Every single night show either didn’t directly address the gun issue, or they made a strong statement in favor of enacting some form of gun control measures in the United States.
One late night host, however, diagnosed the Las Vegas in a much different fashion.
Instead of pointing the finger of blame towards an inanimate object, or pleading with government for help, Jeff Durbin skipped political talking points and went deeper into the root of the problem.
This is a monologue you will likely never see on mainstream, late night television – but it’s definitely worth the watch:
https://www.facebook.com/ApologiaStudios/videos/1351524981660466/
Jeff Durbin is a pastor from Apologia Studios, and host of a late night program currently airing on Facebook Live called ‘Next Week’ with Jeff Durbin.
Durbin abandoned his usual lighter monologue tone that mixes humor with serious issues of the day, and instead took a measured approach to explaining the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. While most of the other late night hosts with higher profiles reacted on pure emotion and immediately called for stricter gun control measures, Durbin chose to dive in to the root of the problem: the heart.
First, to help viewers understand how they should react to acts of evil such as the Las Vegas shooting, he carefully laid out how the world is structured:
“God was sovereign yesterday, he was sovereign the day before, he’s sovereign today and God has a purpose in all things,” Durbin explained, before citing Romans 8:28.
“All things work together for good, to those who love God and those who are called according to His purpose. We know that God never wastes a hurt. We know that the incident that took place in Las Vegas did not take God by surprise. We know that God has not been thwarted in His purposes. The God of Scripture is not like the gods of men, the gods that we create in our image.
“The God of Scripture says that He declares the end from the beginning, that He does according to His will among the inhabitants of the Earth and in the Heavens,” Durbin said. And it’s this sovereignty, over all existence, that provides us with a foundation for hope.
“We face this with hope for the future because of the God we serve who will have the final answer of justice in history,” he said.
Durbin then explained how man’s status before God is tainted because of sin, and pointed to Romans 3 for the answer that helps us understand the world in which we live – something he says secular culture cannot adequately do.
“There is none righteous. Their feet are swift to shed blood,” Durbin pointed out before going on to read more of the chapter and explaining man’s fallen status before God, and the truth about us as people in relation to Him as Creator.
“There is an answer that other shows won’t talk about. That secular media won’t talk about. But it’s an answer that requires humility. It’s an answer that requires us to acknowledge who we actually are and the world that we actually live in. And it’s not what we’ve said it is, and it’s not what we’ve made it to be. It’s God’s world. And as image bearers of God our only hope is not in legislation, bigger government, it’s not in trying to address mental health issues – it’s addressing the heart issue,” he said.
From there, Durbin transitions into a captivating description of the Gospel message, and how we have to acknowledging our true condition before God and submitting to him in humility.
A welcome message of truth during a difficult time. If you’ve never checked out Durbin’s show, it’s definitely worth a watch. Durbin is a very talented pastor who has been featured on Vice, is frequently out at Planned Parenthood clinics speaking truth in love, and has a powerful personal testimony. He recently started ‘Next Week’ as a way to engage with culture.
The show is free, as it runs live on Facebook every Tuesday night.