Fifteen kids and two adults whose professional lives revolved around them died in a school shooting on Valentine’s Day last week. In addition to being the seventh school shooting this year, it was the largest mass shooting since the Texas church massacre just over three months ago. I’ve been thinking about these two events a lot because I’m a teacher and a pastor.
I have a lot of friends, family members, and parishioners on both sides of the “gun control debate.” I know the second amendment word for word. I’ve also lived and worked in three other countries where the gun issue is dramatically different. I’ve stayed up late at night reading articles from both perspectives and I think I have a pretty good handle on the various sets of statistics out there.
I know that the U.S. has the highest per capita gun ownership in the world and also the highest gun-related crime rate. I know that Australia’s dramatic assault weapons ban and mandatory confiscation program seems to have reduced gun-related deaths dramatically, but has also severely curtailed opportunities for Australians to buy sporting rifles.
I know that the very term “assault weapons” is vague: several popular hunting rifles are more powerful and have similar characteristics, handguns are more often involved in mass shootings than AR-15s, and machine guns are already banned.
I’ve heard the old adage that “guns don’t kill people, people kill people” and the idea that if teachers were armed there would be fewer school shootings. I also know that as soon as one begins to try to articulate any thought whatsoever on the topic of guns in America one is going to get blasted from one side or the other.
At the same time there has got to be a “middle way” forward. There have got to be some common sense measures from both sides that will make a difference. How can we just accept school and church shootings as normal? How can we just throw up our hands, blame the bad guy or the other guy and move on?
I’m also interested in what scripture has to say about all of this and how Christians on opposite sides of this debate seem to come at this problem so differently – often sadly characterizing the other side as un-Christian. After a lot of reading I think I’m getting a better handle on this dimension of the debate.
Some Christians have characterized the unregulated availability of firearms as a pro-life issue as much as abortion, euthanasia, and the death penalty.
Others have countered that any attempt to reduce free access to weapons is an infringement upon their God-given right to self-defense. They point to the Old Testament model of the men of Israel taking up arms to defend their nation and their families. They point out that Jesus called upon his disciples to sell their coats and purchase swords, and told them that an armed man keeps his castle and his goods at peace. They will tell you that living in a fallen world means that no matter how much the state attempts to refrain evil actions, bad people will find a way to do bad things and “if you criminalize guns only criminals will have them.”
But still others point to Jesus’ overarching message of sacrificial love throughout his ministry and the witness of the lives of the apostles and New Testament church. Jesus said to love your enemy, not shoot them. Jesus told his disciples to put their swords away, to combat evil with good, and to advance the kingdom with love. The heroes of the faith from the first century onward were never action heroes defending themselves with swords, they were martyrs who died knowing their savior and holding to the promise of the gospel.
Let me add two other thoughts that I think are good for Christians to wrestle with.
First, we need to think carefully about how we talk about our “rights” versus how we present our “witness.” Jesus says, “Give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s.” St. Paul further articulates the mindset of the Christian with regards to the role of the state in his letter to the Romans. What is clear is that the individual’s role is distinct from the states. It’s the state’s role to protect its citizens through the military and police. We get this. That’s why we restrict ownership of rocket launchers and nuclear weapons. I know this is challenging, but I believe Christians should think really hard about the appropriateness and witness of owning military-style weapons. If we are truly concerned with tyranny, we would be more aligned with Jesus’ words in democratic engagement than in the masque of armed resistance.
Second, I was concerned to read that a former executive vice president of the NRA compared his organization to “one of the great religions of the world.” That really got me thinking. Most Christians would define an idol as anything that is elevated above God. Christ calls us to put our entire trust in Him. That’s the message of the Apostle Peter’s first letter – not that we put our hope in our firearms or the second amendment, but in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In fact our unique calling is to live out this hope in such a way that the world will want to know about it! The Bible doesn’t speak against gun ownership, but if I’m placing my hope in my guns above my Savior, I’m not only guilty of idolatry, I’ve missed the whole point!
Is there a solution to gun violence? Not a comprehensive one – but there are obvious steps I believe we can take. If Christians will lay down suspicions and walk together in faith we can help lead our churches and schools to a safer future. Yes, prayer is an appropriate response to a tragedy, but failing to really examine these issues and failing to take action in the face of the loss of innocent life is simply inexcusable.
Each month a member of the Cook County Ministerium will offer Spiritual Reflections. This week our contributor is Daren Blanck, pastor of Zoar Church in Tofte, a teacher at William Kelley High School and a student of Beyond the River Academy, a ministry program of Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ.
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