Las Vegas Shooter Was a Loner

In Genesis, Chapter 3, the Lord said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.”

It’s almost as if the Lord was getting this truth out on the table early, right there in the third chapter of the first book.

“I’m a rebel Dottie, a loner. You don’t want to get messed up with a guy like me.”

These are the words of Pee-Wee Herman (not be confused with Tom Herman) from that classic flick, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure.

Pee-Wee’s words ring as true today as they did in 1985. You don’t want to get messed up with a  loner; more importantly you don’t want to be a loner. The last we heard of Pee-Wee, he was alone in the back of a movie theater in the dark doing . . . . well . . . . well, look it up. It is not good for man to be alone.

Like many this past week I watched the news on the Las Vegas Massacre. The word most often used describing Stephen Paddock, was “loner.” It appears in headline after headline. Have you noticed they can’t find out anything about this guy because nobody knew him. He had no friends. Now he’s a mass murderer. It is not good for man to be alone.

Michael Jackson apparently had very few, if any, adult friends. The people around him apparently did not feel close enough to him to tell him not to sleep with twelve year-olds and not take an anesthesia cocktail every night to sleep. Of course we know how that ended. It is not good for man to be alone.

I’m naturally introverted. If I was not a Jesus-follower and was left to my flesh, I wouldn’t have many friends. I would spend my free time with my wife, alone, or with a book. As it is, I’m in a local church where I have relationships, and I make an effort to build relationships with others, even though it does not come naturally. I have rarely regretted having made the effort. This is because, regardless of my natural proclivities, part of my humanness includes the need to interact with others.

The bottom line is, regardless of whether you are introverted and think you do not need the community of others or extroverted and know you do, you do need others. It is not good for man to be alone.

Not only will building relationships meet your need for community, but it has also been proven to mlitate against drug addiction, perversion in the back of movie theaters, and mass murder. For those reasons alone, it is highly recommended. GS

Leave a Reply