May 5, 1999
EDITORIAL:
It takes a church to raise a child
___Thank God for Cassie Bernall--a strong, courageous, beautiful Christian martyr.
___And thank God for her Christian parents, Misty and Brad Bernall, as well as her faithful congregation, West Bowles Community Church in Littleton, Colo.
___If not for the persistent "tough love" of her parents and the gentle, affirming ministry of her church, Cassie might have been an accomplice to the murderers at Columbine High School rather than a shining new member of the martyrs' hall of fame. If not for the grace of God, Cassie might be facing everlasting hell rather than spending eternity with her Lord in heaven.
___Cassie died with a testimony on her lips.
___During their murderous rampage in the high school library, one of the attackers pointed a gun at Cassie and asked, "Do you believe in God?"
___Cassie, a 17-year-old junior, paused. Witnesses said she didn't seem to halt in order to make up her mind, but to recognize the consequences of her answer.
___"Yes, I believe in God," she replied. Some fellow students reported she added, "I belong to the Lord Jesus."
___"Why?" the gunman demanded. But before Cassie could respond, he pulled the trigger and ended her earthly life.
___From a worldly perspective, Cassie's death is the most ironic among the dozen students and a teacher murdered in Littleton.
___Just a couple of years ago, she seemed a likely candidate for the Trench Coat Mafia, the gang of high school outsiders that spawned Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold.
___When Cassie was in ninth grade, "I had that gut feeling that something was wrong," her mom told ABC News last week. "I couldn't pinpoint it, but I just knew something was wrong."
___The Bernalls learned Cassie was interested in witchcraft and was involved with drugs and alcohol. They searched her room and found letters that talked about harming parents and others.
___Stunned, they responded firmly, courageously, lovingly. "We knew what we felt was best for her and what we felt we had to do," Misty Bernall said. "She could not make (wise) decisions for herself, so we had to make them for her."
___They changed her school and cut off contact with friends who had exerted wicked influences on her. They searched her room and backpack. They monitored her actions. Besides school, about the only place she was allowed to go was church. And that made all the difference.
___Before long, she went on a weekend church youth retreat. Somehow, God used youth minister Dave McPherson and the other kids to get through to Cassie. "When she left, she was this gloomy, head-down, say-nothing" troubled teen, her dad reported. "When she came back, her eyes were wide open and bright, and she was bouncy and just excited about what had happened to her and was just so excited to tell us. It was like she was in a dark room, and somebody turned the light on, and she saw the beauty that was surrounding her."
___So, Cassie transformed from a candidate for the Trench Coat Mafia to a winsome Christian leader in her youth group. She might've become a defiant, angry co-conspirator. Instead, she said on video two days before her death: "You really can't live without Christ. It's, like, impossible to really have a really true life without him."
___One wonders how thousands of lives might be different today if the parents of Harris and Klebold had intervened in their lives, if those boys had been exposed to the sweet gospel of Jesus in a loving church youth group.
___Christian parents, never underestimate the power and influence your Christian witness will have on your children. Love on them every day, and raise them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, no matter how hard the task, no matter how discouraged you get.
___Churches, support your ministries to children and youth. Sure, they can be expensive and sometimes chaotic. But they change lives and shape eternity. Only God knows how much good you do.
___As Cassie's sweet, courageous life proved: It takes a church to raise a child.
___ --Marv Knox
E-mail the editor at marvknox@flash.netFrontpage / Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!