Mark 7:21–23

“For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”
—Mark 7:21–23 (KJV)

 A Nation Shaken by Evil

On August 27, 2025, a 23-year-old former student opened fire during a school Mass at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis. Two children were killed. Eighteen others—mostly students, were wounded. The shooter, armed with a rifle, shotgun, and handgun, had barricaded exits and fired through windows, unleashing terror on what should have been a sacred and safe gathering.

This wasn’t random. It was calculated, hate-filled, and tragically familiar.

As the nation mourns, we must ask: What drives a person to commit such horror? What force compels someone to target children in a church?

Jesus answers—not with psychological theory or political rhetoric—but with piercing truth: “From within, out of the heart of men…”

The Heart of the Problem

In Mark 7, Jesus confronts the Pharisees who were obsessed with external rituals. They believed defilement came from unwashed hands and unclean foods. But Jesus flips the paradigm: true defilement comes from within.

The human heart is not a neutral organ. It is a factory of sin.

John MacArthur puts it plainly:

“You’re not wicked because of what happened to you on the outside; you’re wicked because of what you already are on the inside. There is something wrong with your heart—not the physical organ, but your inner self, including your mind, thoughts, attitudes, motives, and desires.”

The shooter in Minneapolis didn’t become evil because of a weapon. The weapon was merely the tool. The heart was the source.

Scripture’s Diagnosis of the Heart

The Bible consistently teaches that evil is not merely environmental—it is internal. Consider these sobering verses:

• Genesis 6:5 — “Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
• Jeremiah 17:9 — “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”
• Matthew 15:19 — “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.”
• Romans 3:10–12 — “There is none righteous, no, not one… There is none that doeth good, no, not one.”
• Psalm 14:1–3 — “They are corrupt… There is none that doeth good, not even one.”
• Genesis 8:21 — “The imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.”

These verses do not flatter human nature. They expose it. They do not offer excuses, they demand repentance.

The Gospel Is the Only Cure

The heart is the problem. And only Christ can cleanse it.

No law can regenerate a soul. No therapy can remove guilt. No education can erase depravity. Only the blood of Jesus can make a sinner clean.

This is why All of Scripture Ministries exists—not to offer moral platitudes, but to proclaim the gospel that transforms hearts. We do not merely grieve the evil—we confront it with truth, and we call sinners to repentance.

What Must We Do?

Many today mistakenly assume that increased gun legislation is the answer to our societal crisis. Yet no number of laws—whether enacted by states or by our nation—can eradicate the deeper issue: the presence of evil in the human heart. As followers of Christ, we must recognize that the solution is not merely political but spiritual. The following are essential actions every believer must embrace in response:

• Examine our own hearts. Are we harboring pride, lust, envy, or deceit?

• Preach the gospel boldly. Evil cannot be legislated away—it must be crucified with Christ.
• Pray for revival. The only hope for Minneapolis, for America, for the world—is a spiritual awakening.

Let us not be passive in the face of evil. Let us be prophetic. Let us be urgent. Let us be faithful. Because the heart of man is desperately wicked—but the grace of God is greater still.