Hello, my friends,

Given the tragic events of yet another school shooting, I thought it would be best to ponder on the issue of how we Christians respond to gun violence. Especially in light of last week's conversation around what it means to be "pro-life," I believe gun violence is central to that conversation.

In this newsletter, I wanted to reimagine our Christian response to gun violence in the United States. This topic is extremely important to me and one that I believe damages our Christian reputation so deeply in our culture's eyes when we respond to it in the wrong way.

I pray you find this helpful and motivating in our continued advocacy for the victims of gun violence and our continued work toward making peace in this world.

Before we take a look at this topic, here are some things that have me thinking this week.

RESOURCES TO CONSIDER

​-No Compromise. This is one of the best podcast mini-series I have ever heard about the relationship between guns and American Christianity. It won the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Audio Reporting. It explores a specific social media empire with an unapologetic vision of gun rights, which is tied to the Christian homeschooling movement I was raised in. It is a must-listen.

​-The Gun Machine Ep 1: "The Machine We Make" Every time there is a mass shooting in America, the first question is why. When we look for answers, we tend to focus on the incident itself - who the shooter was, why they did it, and who parachutes in to debate the state of regulation — or lack thereof — that allowed it to happen. What we forget is the centuries of history that got us to this long emergency of gun violence in America. This is one of the best investigative looks into the relationship between gun violence and the gun industry. I cannot recommend this podcast enough.

​-"No One Said Destroying Our Idols Would Be Easy." I also highly recommend reading this excellent article written by Tyler Huckabee. Through the lens of the Old Testament, he brilliantly shows that guns can only become an idol when violence is already an idol. It is such a thought-provoking, biblically-based read.

​-Congress Legalized Assault Weapons in 2004—Guess How Many Mass Shootings Have Happened Since Then Did you know that the United States banned assault weapons in 1994? The ban lasted for 10 years and then it was allowed to expire. I hadn't ever known about this until several years ago. This article closely examines how the ban impacted American life and what life has been like after the ban expired.

​-Did Jesus really tell his disciples to sell their cloaks to buy swords? After writing on this topic, I will always get questions about Luke 22:36-38, where Jesus is heard telling his disciples, "if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one." This is a passage that has often been pointed to as the Biblical foundation for the 2nd Amendment. It's really important to untangle this passage from the ways it has been used and hear the point of what Jesus was trying to convey, which is, in his own words, "the fulfillment of prophecy." This is my short commentary on Luke 22:36-38.

​-The Patient Ferment of the Early Church: The Improbable Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire by Alan Kreider. This phenomenal work of history illuminates how and why the early church grew in the first four hundred years despite disincentives, harassment, persecution, and a strong commitment to nonviolence. Kreider is a veteran scholar and delivers the fruit of a lifetime of study as he tells the amazing story of the spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire. Challenging traditional understandings, he shows that the church grew because the virtue of patience (including nonviolence) was of central importance in the life and witness of the early Christians.

​-Moms Demand Action. I would also recommend you checking to see if there is a local chapter of this organization in your area. They are specifically working to end gun violence.

Okay, onto today's content.

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The Gun Problem Is A Sin Problem

In the tragic wake of yet another school shooting in our country, I continue to hear the phrase “it’s a sin problem, not a gun problem” used by Christians as a defense against regulating guns in any way. According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have already been more than 385 mass shootings in the United States in 2024.

Recent data from the CDC also shows that guns are now considered the leading cause of death among children in our country, even outpacing motor vehicles. You can read more details about that here from the New England Journal of Medicine.

In the face of continued tragedies and statistics like these, Imagine what our culture thinks about the God we claim to worship, when it hears so many Christians moving heaven and earth to demand legislation that would save fertilized eggs, yet not doing the same when it comes to gun violence, but only hearing them say “thoughts and prayers” instead.

