Cause and Effect

We live in a world of cause and effect. Every effect has its cause. We know this. The problem for us is that we can almost always more clearly see the effect more easily than the cause. In a obvious recent event, a lone gunman fired into a crowd of concert goers in Las Vegas. We see the effect; we still don't have a clue about the cause.

The problem for us, then, is that causes often elude us. Often it's because we simply don't look for them. Often it's because things are rarely simple. And, of course, there is the standard "human condition" in a world described by God as "blinded", "deceitful", and "desperately wicked" (2 Cor 4:4; Jer 17:9). We don't see causes because we're not looking.

Most of the time, then, we're looking at the effect rather than the cause. This becomes entirely problematic. We know about the issue of gun violence in our culture, but gun violence is an effect, not a cause. We share concerns about rampant divorce in our society, but divorce is a symptom, not the cause. We get that sexual immorality is being subverted to a sexual norm, but sexual immorality is a result, not a cause. We bemoan the fact that the courts have redefined marriage in our legal system today, but that redefinition is an effect, not a cause. It is scientifically irrefutable that human life begins at the embryo stage and abortion terminates a human life, but abortion is not the cause of the problem; it is the result.

So we run around trying to put out fires. We mobilize forces for gun control, create marriage workshops to teach people how to stay married, campaign against sexual immorality, argue the definition of marriage, and try to legislate abortion. We have to. These (and many, many more) are problems. But they are symptoms. And while we try to put out the flare ups, we seem to completely forget the causes. So we treat pneumonia with cough syrup and apply a band aid on a flesh-eating virus.

In a world that is sick, it is necessary that we treat symptoms. It is. But we should never lose sight of the disease -- the cause of the symptoms. Our world would love to convince us that the disease doesn't exist. "People are basically good. Get over your religious negativism." So they can go on treating symptoms without touching the disease. That disease? Sin. And if that is the disease, it's understandable why our world cannot treat it and won't even recognize it. But we have the treatment, the cure. So while we treat symptoms, let's be very careful to keep in the forefront of our thinking that we're treating people who need Jesus. Live that. It's more important than gun violence or poverty. It's eternal.