4. Reach out to the broken, bullied, and belligerent.
Often, the shooters in these kinds of tragedies are those who have been bullied, ignored, or marginalized in some way. When they finally snap, they retaliate with deadly violence.
We can help children and teenagers become change agents by equipping them to reach out to their peers with the Good News of Jesus. They can actively look for those at their schools who seem to be hurting, hated, or hate-filled and begin to pray for them, care for them, and share the Gospel with them, out loud with words.
At Dare 2 Share, our goal is to mobilize teenagers to be ambassadors of the hope of Jesus on their school campuses. We challenge them to sit at a different cafeteria table over lunch, to befriend the kids who sit by themselves, to pray for them, and to share the love of God with them. The last Saturday of every month, we mobilize teenagers across the world to participate in Go Share Day, during which hundreds of youth groups go out to serve their communities and share the Gospel, with love and humility.
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This prepares them to go back to their schools on Monday morning with missionary eyes, looking for the hurting to minister to, looking for the lost to find. God only knows how many school shootings have been prevented because some teenager reached out with the message of hope to a young person on the fringes.
5. Be ready to act when the time comes.
Jesus said His disciples should be “as shrewd as serpents and as gentle as doves” (Matthew 10:16). We can apply this truth to dealing with violent situations.
Challenge your children and teenagers to take immediate and decisive action if they see or sense danger. That action may be to run, lock a door, jump out a window, hide in a closet, or charge a gunman. It all depends on the situation. But the last thing they should do is nothing. Law enforcement officials have seen this proven true in countless situations.
And, it’s not just young people who must act—it’s also the Church. It’s time churches rally around the schools in their communities, both public and private, to pray for them, serve them, volunteer in them, and protect them.
What tragedies might be prevented and what hearts might be healed if the Church rose up as guardians of our nation’s schools?
I pray this blog equips you to help your children and teenagers dialogue about the recent mass shooting and gives you some practical truths you can encourage and challenge them with this week.
This article originally appeared here.
