By Adam English
At the risk of offending, I feel compelled to express my dismay over the way the Christian community has approached the debate about guns. My fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, we have allowed political parties, news media and social media to frame the debate in terms of two options: gun rights and gun control.
In logic we call that a false dilemma. In theology it’s called conforming to the patterns of this world.
My primary concern here is not with the politics of gun laws. There are important legal arguments to be made both for gun rights and gun control. My concern is with the church — those who profess Jesus as Lord.
For the Christian, the first question on this issue should not be, “What are my rights or duties as a citizen of America?” Rather, it should be, “What would Jesus do, and what does he require of me?”
We have been hoodwinked into thinking that our only choice is between gun control and gun rights. We have been told that we must “take a stand” and choose a side.
If those of us who identify ourselves with the gospel of Jesus have nothing more to add than our vote for one party or another, if Christians have nothing more to do than pick the “right” side of the debate on background checks, if we think that the ministry of reconciliation has nothing to do with how we feel about guns, violence, self-defense and life-and-death scenarios, then we should just hang it up.
For too long we have allowed the “world” and its concerns to dominate our choices and dictate our voice. The Christian voice should be unique, different and sometimes even alien.
Our principle task is, as it has always been, to witness — that is, to demonstrate to the world a new and different way. We are called to testify to Christ, to be ambassadors for the gospel, and to proclaim what God has done.
I fear that we have relinquished this task in favor of mimicking the wisdom of the world.
The hard-nosed truth that the world teaches is that violence is a fact of existence. The virtue that the world values highest is the flinty resolve to defend oneself and one’s property and family at all costs.
In a dog-eat-dog, every-man-for-himself world, it is natural and necessary that we arm ourselves, conceal and carry as many weapons as we can, fight for what is ours and do whatever we can to ensure safety and security.
Christianity has never denied the cold realities of the world. It is not naively blind to the brute forces that make the world go round: Jesus died a violent death, after all.
But the Christian message is that, because the liberating power of the Spirit is at work in our hearts, we don’t have to live according to the world. We are not bound by what is natural and necessary.
Christian freedom means more than spiritual freedom from sin. It means freedom from the necessities and priorities of the world. It means freedom to love, forgive and work for reconciliation. And, lest we forget, love is not a natural or necessary thing; it is a choice.
What would it look like for all Christians to come together on the question of guns and violence? I don’t know, but I hope and pray that one day I might see it.