No Guns for Jesus-folk

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After the latest in a series of mass shootings, a Methodist pastor friend wrote a short Facebook post supporting gun control. There was a swift and predictable reaction among his Christian followers that what was actually needed was more guns in the hands of “God-fearing Christians.” This is an oxymoron. There are no guns, at least not guns intended to be used for self-defense, in the hands of Christians who trust in God’s love.

If you own a gun for self-defense, it implies that you are so afraid to die that you would kill to save yourself and your family. It implies that you would ignore Jesus’s teachings about turning the other cheek, about those who live by the sword, and about loving one’s enemies. It implies that you would ignore the penultimate act of Jesus’s ministry, his death at the hands of the Romans, his nonviolent resistance in the face of great evil.

Using violence against evil is like using a blowtorch to light a birthday cake; it might work, but it is exceedingly dangerous to everyone involved. Instead, a much better tool is available. When John wrote “God is love,” he argued that the essence of God is love. That suggests that love is profoundly powerful. Love – not guns or bombs or evil – is the most powerful force in the universe, so perhaps if we want to defeat evil, we might try using it.

But the resort to violence in response to evil is not just about ignoring Jesus’s teachings or example. Indeed, the worst result of our infatuation with guns and violence is not even that it breeds more violence. It is far worse and far more troubling than that. Violence, even self-defensive violence, occurs because we have not accepted God’s love and grace. To use Wesleyan language, we have not accepted justifying grace. That should be profoundly troubling to gun-owning Christians.

As John Wesley crossed the Atlantic to undertake his disastrous ministry in Georgia, a storm nearly tore the ship apart. As Wesley feared for his life, German Moravians worshiped as if nothing were amiss. After the storm subsided, Wesley realized that his fear of death betrayed his lack of faith. He did not yet know that God had forgiven his sins, even his, and that he was beloved by God. Today, those of us who rely on guns for protection are like John Wesley clinging to the sides of the ship. Wesley’s protection never depended on the strength of a ship, and ours will never depend on the power of a gun. Instead, our lives are dependent on God. We desire to live as long as our lives are in service to God, and when it is time, we should rejoice because we should be confident of God’s immense love for us. If we fear our own deaths, then we are not yet assured of God’s love.

Jesus tells us that if we had faith the size of a mustard seed we could move mountains. But it is much easier to buy some guns than to have faith that Jesus loves us. Yet, the first step is a decision. We must decide if we want to have faith. Do we want to put our faith in our God or our guns? We cannot serve two masters.

Brian Snyder is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Science at Louisiana State University and a member of First United Methodist Church in Baton Rouge, La.