Guns, Bombs, Children, Life

There are few collections of words that cause greater emotions than the phrase "pro-life." As the pastor of a church, I can assure you that many people considered abortion to be the single greatest influence on their voting in the 2016 election. This was true for many Christians in the 2012 and 2008 elections as well. Many people, especially Christians, consider the pro-life/pro-choice debate to be the foremost (or close to it) social issue on their minds.

But what does it really mean for someone to be pro-life? 

Genesis 1:26-27 reads,

Then God said, "let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth."

So God created humankind in his image

in the image of God he created them;

Male and female he created them.

The creation account in Genesis 1 shows God creating light and dark, water from water, land and seas, vegetation, sun and moon, and animals. All of these creations were 'good,' according to this account. however, scripture tells us explicitly that humanity was created 'in the image of God.' If people are created in the image of God, and are children of God who are valued by God, then Christians should by nature see the image of God in all other people.

To be pro-life is to value and affirm the image of God in all people.

Often, when people talk about being pro-life, they mean that they are anti-abortion. However, there are many other questions about 'life' that Christians need to consider in the early 21^st century. Are some lives more important than others? Can Christians demand the closing of abortion clinics and simultaneously support the bombing of another country that will certainly kill hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of innocent civilians? Should concession for abortion be made for women who became pregnant as a result of assault? Can Christians support the death penalty, even as an absolute last resort, and still consider themselves “pro-life?”

Even when talking about abortion, there are numerous concerns that Christians should consider besides simply "Should abortion be legal or not?" Making abortion illegal is not a "quick fix" that will be entirely effective. In spite of legal abortion in America, abortion rates in 2016 were in decline, and had been for some time. Access to contraception seems to be an effective way to reduce abortion rates, whereas poverty appears to be a major factor in the decision one makes to have an abortion. Perhaps if a person considers him or herself to be pro-life, he or she should focus efforts on contraception, poverty, and economic issues. A person on the poverty line without the ability to buy extra food, diapers, and clothes is going to have a harder time deciding to raise a child than a person who does not have these concerns. A person who cannot afford a large enough apartment to raise a child is going to have a harder time deciding to raise a child than a person who has a large apartment or a house.

Abortion is a pro-life issue. Poverty is also a pro-life issue. Christians should be concerned with both.

Pro-life, however, does not simply mean "anti-abortion." Bombing is also a pro-life issue.

A prominent pastor and a member of President Trump’s Evangelical advisory team said in August of 2017 that God has given Trump authority to “take out Kim Jong Un.”  This came on the heels of President Trump saying that if North Korea threatened the US, they should expect “fire and fury, the likes of which the world has never seen” (a terrifying statement to make in a world that has seen two nuclear weapons used in major metropolitan areas). It seems strange for a president who claims to be pro-life, and for Christian supporters of his who are staunchly pro-life, to support the annihilation of a country with 25 million civilians. If a person is pro-life, shouldn’t the lives of North Korean civilians matter, even if their leader says and does reprehensible things? For many Christians, the answer to that question lies in Romans, chapter 13.

Romans 13 appears to many to argue that Christians should submit to all ruling authorities. On its surface, that seems correct, as verses 1-2 say

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

Case closed, right? All political leaders were put there by God, and must be obeyed. This kind of thinking has long been held by many Christians. A group of Protestants in the 30's and 40's in Germany believed that they were to submit themselves and show loyalty to Adolf Hitler. The problem with this kind of thinking, of course, is that often governing authorities act in ways that are objectively evil. I don't know of a single person who considers the choice to kill six million Jews during the Holocaust to be an act ordained by God. Often leaders act in ways that are antithetical to the ways of God.

In Romans 13, Paul argues that God institutes and gives authority to governments. In other words, God institutes the idea of government. However, there will be (and have been) leaders who use their authority to do evil. In these cases, Christians are to give their loyalty to God above human leaders. In Mark 12, Jesus is asked whether it's right for religious folks to pay taxes to Caesar. Jesus responds, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's." He effectively says that yes, followers of God should recognize the authority of governments. However, he points to God's authority as well.

What is God authority over? Everything.

Therefore, Jesus says that we can recognize the government's authority, but we must also recognize that God has greater authority than even government.

