In the wake of Americas latest worst mass shooting in history, this time in Los Vegas, there has been the initial response of shock, horror and crushing sadness. And there should be. After all this is an incomprehensible tragedy. Precious lives have been senselessly stolen from loved ones. This should never be!
And then we have the very predictable secondary responses: The left screams, “America needs more gun control!” while the right stampedes to the nearest gun shop to buy more guns. Both sides have lost the plot of the story of what it means to be fully human. Less guns will not cure Americas problem with violence, more guns will not protect you from more violence. Both represent a myopic ideology. No America, you have a bigger problem. Your whole civilization is built on and dependant upon violence and exploitation. It has been that way since day one and has only gotten worse. The cure to the problem has nothing to do with more gun control. It has nothing to do with attempting to legislate morality. The cure is something that will take a complete change in your way of thinking.
America, you are not a Christian nation.
You have never been a Christian nation.
Never.
What does it mean to be a Christian? The term was originally a derogatory one used of the followers of “The Way” in the first century by the Romans. It means “little Christs.” The violent, powerful empire of the time was confused and disgusted by the counter intuitive lifestyle of the early church who lived according to the example of Jesus. While Rome killed, tortured, mocked and persecuted the followers of the Way, the Christians responded as their master did. With non-violence, with love, with forgiveness. After all, Jesus is the one who contradicted Moses of the Old Testament, telling them (in Matthew 5:38-48 NASBS)
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.’ But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
He didn’t just say these things either. He lived by them and died by them. Jesus, the perfect representation of God the Father allowed violent people to torture and kill Him, and forgave them as they did so, giving us the most vivid demonstration of Gods heart toward us. That He would rather die forgiving us than to respond to us with violence and hatred.
What would it look like, for you to be a Christian nation America? Instead of spending billions upon billions of dollars “bombing the shit” out of your enemies, why don’t you take that money and send civilians instead of soldiers to your enemies to inflict upon them acts of love and compassion. Why don’t you use that money to help the needy and destitute among your own people. Why don’t you use your vast resources to bring hope and healing? Violence only breeds more violence. The most vicious weapon you have that will destroy the cycle of violence is the very one that Jesus Himself used—forgiveness.
When Jesus was asked the question by a Jewish lawyer, “What is the most important commandment under the law?” He responded by saying, “Love your God with all of your heart and love your neighbour as your self.” In other words, proper worship and social justice. America, is this what you are known for? Or do you perhaps have more of a world wide reputation for your military machine?
“But”, you say, “we need our military might! Otherwise our enemies will destroy us.” Yes, maybe your enemies would destroy you. Love makes you vulnerable. But maybe, just maybe you could heed the advise of Abraham Lincoln who would destroy an enemy by making him his friend. Friends don’t destroy friends. Here’s some advice: Money talks. Look on your dollar bill and see if it still says “In God We Trust”.
The vociferous call of the Christ to repentance, the call to forgiveness and non-violence still resonates throughout the millennia, and still you manage to drown it out with your worship teams in your mega churches and in your prayers asking God to bless you as you send your young men and women overseas to bring acts of violence to people who need forgiveness. These mass shootings are simply a symptom and a natural result of a society built upon the shaky foundation of violence and hatred. The violence will simply grow larger every time you respond to it with more violence. The only way to end this is repentance—a change in how you think. Its time to embrace the way of Christ. Its time to be the kingdom of God. Its time to become a Christian nation.
fabulous! brave bold and TRUE@
Lincoln? You mean the guy that started the Civil War? The war that killed 620,000 people which is more than all other wars combined up until Vietnam?
That’s not actually accurate. I did some research on that. Did you miss the point of the article perhaps?
I completely agree; I really do. Not that long ago I wrote nearly the exact same think on my own blog. My thoughts on the matter are shifting a bit, though. When it comes to gun violence, I don’t think it’s an either, or proposition. I’m not one to jump to demands for stricter gun laws; I enjoy shooting with my son, and would like to own a gun of my own some day, just for recreational shooting, but the fact is, no other “civilized” country in the world has the lax gun laws that we do, and presumably as a result, they don’t have the problem of gun violence that we do. It’s true that violence is part of the human “nature,” if you will, and the only true cure is Jesus. However, it would be like suggesting that we shouldn’t bother to have seat belts and air bags in cars, because it isn’t the innocent victim’s fault that other drivers are stupid and cause accidents. I know, it’s not a perfect analogy, but I hope you get my point.
As believers, I fully believe that we need to seek to make God’s love and reconciliation known to all people, so that hearts are changed, and that we will hopefully see a day when violence is put to an end, altogether. Until then, however, I think it behooves us to also establish sensible protections that help prevent such mass murders. We won’t stop murder altogether, but a person wielding a knife is a lot less capable of injuring nearly 500 people than a man with an automatic machine gun.
Kevin. Thank you for your thoughtful comment. I agree with you. There does need to be certain restrictions as to what kind of weapon the average person can own. There is no need for everyone to have an AK-47 leaned up against the wall in their living room. However, it still is a matter of the heart. I spend roughly an hour every day in a potential weapon of mass casualty. In fact, one that is getting more and more popular with terrorists these days. A big truck. I have a 2017 Ford superduty with a 6.7L Diesel that weighs about 8000lbs has 440 horsepower and 925 foot/lbs of torque. Imagine what that would do if I chose to drive it through a crowd of people. Do we outlaw all large powerful trucks? Not likely. The root of the problem has to do with rejecting the way of Jesus and as long as people reject the way of Jesus, people will keep killing each other with what ever they can find.
Great post, Ryan. You’re right on.
Thanks Chris!