However, and this is a critical point: brain and mind are not identical. A physical problem in one’s brain does not determine what a person’s thoughts or feelings have to be. Conversely, a healthy brain does not mean that a person will have good and healthy thoughts. Some of the worst criminals and brutal dictators have been geniuses, able to plot and plan and execute their desires with great intelligence. And, some of the most loving and gentle people have had serious brain malfunctions. There is not a one-to-one correspondence between mental ability and mental activity, let alone personal actions.
4. As actor and comedian Steve Martin says, we are “thought machines.” We are constantly absorbing stimuli, images, sounds, smells, and other memories from ourselves and others. Those thoughts impact us, change our perceptions of the world, and motivate us to many of our actions. How we are raised, how people treat us, whether we succeed or fail in something, what we enjoy or dislike: all these things affect what we think and what we do. In many ways, we are the sum of our experiences. Two people with the same brains may have totally different mental processes and attitudes, based on different people and events in their lives. These experiences cannot be read in the laboratory, but even if they could be, they will not tell us what we did with those memories or how they affected other areas of our lives.
5. Conversely, two people can go through the same experiences, yet come out different. One can feel positive and encouraged, another negative and discouraged – over the same words and events. If you doubt this, check out various commentators’ reactions to statements made by political leaders. Same speech, but one person cheers and the other boos.
6. For all these reasons, even if the lab techs discover some chemical or biological abnormality in the killer’s brain tissue, they still won’t be able to tell us why he did it.

So why did he kill all those people, and why do other killers do what they do to cause so much death, pain, and grief? The answer is neither physical nor mental, but rather, spiritual. And that is why the answer won’t come from a test tube. Again, there are several aspects to this explanation:

1. Murder has been with us from the beginning: the first human born on earth, Cain, murdered his brother Abel. God called that a sin (Genesis 4:1-16). After the Flood, God condemned murder, establishing the death penalty because to murder someone was to strike against someone made in God’s image (Genesis 9:5-6). Later, God commanded us not to kill (murder) in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5). The Apostle James condemned murder, explaining that we kill because we do not have something we want (James 4:2), and Christ expanded the definition of murder to include anger and “hate speech” (Matthew 5:21-22).
2. In his explanation of the command not to murder, Martin Luther wrote, “We should fear and love God that we may not hurt nor harm our neighbor in his body, but help and befriend him in every bodily need (The Small Catechism). Luther recognized that the commandment not to murder was part of Christ’s greater command to love our neighbor as ourselves. The command requires positive actions to bless, and forbids negative ones that can harm. Because we are sinners, we ignore both aspects of God’s commandment.
3. Hatred and the desire to murder are fruits of sin. They are described as “works of the flesh” by Paul in Ephesians 5:17-21, and are contrasted with the fruit of the Spirit in 5:22-25. Those who live by the flesh will disobey God and exhibit many destructive attitudes and actions, while those who are led by the Holy Spirit will have peace, joy, love, and the other fruit which grow as Christ’s Spirit indwells and leads us.
4. Mankind’s inherent problem is that we are sinners who live in open rebellion against God. We want to live in darkness and shun God’s light, enjoying (temporarily!) the fruits of selfish desires. Our hearts (and minds) are not right spiritually; in fact we are spiritually dead. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” Matthew 15:19 proclaims, “For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander.” and John 3:19 says, “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.” Paul adds, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1).
5. People are especially good at rationalizing their sinful actions. They feel justified doing horrible things because the other person “deserved it.” They may lash out in revenge for some real or perceived slight, believing their own action is righteous, that they are better than the other person. Warped religious or cultural attitudes can help a killer justify his actions. But our having what the Bible calls a “seared conscience” (1 Timothy 4:2) does not justify our evil actions in God’s eyes.
6. There can also be other spiritual forces at work in someone considering an evil act, and those forces can be evil spirits. The devil and his spirits hate God and those made in God’s image, and so he encourages murder and war as ways to destroy those whom God loves. While an evil spirit can take advantage of physical or mental issues, their victim doesn’t have to have any underlying disability other than sin. Temptations to hate, covet, harm, and kill can trip up the otherwise healthiest and clear-thinking person.

So, if murderous intent and actions are primarily spiritual problems, what can be done to prevent such horrific acts as we have recently witnessed far too often? Let me suggest a few things, though I recognize that as long as we live in this sinful, fallen world, some people will murder each other.

1. Make sure that we care for the amazing brains which God created in us. This means not abusing them with drugs and alcohol so as to become stoned or drunk (Ephesians 5:18 – “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit”). Sobriety is a spiritual virtue, drunkenness is a vice. Many evil acts have been committed by those “under the influence,” so we should be careful not to allow our consciences to be chemically compromised.
2. Learn what God says about anger, coveting, and murderous feelings by reading his Word. Recognize from the Bible our own sinfulness and God’s love for all people, so that we not build up a “better than thou” attitude which might help us justify harmful actions. Our attitudes should be shaped by the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector: instead of the Pharisee’s comment that he was glad not to be a sinner like the tax collector, Jesus praised the tax collector’s prayer, “Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner!” (Luke 18:9-14). When we recognize our own humility before God, we stop judging others – or justifying their murders.
3. Everyone is tempted, but God has made a way out for us whenever we are tempted (1 Corinthians 10:13). If we seek him and look for the way out he has provided, we can avoid doing some terrible things.
4. Prayer, worship, reading of Scripture, and association with fellow Christians can help us deal with life’s problems; we especially are called by Scripture to cast our burdens on Christ, and to seek the counsel and strength of the Holy Spirit.

You may have noticed that these admonitions are for self-control, and do not directly deal with how we can prevent others from doing such evil deeds. There are social, legal, and political aspects to our response as a nation, but even the best of intents, laws, and actions will not solve what is a spiritual problem. Only if people are self-controlled and regulated by their fear and love of God (and empowered by his Spirit) will their actions show civil righteousness. We can’t do that for them; our work is to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ so that people believe and their lives are transformed to seek what is right by God’s power. Only then will evil actions diminish as those who would have done them are changed to become agents of righteousness rather than destruction.

And that’s not something you can locate in a person’s brain; you might even say “it’s a no-brainer,” because it’s located in one’s heart and spirit. Only there can lives be changed and transformed into Christ’s likeness.

And now, may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Galatians 5:16-26