On December 29, a gunman entered a Texas church, shooting and killing two people. The gunman was shot and killed by an armed parishioner. The parishioners were allowed to be armed after a bill was passed in 2017. The bill allowed for security forces to carry guns in churches after the devastating shooting two years ago. (CNN)
I am not interested in the headline, but I am interested in what happens after an incident like this. I am grateful to God that there was a response to this situation, and at the core, the outcome was from God.
It is risky for anyone to say ‘there is a place for guns in a church’ . The proper place for guns is anywhere an individual or group needs protection -in the trained hands of those who are willing to protect.
This almost sounds like an excuse to approve the use of guns in church. Wording is important here: protecting people is always right. Sometimes it takes a gun to do the protecting. Consider passages such as Ecclesiastes 3:2-4
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
Solomon was wise to acknowledge that there is a time and place for just about everything. It might seem that I am applying a proof text for allowing guns in church, until you realize that there is a more important proof/truth that underlies most of Ecclesiastes. There is something to keep in mind that is more important than “a time for everything, under the sun” In 8:15, Solomon says