Taking Jesus' words into account, we should recognize that God's authority is greater than human authority. Romans 13, then, should not be used as a blanket statement that “all people in a nation should simply bow to the leader(s) of that nation because God put them there and wanted them there for a reason.” When an earthly authority acts against the authority of God, that authority is to be resisted.

If the president talks about nuking a country with 25 million civilians, it is acceptable for Christians to look to God's authority over the authority of humans. It is a pro-life issue to care for the 25 million civilian lives in North Korea.

After all, God created humanity in his image, and values humanity.  

To be pro-life is to value and affirm the image of God in all people.

This includes civilians, the unborn, leaders, and people who have committed atrocities.

North Korean civilians possess the image of God. The unborn possess the image of God. If we are to consider ourselves pro-life, then we must be consistent. We cannot oppose abortion with one side of our mouths, and cheer on the deaths of millions with the other side. We must do what we can to value life in all of its forms. This includes recognizing the personhood of the unborn, while simultaneously opposing threats of nuclear annihilation. 

I am writing these words on Ash Wednesday; a day which introduces the season of Lent. This is a time in which Christians repent of the ways in which we have sinned, and turn our lives back toward God. This particular Ash Wednesday is also the day in which nearly 20 students and teachers were killed in a school shooting in Parkland, Florida. This Lent season, we need to repent for our failures to help end this kind of violence. Like a conversation about abortion, any conversation about gun control is bound to cause high emotions and heated debate. However, as we have seen, being pro-life means seeing the image of God in all people. We need to talk about this. We need to care about this.

I have many friends who love their guns and are deeply opposed to any kind of gun reform. But it is important for Christians to remember that no “thing” that we treasure can possibly compare with a person whose life bears the image of God.

Seventeen of these lives were taken earlier today.

If we want to call ourselves pro-life, we should do anything that we possibly can to cherish and protect the lives of all people who bear the image of God.

A ban on assault rifles and improved gun regulation could be a start. 

After the Pulse nightclub shooting in Florida in 2016, our church started what has become an unfortunate tradition. On the Sunday following a mass shooting, we will have pictures and biographies of the victims on a table in the back of the sanctuary. We have unlit candles to the side of the pictures, and invite people to light a candle in memory of one of the victims, and as a prayer for his or her family and loved ones. When we talk about a number of victims ("seventeen killed in Parkland"), it is easy to have a somewhat abstract conversation. When we think about a specific person, with a family and a future and hopes and dreams that were all taken away in an instant, we are reminded that these numbers represent people--people created in the image of God.

To be pro-life is to value and affirm the image of God in all people.

As a pastor and a Christian, I am called to see the image of God in those around me. Seventeen people created in the image of God were killed earlier today. Twenty-five million people created in the image of God have had their lives threatened. Thousands of unborn children created in the image of God have their lives taken from them. May we see the image of God in all of these people, and do what we can to protect and care for them.

Christians, We Need to Talk About This

Written Nov. 5, 2017

A month ago, I pulled out my phone recorder app, and gave some from-the-heart rambling thoughts about the previous days' shooting in Las Vegas. I put it on the website where St. Johns Christian Church's sermons are found. It's still there. That's noteworthy because the hosting site can only hold around a month and a half worth of sermons at a time. I have to cycle out the oldest sermons each week in order to upload the newest ones.

My thoughts on the Vegas shooting are still on the site.

It was just a month ago.

Today, there was another mass shooting.

One month, two major mass shootings.

Probably the hardest thing that I have to do as a pastor is to address tragedies in the world. They seem to happen more and more frequently lately, with devastating hurricanes, fires, and shootings all in the last couple of months. Each week that something terrible happens in the world, before preaching on whatever scripture and topic are planned for that Sunday, I lead the church in prayer for the victims, families, and (since Jesus taught us to love and pray for our enemies) the perpetrators of shootings.

But it gets harder and harder each time it needs to be done.

It seems like it would get easier. With basically anything else, you get better with repetition. I never used to enjoy praying in public, but doing it over and over made it easier. I used to hate calling people up and asking to come over and visit them (it really feels like an imposition), but I have no problem with doing it now.

Leading prayers in the wake of tragedies is different.

