Cultural Reflections – Gun violence.
With the two terrible mass shootings in the US this summer we are once again going to dive into the inevitable debate about gun control. My friend and pastor, Paul Carter, wrote a very biblically minded piece on this issue. You can read that here: https://ca.thegospelcoalition.org/columns/ad-fontes/now-time-talk-guns/ .
Here is where I stand on this issue. Yes, I think firearms should be wisely regulated. People who want to own them should go through some testing and a rigorous background check. That is wisdom. I have written before on this issue, you can find that post here: https://countrysidechurchoro.ca/2019/01/17/gun-rights/
I would like to propose something to you today. Gun violence is about more than guns. There is a root to what is happening in the US, and here in Canada. No amount of regulation is going to fix the problems that we are seeing, because what is happening in a natural outflowing of humanities sin nature. We are all designed by God to worship. In our original created state, our object of worship was God Himself. Adam’s natural state was to glorify God by doing the things that God created Adam to do. Rule over creation while obeying God. Under God over creation. That was the original design. When sinned entered the picture, that amazing designed was scrambled. No longer were Adam or his progeny going to rule, now they were going to fight against creation and God’s perfect plan. History is a roller coaster of rebellion and revival, a rollercoaster that will not end until the return of Jesus Christ.
You see, when God is not the object of our worship, we will put something else in His place. That can be things that seem good, things that seem innocuous, or things that are downright evil. Look at what the prophet Jeremiah tells us:
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
Jeremiah 17:9 KJV
This is the effect of sin. We cannot trust our hearts and minds. Humanity is warped towards evil, and the more we push God out of the picture the worse we will become.
So, what is the answer to gun violence? The answer is simple, yet profound: Jesus. Only a return to a right relationship with our God can we find the peace that we need to free our hearts from the inner chaos that leads to destruction on this level.
Until Christ returns however, let’s have the conversation about regulation. Let’s pray for our leaders to make wise decisions, and let’s preach the life transforming message of the gospel to all who will hear.
Pastor Jon
