Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Social Comentary -- Pastor's Column for April 2013


Lord, You have been our refuge in every generation. Before the mountains were born, before You gave birth to the earth and the world, from eternity to eternity. You are God.               

                                                                                                                      Psalm 90: 1-2 (HCSB)

 Dear Church Family:
             I heard an amazing thing last week. In Texas the state legislature meets every other year to consider new laws and mandates. Contrast that with the almost continual barrage of new laws, taxes, and legislative morality that comes from Annapolis. We are constantly blitzed with attempts to make abortion a birth control method, mandate the celebration of alternative lifestyles, overlook criminal actions, reduce criminal penalties, suppress the civil rights of citizens, and tell us the new political and social normal.
            The latest “du jour” right under attack is gun ownership. A lot of you have said, “With all the talk about guns lately, it is making me wonder if I should get one. What do you consider to be the biblical perspective of a Christian having a gun for protection purposes?”
My answer:  I wish we could live in a world without guns and violence. That world has been promised and is coming, but until then we live in a fallen world dominated by the lusts and sins of humankind.
I don’t think gun ownership is a Biblical issue. Whether for sporting or personal security purposes, gun ownership is and in my opinion should remain a matter of personal preference.
People who try to use Matthew 26: 52 to say the Bible is against gun ownership have misinterpreted the passage.
            Jesus was being arrested by a large band of soldiers. Peter drew his sword and stepped between Jesus and the soldiers as if to defend Him. Jesus warned him that if he didn’t put his sword away the soldiers would draw their swords and he wouldn’t survive.
Earlier Jesus had advised the disciples if they didn’t have a sword to sell their cloaks and buy one (Luke 22: 36). Therefore He couldn’t have been opposed to owning a weapon for self defense.
Jesus did however address the responsibility of such ownership and its use.
I know there are some of you who find this whole discussion troubling and I understand your feelings. On the other hand I find those exploiting this topic, just as homosexuality, birth control, abortion, and other issues are being used, for political expediency, just as tasteless. The morality of America is now being legislated not self-determined by majority culture.  
When was the last time you heard of a new bill that addressed an actual need and wasn’t a stopgap or reactionary response to a lobbying or special interest group? “Liberty and Justice for all” has been changed to “never let a crisis go to waste!”
The lesson here for us is that some have treated the truth of scripture in much the same way, compromising truth for political and social correctness. And frankly that scares me more than an armed and trained citizen with a gun.
Let us continue to pray for peace and clarity in all things. And perhaps we should all think about moving to Texas? 

Yours in Christ, 

Pastor John

 

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