By Jake McCall

I woke up Monday morning to hear of another national tragedy – this time the shooting at the Washington, D.C. Navy Yard. I couldn’t help but ask as I have a number of times over the last year or so: Is our value for life here diminishing?

Some may say yes and some may say no. I do believe that humanity’s value for life is diminishing, and I am sure it is a Gospel issue. The value for another person’s life comes from God, who created life and values it far more than we could ever imagine, and according to the Bible, the more Christ-centered a person is, the more love for others will be in their heart and thus the more they will value life (John 13:34-35).

History has shown us that as the power of Christ’s message spreads throughout a land, nations and people groups become impacted by that message. This is often done slowly and over multiple generations and with many bumps along the way.

Yet, where life is valued in an area or a nation, Christ is either directly and presently influencing that place and those people or they are still benefiting from the foundations and principles of Christianity from the past. In places where violence and killing and neglect of life are rampant, the influence of Christ has either not been there or has diminished over time. As the gospel moves into a region – even in an imperfect state – life gains new value.

Also, as the gospel is pushed out of an area – the common grace of God and value for life begins to diminish. I believe we are witnessing that in new ways here today and have been especially over the last 40 years. In Genesis 3, we see that mankind began dying as soon as he rebelled against God. Since that time, God has promised to reverse the curse in Christ and as He is doing that, mankind is doing everything possible to keep that curse intact.

So as we look around and we see so much that is good, so much that is precious, and so much that is heavenly, we can know it is because God is so much more gracious and forgiving and merciful than we could ever imagine.

And as we look around and see so much that is horrible, broken, inhumane and sad, we can know it is because we are so much more rebellious than we could ever imagine.

We need a savior, and the only hope for the survival of humanity lies in the hands of the one who truly values life.

He is also the one who was willing to give up his own.

—Jake McCall is a religion columnist for The Clanton Advertiser. He is the pastor at Grace Fellowship Presbyterian Church.