After the
horrific church shooting in Charleston, many are calling for Christians to
start carrying weapons to church. One GOP Presidential candidate, pastor Mike
Huckabee even said, “It sounds crass, but frankly the best way to stop a bad
person with a gun is to have a good person with a weapon that is equal or
superior to the one that he’s using.”
While we can
applaud Huckabee’s conscience for admitting how crass his statement sounds, we
must also point out how decidedly anti-Christian it is, too.
Thankfully,
we don’t have to look much further than the Christians who were the victims of
this shooting for a better example of how an actual follower of Jesus responds
to violence.
“No matter how much hate there is in the world, it's no match for
love" Chis Singleton, son of slain Sharonda Singleton, said. “Love is
always stronger than hate.”
And the daughter of Ethel Lance, addressing the killer directly in court,
said, “I will never talk to her
ever again. I will never be able to hold her ever again. But I forgive
you."
She added: "You hurt me, you hurt a lot of people. May God forgive you."
She added: "You hurt me, you hurt a lot of people. May God forgive you."
Anthony Thompson, husband of the slain Myra Thompson, echoed Lance's
daughter's words. "I forgive you, my family forgives you," he said.
Felecia Sanders, the grandmother who shielded her 5-year-old
granddaughter from the gunfire, but lost her son in process, told the killer
that the parishioners "welcomed you Wednesday night at our Bible study
with open arms."
She continued, fighting tears: "You have killed some of the most
beautiful people that I know… And it will never be the same. But as we said in
Bible study, we enjoyed you. May God have mercy on you."
Alana Simmons, granddaughter of victim Daniel Simmons, said:
"Although my grandfather and the other victims died at the hands of hate…everyone's
plea for your soul is proof that they lived and loved and their legacies will
live on.”
"Hate won't win," she concluded firmly.
A relative added, "I am a work in progress and I acknowledge that I
am very angry. But we are the family that love built. We have no room for hate
so we have to forgive."
While
Christians like Huckabee can only suggest bigger and more powerful weapons to
solve problems like hate and violence, these dear followers of Jesus – the ones
most directly injured by the murders – have demonstrated what the most powerful
weapons against hate really are – Love and Forgiveness.
Now, imagine
a world where Christians carry guns to church. Imagine a scenario like the one in
Charleston where the killer enters and is shot to death by a minister of the
Gospel of Jesus. What sort of message would that send? Certainly not one of
mercy, and grace, and love. How would that bear witness to the power and the
truth of the Gospel? Not at all.
The pastor
who lost his life in Charleston can stand before His Lord and Savior in
Eternity and hear the words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant” because the
evidence of the Gospel he preached is now on display in the midst of this
tragedy for the entire world to see.
This is why
Christian nonviolence makes sense. This is why Jesus commanded His followers to
overcome evil with love, not with more evil.
The killer
wanted to start a civil war between the races. If Christians listen to people
like Huckabee, the killer will get exactly what he wanted.
But if
Christians listen to their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, then the killer and
everyone else will, instead, experience the uncommon, otherworldly, extravagant
enemy love that only Jesus can teach us.
May the whole
world take notice of what a real follower of Jesus looks like in America today.
They are the loved ones of those who were gunned down by hate, but they are also
the family that love built, and they have no room for hate, only for love.
Thank you for
showing us what the love of Jesus looks like in the real world.
2 comments:
Exactly!
Thank you for this, Keith. When I see Christians react to this by vehemently clutching their guns tighter to their hearts, I feel close to despair. How did we fall so far? Your post reminds me that God is bigger than even this, and He is present and active, and full of mercy and love. I needed to hear that. ❤️
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