Connected Christianity

In March, a Colorado megachurch hosted a forum on church security. Their focus on increased security comes from an incident in December, when a man entered and started shooting at people after a worship service. Two were killed and three wounded before a volunteer guard shot the man, who then killed himself. Definitely a horrible tragedy for any place to endure.

The church has responded by having uniformed police offers patrol the premises during events and by installing other high security measures. I understand their reasoning of “better to be the safe than sorry,” and I certainly wouldn’t want anyone in church to be at risk, but having armed guards on patrol at church during a worship service? Something about that just doesn’t feel right.

I just keeping thinking of Jesus’ commandments to spread peace, turn the other cheek, welcome the stranger, and love one another. I don’t know if Jesus would be a supporter of having armed guards in a house of worship. Again, I totally understand the church wanting to beef up security after what happened, but I wouldn’t want that at my church. I know it’s easy to say when you’re not going through it, but I hope that I would let God’s Spirit give me courage to attend worship, instead of letting (understandable) fear dictate decisions for more security. I don’t know, but that just seems like relying on a human solution. I’d be incredibly impressed if the Colorado church said, “We’re not going to put our safety in more weapons. We’re going to trust in God and courageously worship.”

Again, it’s easy for me to talk when I’m not the one going through it. When I read about the Colorado church increasing security, I thought, “Yeah, I’d be really scared too.”  But when I read about how the Amish community in Pennsylvania responded after they experienced a shooting, I thought, “Wow, that is some strong, strong faith.” While the Colorado church’s reaction was definitely understandable, the Amish community’s response was powerful, impressive, and an incredible witness for the faith.