A youth worker from Arizona posted in a Facebook group:

Do you any of you carry during youth events? Concealed or open?

A shocking number of practicing ministers responded affirmatively. They carry a gun while working with teenagers.

A minister of the Good News of Jesus Christ standing before his flock armed with a loaded handgun.

Let that sink in.

It’s simply unfathomably wrong to me. Yes, Americans have a right to bears arms. But a representative of Jesus bears sacred rites that far exceed the man made rights of a nation-state.

Here are three specific reasons I believe it’s wrong for a pastor to carry a handgun in the course of his duties:

1. It’s Contrary to the New Testament Narrative of Pastoral and Apostolic Work

On Sunday, we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus. Remember the Garden? Jesus, the Second Adam, was tempted one last time by Satan.

Whereas Adam and Eve failed the test in the garden:

 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” – Genesis 3:4-5

Confronted with controlling the knowledge of life and death, Adam failed.

But Jesus did not. This is at the very heart of understanding the Gospel message. This is why we celebrate Resurrection and the conquering of sin in the first place! In the Garden, tempted with control over his very life, Jesus conquered death… not with the sword… but by power that comes only from the Father.

Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)

Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”

John 18:10-11

Now, gun advocates cling to phrases from the New Testament to try to justify their right to carry a gun or protect themselves. Let’s peak at the oft referred to Luke 22:36, He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.) They take this as Jesus commanding his disciples to arm themselves for self-defense… which surely means you can own a gun for self-defense, right? But don’t forget… that sword Jesus told them to go get? That conversation took place the night of Judas’ betrayal. That sword that Jesus told them to get is the same one he told Peter to put away. Oops.

And still people cling to this?

Of course, you don’t see many people preaching with a purse and a bag, or even a sword. This is the maddening joy of literalism! Literalism allows you to contextualize what you want while ignoring other aspects of the same verse! Why is it that this somehow justifies owning a handgun for self-protection in the home when the men Jesus was talking to had no home? Why is it about carrying a gun at all? Why don’t Christian bookstores sell purses, handbags, and swords in the pastoral resources department? That is, after all, so precious a command.

Instead, what we see is Jesus’ followers doing the exact opposite. Not only did Jesus not defend himself in the Garden, not only did he command Peter to put his sword away…. Christian tradition holds that each of the men in the garden with Jesus went on to suffer a similar defenseless death as Apostolic leaders. (With the exception of John, who apparently died of old age.) Moreover, the Apostle Paul and the first generation of pastors planting churches all over the world did not arm themselves as they traveled! In fact, the example of Paul giving his life to the cause of Jesus while remaining defenseless was the great catalyst of growth for Christianity in the first 100 years.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Romans 12:1

The cult of Judaism known as The Way, had they armed themselves, would not have survived the first century! The secret sauce of Christianity’s spread under the thumb of the Roman empire was that it was not an insurrection of the sword, it was an insurrection of the heart. Pax Romani would have never allowed a militia of armed religious leaders gathering up people! But men accused of overthrowing Pax Romani with a message of love and forgiveness? This proved unstoppable.

To argue that a Christian leader should arm himself in the course of his sacred duties is to deny the very actions of Jesus and first century Christian leaders. You cannot read the Gospels, Acts, or the Pastoral Epistles and argue otherwise.

2. It’s Contrary to the Historical Position of Pastor Throughout the Centuries

When I saw that Facebook post I instantly thought of the martyrs.

Can you imagine Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Pete Flemming, and Roger Youderian being known not for dying at the hands of the Huaorani but instead tried for crimes against humanity as they defended themselves on Palm Beach? “They threw spears at us so we shot them.” (Read more)

But don’t forget the preachers, who for millennia have gone before us.

Can you imagine Charles Spurgeon, pistol in hand, preaching these words on April 14th, 1840?

Let us stand to our preaching like soldiers to their guns. The pulpit is the Thermopylae of Christendom where our foes shall receive a check; the field of Waterloo where they shall sustain a defeat. Let us preach, and preach evermore! (Charles Spurgeon, sermon The Model Home Mission and the Model Home Missionary, April 14th 1840)

Maybe he’d squeeze off a few rounds right there, just to make a dramatic point?

Can you imagine an armed Billy Graham? How about Billy Sunday in his Chicago White Sox uniform with a sidearm… just in case? You know he preached to the drunk and scoundrels of his day, surely that was less safe than a church youth room.