I always try to find some words of encouragement. Sometimes I plan them out ahead of time, sometimes I don't. Sometimes I'm working through my own feelings on stage, with everybody staring back at me. The Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando happened early on a Sunday morning. It had to be addressed, but there was no time or space to reflect. I was working through my grief alongside everybody else.

In these moments, I'm always looking for the right word to bring to the congregation. Often, there doesn't seem to be a 'right' word. Shortly after the Paris shooting in 2015, I remember stepping up on the stage, shaking, thinking about my planned remarks, and instead hearing myself in a defeated tone say the words, "Another one."

Mass killings are much harder for me to address than natural disasters for a couple of reasons.
First, with mass killings, you're dealing directly with the evils of humanity.
And second, I pastor a church with a lot of veterans, hunters, and people who carry. This is by no means the bulk of the church, but it's a significant group of people. I always want to be honest in the things that I say, but in the wake of mass murder, the question of "Does this need to be said, does it need to be said now, and am I the right person to say it" is constantly on my mind.

I'm about to say some things, knowing full well that it might cause defenses to go up. I understand that the rest of this post could make some enemies. However, we lit 58 candles at church one month ago in memory of and in prayer for the Vegas victims. Today, at least 26 people had their lives taken from them in Texas.

More candles to be lit. Each representing a life taken.

These lives deserve a conversation.

Here's where I'm coming from when I offer my thoughts: I'm not a gun owner. I've never been a gun owner. My parents weren't gun owners. I have many good friends--people whose outlook and opinions I trust dearly--who do own guns and like the current system of gun purchasing and ownership. I have other very good friends--again, people whose outlook and opinions I trust dearly--who would like stronger regulations on gun ownership.

I'm coming at this completely as an outsider. I have some common sense, and I have some understanding of scripture and of what I believe God's doing in the world, but I am not a gun owner, and I haven't been a part of the gun conversation before.

Mass shootings were always horrifying to watch and read about before I became a pastor. But now, I'm leading prayers again and again, and I'm having trouble finding any words of comfort for the people, because I know another shooting is probably a couple of months away.

If there's anything that could slow the likelihood of another two minute rampage that takes children from parents, spouses from one another, and brothers from sisters, then I want to be attentive to that. If some form of action could stop or lessen these killing sprees, then I want to consider it.

A couple of rebuttals come up whenever someone mentions gun control. People often point out that guns are tools. They will also mention that other things kill people too, for instance, the truck that was used to kill eight people earlier this week in NYC. To both of those points I would say this: yes, guns are tools. However, their purpose is to kill. A gun is made to kill. That's what they're for. The truck that was used to kill eight people has another purpose. Trucks are used to get from point A to point B. Trucks are used to haul heavy items.

But a gun, especially an assault rifle, is made to kill. It's a tool to kill. That's its purpose; that's what it's for.

Guns are killing machines. And we've become really good at making killing machines. We make them better and stronger and faster and more accurate. But their purpose is to kill.

Especially when we're talking about assault rifles, I'd counter this argument with a question: When does a person, an ordinary person, need an AR-15? When does a person need an AK-47? I'm actually asking. I don't understand why an ordinary person needs this kind of a gun. It doesn't make sense to me. You don't hunt deer with an AR-15. You don't hunt a prize buck with an AK-47.
The military uses them. I get that. But that's a different conversation. When it comes to assault rifles, I really don't see why an ordinary person needs one.

This thought leads me to another argument that I see on social media whenever there is a mass killing with something other than a gun, like the truck attack from last week: "This was done with something other than a gun. Guns aren't the problem. People will kill with whatever they can get their hands on."

I get the argument that's being made, but rifles seem to be able to kill a lot more people than trucks or knives, and mass shootings seem to happen way more often than knife attacks or truck attacks. Correct me if I'm wrong, but if an assault rifle can kill 50+ people in a manner of minutes at a concert without anyone being able to stop it, then maybe the assault rifle is better at killing than a knife or a truck (It's so hard to write that sentence and to talk so theoretically about the deaths of many people). If something so good at killing is so easy to come by, that seems to me to be a problem.

Also, I again ask, "What's the purpose of a regular civilian having an assault rifle?" When I was in high school, there was a nationwide scare because somebody was sending letters through the mail that were laced with anthrax. It seemed crazy to me, and I think to many Americans, that someone would be in possession of anthrax spores. I would have, and still would, support regulation on people obtaining anthrax spores. I would not support a "truck ban" simply because somebody ran down eight people with a truck. That was absolutely horrifying, but again, there is a positive use for a truck. However, I would support a ban on regular people having anthrax spores, because (correct me if I'm wrong...) no ordinary person needs to have access to anthrax spores.