Imagine what our culture thinks about the God we claim to worship when it hears so many Christians say “BAN IT!” when it comes to IVF or abortion, yet hears those same Christians respond with “Well, this is a complex issue that needs complex responses” and “bans don’t work” when it comes to gun violence.

Imagine what our culture thinks about the God we claim to worship when it hears so many Christians say, "This isn't a gun issue, it's a mental health issue!" yet continue to support a political party--that claims to be the Christian party--that votes against expanding access to mental healthcare and even choose to wear AR-15 pins on their cloths in Congress. The weapon most often used in mass shootings.

I just don’t think our culture would ever believe we are actually taking God’s call to “protect life” when this is what they hear and see from Christians.

I think all our culture sees is a desire from many Christians to control others on issues we’ve decided to take an absolutist, black and white approach in our thinking about all while taking a nuanced approach towards issues we think may impact our own rights, like gun violence.

I think this causes our culture to see us as not taking our faith seriously at best and be hypocritical at worst.

I think it can leave people with the impression that we care more about our guns than we do about the lives of others.

The reality is, we can’t expect the world to think we take the preservation of life seriously when we are seen moving heaven and earth on a single issue, while opposing common sense measures on other issues where lives are being lost. We’ve got to develop more theological integrity and consistency than what is currently being displayed.

God, Guns, and Glory

As a born and raised Idahoan, I grew up in gun culture, owned guns, reloaded shells in my garage, and maintained a concealed weapons license for years. Shooting was not only a consistent hobby for me but something I really enjoyed and excelled at. I shot everything from handguns to assault riffles on the firing range.

I don’t have a memory without guns. Being taught gun safety as a young kid was just a normal part of rural Idaho life. Hunting and self-defense were just common cultural elements.

But what stands out to me as an adult now is more than just being introduced to guns at a young age, it was what guns symbolized for me and my friends, especially within the Christian circles I ran in.

Guns were treated as a symbol of pride and independence. The way the 2nd amendment was presented in my social circles, I understood it to be on the same level of sacredness as my Christian faith and patriotism.

In my church, it was also made clear to me that faithful Christian patriots would play a pivotal role in defending the cause of Christ during the tribulation period of the End Times and gun training was part of what we needed to do in order to be prepared. I thought about this often as I learned how to reload ammunition in my garage as a kid. The gun was not only presented as a symbol of my patriotism but also my faith.

Then add into this context the narratives of my favorite block buster movies growing up, like Arnold Schwarzenegger in “Commando,” or Mel Gibson in “Braveheart” and “Patriot,” and many others. Movies like this created a sense of valor, strength and personal identity as a young man whenever I held my gun and fired at the shooting range.

I understood that it is what truly brave men did. It was not only part of who I was as an American, it was my duty as a Christian man. These notions would be solidified by pastors of mine who called themselves "pistol packing preachers" and attending events like the “God and Country Rally,” which I would attend annually with my youth group.

By the time I received my concealed weapons license as a 19-year-old, I understood it as a social rite of passage. I had finally checked one of the central boxes of manhood in my rural Idaho culture.

I was also told numerous times by many, including the sherif who taught my concealed weapons course, that police officers would look more favorably on me now that I had done the work to receive my concealed weapon's license. I concealed carried my Glock 45 everywhere, from work, shopping, and even church. For years, it was just something I put on as I grabbed my wallet and keys before leaving the house. It made me feel prepared and safe, but also it made me feel like a strong and honorable man in the eyes of those I admired.

I left my guns in Idaho when I moved to Kansas City for seminary. It felt like I was leaving part of my identity behind. Yet, something happened I wasn't expecting. As I studied church history and scripture more closely than I ever had before, the symbolism around guns began to change for me.

I read the nonviolence of early Christian martyrs and their critique of the violence of the empire in shocked awe. I was stunned to see how Emperor Constantine introduced violence into the Christian faith when he made Christianity the official religion of Rome. I then read Isaiah, Micha, Joel, and other prophets like Zechariah, and were blown away as they prophesied about weapons being hammered into garden implements and nations not training for war anymore when the Messiah came.

