Are We Fueling the Evil Behind Vance Boelter’s Assassinations in Minnesota?

The politically motivated assassinations that happened in Minnesota are evil in so many different ways. And if we're not careful, all of us will be part of the reason why.

Welcome to Provoke and Inspire, where I wrestle with culture and current events by asking: What would Jesus think, and what would Jesus do?

I'm from Minnesota, and so the events of the past weekend were horrific in so many ways. I was like so many people—on my phone, seeing notifications pop up as things started to unfold. And as the details emerged, it just kept getting worse and worse.

But right alongside the tragedy was this predictable, parallel story. This happens all the time now, no matter what the news event is: immediately, both sides of the political aisle start assigning blame and trying to label the monster behind the act.

At first, people assumed he was a liberal. A lot of Republicans began saying, “This is what happens when you allow Marxism,” noting that he worked for Governor Tim Walz, and so on. But then, as more facts came out—and maybe more still will—the most current understanding is that he was actually a far-right extremist.

Regardless of whether he was left or right, the other tragedy here is that, as a society, we no longer take the time to stop and mourn. Instead, we instantly try to force what happened into some kind of political narrative.

And maybe that’s understandable for the world. But this is Provoke and Inspire, and we’re supposed to be followers of Jesus. That means our views are derived from Jesus.

As followers of Jesus, we should be better. And yet, too often, we’re not. In this case, I saw Christians rush to say, “Oh, he’s left,” and then scramble to backtrack when it turned out he was far-right.

It’s like we’re all just looking for evidence to demonize the other side. Someone commits an act of evil, and the first thing we want to know is their voting record—so we can say, “See? They’re the problem.”

In moments like this, our loyalty should be to something higher. Because of that, we should see the humanity of the situation. We shouldn’t be fueling hostility, division, and tribalism. We should be mourning the loss of life. We should be broken by the sin, hate, and evil in our world. And we should be looking for common ground—agents of unity.

This is not acceptable. Not politically. Not morally. Not spiritually.

We must come together as fellow image-bearers of God and figure out why we are fueling this hate. Why is it leading to such extreme acts?

Proverbs 18:2 says, “Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions.” Sadly, that’s us. Even as Christians, we often care more about voicing our opinions than representing Jesus. And because of that, we miss the opportunity for true understanding.

James tells us to be slow to speak, quick to listen, and slow to become angry. Imagine how this alone could transform our witness as followers of Jesus.

‍