The Gospel And Gun Violence

What US Church Leaders Can Do About Gun Violence

Why do you love your guns more than our sons?

- Propaganda (Cynical)

Allow me to address an injustice that isn’t necessarily seen as an injustice across North America - gun violence.

After all, how many times have you heard the widespread injustice of gun violence mentioned in a sermon by an US Pastor?

And there’s a good reason for that - fear. Fear of ticking off the largest tithers. Fear of being cancelled outright by far right members and neighbours. Fear of saying the wrong thing.

But perfect love casts out fear. And perfect love - the self-sacrificing love that Christ displayed on the cross for us - demands that we risk everything to protect our neighbours’ lives.

In the aftermath of the Allen, Texas outlet mall mass shootings that took 9 lives this week, I’ve seen a lot of US church leaders tweeting praises for “justice being served” with the first responders’ swift response in subduing the shooter.

But justice Jesus’ way isn’t just responding to acts of injustice - it’s also doing everything within our ability to prevent these injustices from happening in the first place. Because there’s nothing that God hates more than violence against those who bear his image. And because things do not have to be this way.

Justice isn’t just being reactive in stopping violence; it’s also being pro-active in protecting people from experiencing violence in the first place. But that takes courage.

The widespread prevalence of the injustice of gun violence in America is an indictment of the US Church’s failure to bring the power of the Gospel to full bear against this injustice. And it’s an indictment of the failure of US Church leaders to adequately disciple their people in understanding how the Gospel of Christ compels us to lay down our lives & rights for the sake of our neighbours’ well being.

US Church leaders have a choice before them right now: Complicity or Courage.

They can either complicitly choose to look the other way and make excuses (like, “It’s a mental health issue”). Or they can do what’s right by courageously challenging their people to proclaim the Good News of Christ to the culture of death they find themselves in - by being willing to lay down their rights & privileges (like the 2nd Amendment) for the common good.

Or in other words - they can either choose fidelity to the 2nd Amendment or they can choose faithfulness to the 2nd Commandment.

If you’re a US church leader reading this and feeling challenged by the Spirit to move your church into action on this issue, here are a few practical things you can do to prophetically shepherd your people towards advocacy:

1. Acknowledge the reality of the injustice of gun violence in your sermons & announcements. Unpack how the Good News of Christ speaks to this injustice and this cultural moment. Your people are waiting to be shepherded & discipled on this justice issue.

2. Start a book study / book club for members interested in wrestling with this topic more. I’d highly recommend authors like Shane Claiborne & Taylor Schumann. But also the early church fathers who were largely pacifistic in resistance to the violence and conquests of the Roman Empire. George Kalantzis’ Caesar and the Lamb is a great place to start for a high level overview of this.

3. Advocate with elected officials (State Representatives, State Senators, Congressmen, Senators, Governors, etc.). You can either do this by having your members write letters to them or you could band together a few other community leaders (ex: church leaders, business leaders, etc.) in your town and ask for a meeting with these elected officials to push them to action against gun violence. In another lifetime, I spent many years working for conservative Republican state legislators in Georgia. They were passionate about protecting the 2nd Amendment. But they also cared deeply about what pastors & business leaders in their district cared about.

4. Alternatively, look for ways to partner with expert advocacy organizations pushing for the end of gun violence such as Everytown, Moms Demand Action, etc.

Finally, if you have elected officials who are members of your church - you have a responsibility to lovingly shepherd them by prophetically speaking truth to power. Urge them as their pastor to do whatever is necessary to protect lives from gun violence.

I’ve heard countless stories of Kenyan, Filipino & Ghanaian church leaders exerting pressure on their elected official congregants who sometimes needed an extra nudge in the direction of justice. Don’t let the influence you have over these precious congregants with power go to waste. Because to do so would be to dishonour the charge of faithfully shepherding the flock among you (1 Peter 5:2).

Above all - do something. Because doing nothing in the face of violence & injustice is not an option for a church that is faithful to the Gospel of Christ.