Another thing people will often say is that guns don't kill people; people kill people. I get that argument. I also understand the "It's not a gun problem, it's a heart/sin problem" argument.  However, I wonder if the ease of buying an AR-15 is a good thing in a society that has such a heart/sin problem, or a mental health problem. Again, I've never been part of this conversation before, but common sense tells me that maybe it should be more difficult than it currently is to obtain one of these killing machines. If there is a rampant heart/sin/mental health problem in our society, then I really don't think easy access to an assault rifle is a positive thing.

I have a wife who I love. I have a son and a daughter who I love. I have roughly 50-60 people at my church who I love. It is destroying me to think about the horrors that occurred at a church service earlier this morning, and imagining the people I love in that unbearable situation.

My imagining is many people's reality today.

So here's where I currently am in regards to mass shootings, guns, and how to move forward:

Some gun legislation seems to me to be a good idea. There was talk about regulating bump stocks immediately after Vegas, but there hasn't been much more talk since then. Some kind of change seems appropriate. The "A killer is going to get a gun regardless of how hard it is to get it" argument doesn't really gel with me. That to me just sounds like giving up. When I hear that argument, I hear "There's nothing we can do. Just let the killers get their guns and kill." If there's even a possibility that advancing gun regulations on assault rifles could stop even one mass murder, it seems extremely appropriate to move in that direction.

That leads me back to my previous point: I don't understand why an ordinary person needs an assault rifle. Does anybody have a reason why someone needs an assault rifle? I'm all ears.

For this non-gun-carrying pastor of a church that has a number of proud gun-owners, I say this all in humility and with the understanding that I may not entirely know what I'm talking about. But what I say in confidence is that God values life. Let's get beyond the divisive talking points for a moment and recognize this truth: God loves his people. God loves his people so much that he taught his people to love other people. Jesus taught us to love our neighbors and even our enemies. We see God's Spirit moving in Acts to reach out to the whole world. God loves his people. God values the lives of his people.

If gun legislation--even just some legislation--would help in moving us away from the regularity of these horrors, then as a follower of a God who loves and values people, I think we should do it.

This isn't the end of this conversation. It's the beginning.

It's a conversation we need to have.

People are dying. Lives are being taken.

If you are a Christian who considers yourself "pro-life" (as many of my gun-owning friends do), then this should matter deeply to you.

I remember attending a Christian concert years ago, and a speaker came out midway through the show. This speaker began his talk by asking the crowd, "Who here considers themselves to be pro-life?" I remember thinking, "Here we go..." (I assumed he was there to give a pandering stump speech about abortion to get a bunch of Christian pro-lifers to buy his book in the lobby Am I cynical? Yes. Yes I am. Super cynical). He was actually there to convince people to support impoverished kids in other countries.
His point was well taken. Considering yourself to be pro-life should mean that you are concerned about life in all forms. This includes poor children who have needs (food, clothing, money) and have no ability to see these needs met.
It also includes the people who lost their lives in America's many recent mass shootings.

I'm concerned because we are one month out from 58 people having their lives taken away from them, and this morning, 26 more lost their lives.

Lives are sacred, and when someone takes a life, it is a tragedy. When someone is able to take many lives, it is unbearable. And when someone takes many lives just one month after someone else took many lives, well, we need to step up and do something about it. As followers of Christ, this should matter to us. God created them. God loves them. They're important. They're important to God, and they should be important to us.

They should be more important to us than our desire to have the right to own any kind of weapon that we want to own.

People's lives are more important than our right to own a weapon.

Here's where I ultimately land: if doing something like banning or regulating assault weapons will at least raise the likelihood that less people will lose their lives in a madman's rampage, then I think we should do it. God cares about people more than assault rifles, and we should care more about people's lives than about our right to have an assault rifle.

Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians that love is patient and kind. Let's work through this conversation with patience and kindness. But let's actually talk about changes that could be made. People matter. If we can keep some people from losing their lives, and keep individuals from committing atrocities, then we really should do it.