The men had been stripped of their shirts. They were then forced to kneel with their hands tied behind their backs. Their faces were pushed down into the last thing they would see—dirt.

Behind each of those kneeling – four or five I think; I forget their number, so stunned by the imagery – stood a man with a rifled weapon of some sort. There they nonchalantly stood as their leader – slightly in front and off to the side – justified with a political rant what they were about to do.

The news agency showing this scene instantly cut the recorded video to black when the leader finished his spiel and immediately reached down with his pistol to shoot the kneeling man beside him. In the blackness, the rest of the execution could be heard.

I’m not writing about this because I’m in favor of one faction or another in the civil war that’s taking place in Syria. That’s where the above scene occurred. I am apolitical about the world’s affairs, including those here in America.*

I’m writing about this because, even though I’m familiar with the nature of evil, I still found it incredibly shocking, and at the same time fascinating, that human beings can take the life of other humans in such a casual way. The shooters stood comfortably in their cruel power. Their demeanor came across as though they were masters over valueless, meaningless, dogs. The video struck me powerfully. I won’t be able to forget it.

It’s hard to not comment on the painful spiritual impact of such horror. We are surrounded by godless men and women. No amount of wishful thinking or politics will change that. In this doomed world, we will always have them. After all, this is their world.

It’s episodes like this that remind us why believers shouldn’t want to become attached to this world. If we do, it will without feeling devour us, sending us to an eternal death. And I don’t mean just by guns.

However, there is some good that can come out of these kinds of brazen episodes of evil. We can use them as motivation to spur our determination. We can face the evil by boldly witnessing to all the presence of God’s goodness and mercy; by declaring His plan to save us for the next world that’s eternally evil-free.

As things get worse, I pray there will be a felt need by us all to increasingly and urgently spread the gospel.

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*Click here to read my view on politics.