Not sure if you’ve heard about the shootings in Colorado that happened at a YWAM base and a church, resulting in five deaths including the attacker. I didn’t know anyone involved, but I did attend that very same YWAM base in the fall of 2000, so a number of people have been asking how I’m doing as a result.
I’m doing fine. Like I said, I didn’t know anyone involved so it seems as disconnected as any other of these types of shootings that I hear about. At the same time, the fact that it happened within the context of a program I have been a part of has given me a chance to ponder a little deeper about the incident. Two things about it concern me.
You can read about the incident on your own, but one thing I want to discuss is how it ended. The gunman shot two people at a large church and then when he walked into the church an armed security guard shot and killed him. I read a few articles discussing church security and it appears a number of large churches do in fact have armed security in the church. This is only my personal opinion, but I don’t think I could attend or be a part of a church that uses guns as a means of ‘security.’ I strongly believe in non-violence and I think there is a large precedent for non-violence in what we see of Jesus and the gospels as well as the early church. I don’t believe guns and churches are a good match.
Secondly, I was alarmed by the comment of the pastor of the church concerning the security guard. Given the context, I understand the pastor and others applauding her as a ‘hero’ and the press that she received, however, and this is probably just rhetoric, some of his words alarmed me. The pastor at New Life Church, Brady Boyd, said the guard “probably saved over 100 lives,” when she shot and killed the gunman. Here’s my concern: When a pastor talks about ‘saving lives’ I would think he would not depart from his religious beliefs. As Christians, we believe that our lives are more then just the physical one we sustain on this earth and we believe that being saved has a lot more to do with are spiritual life rather then simply the prolonging of this physical one. According to the Bible, it is only by Jesus that we are saved. Jesus saved humanity by violently dying a criminals death not by killing others.
My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of those involved.
Thank you for bringing up the issue of an armed guard in the church. This has been making me heart-sick since I first heard the story, and it’s good to feel a little less alone in that.
you always think of things differently than the masses. thanks for expressing your thoughts and helping others not to mindlessly accept the norm as the right thing.
Hey Ariah!
This Adam Bamford, a long lost voice from your Wheaton dorm days;-) Glad to find your blog and to read about how you & your family are getting along in life.
I appreciate your thoughts on this incident. I am increasingly finding myself in a season of serious musing over the issue of non-violence. I completely agree with the underlying sentiment of what you’re saying with regard to a body of believers being protected by firearms. Yet I also find myself playing devil’s advocate in this matter…
I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on reconciling the reality that many of us are implicitly condoning other violent structures with various other lifestyle choices that we make beyond our faith community. For instance, if we live in a state that enforces the death penalty, then our tax dollars effectively fund murder… or if we live in a city and pay taxes for police protection, is that not a similar scenario? I realize this is a fairly slippery slope, but I’m wondering where the slope begins in this debate?
(Honestly, I have just started realizing these questions that I have, so I really don’t know where I come down on them:-)… I would value any insight that you can offer)
Namaste.
Peace be with the reader.
The good news is that the time has come,
the harvest is ripe. Soon this chaos will
come to an end.
you dont know me, i think. i was on staff at ywam denver from 1998 – 2000. I was in Australia most of 2000. i was waiting to go down this road.
it is hard to reconcile violence and the gospel of peace. if it is about saving lives, the question then is, how many lives can i take to protect other lives? what is the fair ratio? christians died for thousands of years without armed guards or protection. jesus spoke of another way. love our enemies and bless those who curse us. and if loving god and loving our neighbor are considered one and the same,what does it say when we do violence to our neighbor?
god doesnt ask us to do this because it neccessarily works, he asks us to do it because it is the way of his kingdom.
(i may post this comment on my own blog) peace.
I had similar thoughts. Even in a culture so obsessed with violence of all sorts, one would hope that the church wouldn’t buy into those values. What sort of message does an armed security guard even send in the first place? It’s scary how the church has sold out.
Great post. I’d be really interested in churches training people in non-violence.