And what about military chaplains? You know… men who go into combat to minister to soldiers. Surely those guys have sidearms… you know, just in case? No. Throughout history chaplains on the battlefield have been unarmed.

Just two years ago Ukrainian clergy of all Christian traditions bravely stood, unarmed, in the lines between unarmed protestors and the government-controlled, heavily armed henchmen sent by the former president to gun them down.

What about those men’s right to defend themselves? Why didn’t they arm themselves instead of being murdered in the streets by their own government?

Throughout history you will see that clergy– when acting in good faith– rarely arm themselves. Instead churches are places of sanctuary and refuge from the battles of the day. And you would be hard pressed to find clergy with concealed handguns in the pulpit while teaching the word of God!

3. It’s Contrary to the Needs of Today’s Teenagers

Look, let’s say you forget the New Testament narrative. Let’s say you discard completely the historical role of the pastor. Let’s say that you’ve only got the teenagers in front of you to serve the best that you can figure out yourself.

Do the teenagers in your youth group need to see a person teaching them the bible or taking them on a mission trip with a handgun? How can you say “Put your life, future, and faith in Jesus” while showing them with your actions that you don’t? A teenager is wondering, “Is this stuff true? Can Jesus really transform my life, the way I think? Can Jesus give me a new life? Can he forgive my sins… like for real?” and the actions of the youth pastor who is standing there with a Bible on his phone and a gun on his hip seems to contradict the whole thing. “He doesn’t put his life in Jesus’ hands… look, he has a gun. He decides who lives and dies.”

So play it out. Let’s say that you’re playing Chubby Bunny with 30 teenagers and a man walks in with a gun. Is the only possible resolution to that scenario that the youth pastor pulls out a gun and kills that person in the youth room? The power of Christ is limited to bloodshed? I pray not. What happens if a teenager gets pissed off and runs into the youth room with a baseball bat or a knife? Is the youth pastor going to discharge his weapon at a teenager he’s been called by the church to minister to? I pray not.

Let’s pray not.

So why is the youth pastor carrying a gun in the first place? I can only guess at the reasoning.

Where Are the Heroes?

When I saw the Facebook post this morning my heart sunk and my mind raced. I hurt for my tribe. Are we so insecure in our faith that we arm ourselves to go to work? At a church. A CHURCH!!!!

Surely, we don’t live in a country where a youth pastor is so fearful for his life that he arms himself while teaching the Word of God, do we?

And it made me wonder… Where are the Heroes?

Surely, someone can speak to the nonsense? Surely there is a voice that people respect enough to listen to and admit that their behavior does not reflect the position they hold nor the faith they profess.

Surely, someone can help a fellow minister of the Gospel understand that the Second Amendment of the United States is subservient to our God who holds power over government and nations? He is the author and finisher of life. He feeds the sparrows. Like our old preacher Ray Pritchard loved to say, “He is God and we are not.”

And yet…. Where are the voices pulling people aside to say that preaching while armed is wrong? Where are the steady voices reminding leaders that the power of Jesus is bigger, better, and more awesome than the perceived power you feel carrying a gun while teaching teenagers in a church?

My fear is that we’ve exchanged our heroes for Christian celebrities. A hero stands up for what’s right, says and does what needs to be done, and doesn’t worry about making people made. A celebrity? He offends no one. He protects his brand. He murmurs to his friends while saying nothing to his fans.

We need fewer celebrities and more heroes.

Where are the heroes?

Where?

I see none.

My Heroes Didn’t Need Guns

I am thankful for the youth pastors in my life who were heroes to me.

My first exposure to youth group came on an army base in Germany. Ironically, we met in a middle school about 100 yards from a firing range where helicopters and mortars and tanks regularly practiced their crafts of destruction.

Our volunteers were soldiers. And the students they ministered to had moms and dads who knew combat. Not the stuff you see on TV, they knew the real thing.

Did Dan arm himself? Of course not. He fears only God. He respects his role in lives too much. (Though, like myself, Dan doesn’t mind guns for sport or even target shooting.) I learned a lot from him about whom and what to fear. Even now, as we’re both a little older, Dan continues to teach me that lesson. Life has thrown him some pretty nasty curve balls but his hope, his future, and his day-to-day… they remain in Jesus.

We need heroes like Dan. I pray that each teenager who walks into a church gets the pleasure of learning from a man or woman like Dan, a hero of the faith, unconcerned about anything else but the primacy of the risen Christ, even his own life.