Last Sunday a man armed with an assault rifle and multiple
other weapons walked into a church service in Fairhope Alabama (USA) and sat
down, with his wife, in one of the pews.
Naturally this stirred some alarm among the congregation and someone
used their cell phone to notify the local police.
The man was arrested and carried to the local jail, but his
wife was not charged. The man was
found to have controlled drugs in his possession and had numerous other
unregistered weapons in his home.
How would your church respond, especially if the man had
begun to shoot? What about armed
men attempting to steal the morning’s collections?
The case has caused a lot of discussion. Here are some of the opinions:
1.
Armed guards should be posted at the doors of
the church.
2.
There should be no armed guards, but the church
members should carry concealed weapons.
3.
The church should affirm its refusal to allow
weapons within its premises.
4.
The church should provide self-defense classes.
5.
The church should discuss the issue and decide
on evacuation routes and defensive measures.
6.
Arming the church will probably result in
accidental shootings.
7.
Totally banning weapons may result in legal
challenges.
8.
Do we really want to kill someone in our church?
9.
Does the Christian have a right to self-defense?
10. Would
church members reject being “saved” by an armed security guard?
11. It
is better to have an electronic security and alarm system than an armed guard.
12. Should
Christians be entirely pacifist?
13. Is
there a difference between “murder” and “kill”?
14. Could
not fifty unarmed men (or women) overpower one man with a gun?
15. 2
Corinthians 2:10
16. Should
we fear man or fear God? Proverbs 29:25
17. We
are called to be an example of Jesus.
18. Jesus
was never armed.
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