I was blown away at the reality of how Jesus, the commander of legions of angel armies, insisted on swords being sheathed and enemies being loved rather than hated and eliminated. How he rode into Jerusalem, not on a warhorse and with an armed militia to secure his rightful rule as king, but rather seated on a donkey, non-violently resisting the violent ways of Rome with his disciples, while preaching a radical message of forgiveness.

I was so undone when I read passages like John 13:1-17, where Jesus knew that God had given him all power and authority and he immediately turned and expressed that power, not by violently overtaking Rome for his own purposes, but by washing his disciple’s feet.

It shattered my ingrained nationalism to hear Jesus talk about the glory of God being revealed through him by being lifted up on the cross rather than taking the throne of power over the kingdoms of the earth.

Revelation 19 shows Jesus riding on a white horse with the legions of angel armies behind him, armed to the teeth, and the battle of Armageddon. It was one of my favorite passages growing up, where Jesus seemed to fit all the narratives of glorious battle and manhood I had learned. A battle I had always believed I would play a major role in when the time came.

Yet here again, when I read this chapter more closely, this battle turned out to not be a battle at all. The angel armies never engage. They just stand there. Jesus never draws no weapon, but puts an end to evil, death, and the dominion of sin with a single word. A word that is sharper than a double-edged sword, more powerful than any weapon could ever hope to be. Even now I can’t even write these words without being in awe at the power of that kind of radical love.

The narratives of patriotism, Christianity, and especially masculinity just didn't seem to fit what I was learning about Jesus. I arrived at the point of having to choose between the ways of Jesus and the Christianity I had inherited. It was such a difficult journey for me.

I came to realize that it is a fragile god who needs weapons and armies to fight their battles for them. So different from the God revealed in Christ Jesus. The God of scripture, the God of angel armies, creates and ends paradigms, not with weapons, but with a Word. The Word made flesh. Jesus Christ, God incarnate. The one who sounds like a lion, has all the mighty power of a lion, but when you turn and look, like John did in Revelation 5:5-6, you see the Lion of Judah exercise His power not as a lion, but as the slaughtered lamb.

Needless to say, getting to know Jesus, the early church, and scripture in a more intimate way, caused me to dramatically reimagine the beliefs surrounding my patriotism, my faith, and my masculinity, especially in how they related to weapons. I would eventually let my concealed weapon’s license expire and would part ways with my Glock.

I write this not out of being for or against the 2nd Amendment or being for or against self-defense. I write this to encourage a more thoughtful dialogue around dismantling and reimagining the narratives around guns in cultures like ours. It is an invitation to see how and why guns have become so tied to Christianity in our country. To see how powerful gun lobby groups have exploited such a tie for their own personal and political gain, while people in our country suffer and die.

What Does The Data Say?

According to The Violence Project, a nonpartisan research group that tracks U.S. mass shooting data dating back to 1966 has found that 98% of mass shootings have been committed by men. In light of data like this and in the wake of so many mass shootings in this year alone, I cannot help but think of my experience growing up with guns every time the shooter is someone just like me.

An article from Bloomberg states that U.S. gun owners possess 393.3 million weapons, according to a 2018 report by the Small Arms Survey, a Geneva-based organization, which is higher than the country’s population now of about 330 million. The gap is likely growing after Americans went on a gun-buying spree during the Covid pandemic.

Matthew Soerens wrote an insightful article for Christianity today, in which he wrote, "The United States is the only country in the world with more civilian-owned firearms than people. We have a rate of death from gun violence higher than in Somalia, Syria or Afghanistan and far, far higher than in other countries with economically-prosperous democracies: eight times higher than Canada, 100-times higher than in the United Kingdom and 200 times higher than in South Korea or Japan."

In the United States, though, white evangelicals are both more likely to own guns than the overall population and less likely to support stricter regulations on gun ownership, and most evangelical gun owners cite “protection” (not hunting) as the primary motivator.

