I was sitting in my office on Friday morning listening to "The Bert Show" when they started to talk about the mass shooting at an Oregon community college. They said something that really hit me. As they started to talk about the interview with a father of one of the victims, he started to tell what had happened inside the room that morning of the shooting. In the interview with the father, he talked about what his daughter had heard. The father stated that his daughter, who had already been shot in the back, heard the shooter ask people to stand up if they were Christians. In that moment, you didn't know if he was on your side or not. Once they were standing, the gunman said, "Good, because if you're Christian, you're going to see God in just about one second."
This shook me up, hit me hard and gave me chills down my spine. People started calling in and saying whether or not they would have stood up. I sat and listened to these people talk about their reasoning behind their opinion on the matter and thought to myself, would I have stood up? The truth is, I don't know. I'm a Christian and I am not afraid to tell someone that, but I am far from perfect. I sin and make mistakes every day, sometimes without even noticing it, but my faith is something that I cannot live without. I am who I am today because of my faith in God.
As I continued to think about it and all of the different scenarios and things that I could have said to plead my case, I just got more confused. Some of the callers said they would have stood because they aren't afraid of their faith and they would pay the price for what Jesus did for them. Some people said they wouldn't have stood up because they couldn't bare the thought of leaving their children abandoned. Others said that they felt that standing up in that situation was essentially committing suicide and that was an unforgivable sin. Then some people said that they wouldn't stand because our God is forgiving and he would forgive them in the end if they made the decision to stay alive for themselves and their families.
To those who said they would stand—I applaud you. You have bravery and courage that most of us probably don't. You aren't afraid of standing up for your faith, even if it means never seeing your loved ones again.
To those who said they wouldn't stand—I see where you are coming from. I can't fathom agreeing to a death sentence and allowing someone to blatantly kill me. I understand, it's a scary thought.
To those who said they don't know if they would stand—I am right there with you. I am a Christian and I am so undeserving but at the same time, I don't know if I could do it. I don't know if I would have enough courage to stand in that moment.
At the end of the day, we can all say yes, no or even maybe, but the truth is we are all unsure. We haven't been in that situation and we truly wouldn't know the answer until we were in the moment.
That's not my whole point, though. I want to say thank you. Thank you to those who stood Thursday morning at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore., when you were asked to. You didn't have to stand, but you did because you were confident in your faith. Thank you for standing up for what you believe in, even though you might not have known what the outcome was going to be. Thank you for being so brave and courageous. Thank you. From Christians everywhere, I think I can say that we will be forever be grateful for your sacrifice that day. You will forever be remembered and honored for your act of bravery.
To the families of those who were lost that day, I am so sorry. I can't imagine the way you feel right now, but you should be proud that your loved was so confident in their faith that they stood and proclaimed it. I will forever look up to those that were lost that day in awe, because to me that was heroic.
And to everyone injured and involved in this horrific tragedy, I hope you all know that you are in the prayers and thoughts of so many Americans.
That brings me to my question—would you stand? I think I would.