Candidates seeking to appeal to evangelical voters proclaim their support for “God and guns” in the same breath – suggesting a syncretism that many global Christians view as idolatrous.

That view is also shared by many non-white evangelicals within the U.S. While few white-majority evangelical denominations have a stated denominational position on gun policy, the Asian American Christian Collaborative responded to a recent string of mass shootings with a biblically-rooted, policy-specific call for reforms that was also affirmed prominent leaders of national networks of Latino and African American Christians.

“We are called to bring attention to the dangers and sin of political idolatry,” the statement says, “especially when they lead to the destruction of life. As followers of Christ, our allegiance is primarily to Christ and His Kingdom. Christians must stand together to denounce all forms of idolatrous worship, including the idolatry of individual rights (and all its entailments) over God’s commandment to love our neighbors.”

Soerens goes on to point out the recent findings from a Pew Research survey, which shows that "nearly four-in-ten white evangelicals believe that the U.S. Constitution – which includes the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms – is divinely inspired. Plenty of non-U.S. Christians admire the U.S. Constitution, but they’re troubled by the seeming equation of this human-composed document with a descriptor they would ascribe only to the Bible. Our sisters and brothers from other parts of the world – and from historically marginalized Christian communities within the U.S. – are challenging us to recognize guns as a Second Commandment concern, lovingly imploring white Christians to examine whether gun ownership has become an idol for many American Christians."

Idolizing Guns Is Part Of The Gun Problem

When I read about statistics like this, I cannot help but think how the gun was a symbol of my patriotism, my masculinity, and my faith. How it was presented as a tool of independence and strength. How my Evangelical community would call people from other religions who tied their theology to their guns and their nation's flag "terrorists," all while calling Christians in America who did the same thing, "patriots." I cannot help but think of how easy it would be for someone to use these narratives to then ultimately justify using a weapon to forcefully express not only their anger towards others but their patriotism and faith just like the heroes of masculinity I learned about growing up. Add to these narratives the reality of mental illness and the easy access of guns, and as we have seen, the results can quickly become deeply tragic.

I had the picture of manhood, patriotism, and Christianity I was given by my rural Idaho culture radically transformed the more I got to know the person of Jesus. It is my deep prayer that we Christians in America take seriously, not only the problem of how easy it is to access guns, and the realities for better mental heath care, but also the narrative around guns that is presented in our culture, our churches, and our homes. Dismantling and reforming these narratives in our churches wherever necessary with the life and teachings of Jesus is an incredibly powerful way for us to do even more to prevent further gun violence.

When we take this seriously, perhaps when boys like me find ourselves discontented and angry with the world, even when we are suffering from anxiety and depression, instead of picking up a weapon as an expression of our anger, patriotism, and faith, and bring about tragedy in an attempt to reclaim our strength and identity, we will instead model Christ's definition of power in humility, compassion, vulnerability, and love.

As genuinely honest people in a culture like ours, especially in light of the continued horrid tragedy of gun violence, we American Christians must authentically consider how our relationship with guns has been influenced by the sin of idolatry and how that sin makes us resistant to making some common sense changes to gun laws in our nation for the sake of others.

If we don’t consider how sin has impacted our relationship with guns, we may not only continue to wrongly blame other causes for gun violence in our culture, but we may remain unrepentant in how we contribute to this ongoing crisis in our nation. I don't think that is the kind of people Jesus is calling us to be.

My prayer is that our culture would see us Christians be a people who not only choose the ways of the cross rather than the ways of the sword but a people who are bold enough to honestly consider how the way of the sword has impacted what we believe about the way of the cross.

Otherwise, if our sin is not genuinely addressed, we may tragically confuse the way of the sword as the way of the cross.

For the sake of our culture, for the sake of the victims of gun violence, and for the sake of our public witness, may we boldly address how our gun problem is a sin problem.