"Hey Joe, where you going with that gun in your hand?"
- Jimi Hendrix
I grew up in world full of guns. Living in rural Michigan in the 1980's every farmer I knew had a gun cabinet on the back porch full of rifles, shot guns and ammo. Guns were tools those men and women used in controlling the population of pests on the farm. Those same men and women taught me the value of life - not just human life, but all life. I was told from a young age that you didn't just kill something because it was fun or because you were angry. Some animals, like deer and rabbits, were killed for food others met their violent demise because they ate crops and destroyed property.
I also, grew up in a world filled with church. My father was a pastor in a rural church. We were always at church, often the first to arrive and the last to leave. That church, nearly 100% white, sponsored immigrants from Cambodia fleeing the brutal regime of Pol Pot. I remember going to Cambodian picnics and eating wonderful Asian food as well as church potlucks filled with Dutch and midwest fare. I watched my father invite people of all types to sit down in Bible studies, and at tables, to fellowship in the name of Christ.
This week those two images from my youth came flooding back as I heard the news of the shooting on Charleston, SC. As word of the shooting made its way through the media, I thought about that little country church established (c.1855) around 40 years after Emanuel A.M.E. in Charleston (1816). Both churches are seen as mothers, the little country church my father served, Graafschap Christian Reformed Church (CRC), was one of the first CRC churches and mothered that denomination, while Emanuel A.M.E. is lovingly referred to as "Mother Emanuel." My mind raced to thoughts of guns, and of Bible studies where those different than the majority of the members were welcomed.
My mind continued racing while listening to the words of President Obama as he spoke following the massacre. President Obama stated:
“At some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries,” Mr. Obama said. He added: “It is in our power to do something about it. I say that recognizing the politics in this town foreclose a lot of the avenues right now. But it would be wrong for us not to acknowledge it. And at some point it’s going to be important for the American people to come to grips with it." (1)
Obama addressed gun control in the wake of yet another violent incident - in this case racial terrorism. I applaud our President for stating this in his response and calling on this nations leaders to do something about it. It is simply a fact that we need to ban some types of guns in the United States. I remember watching a comedian on TV once say that we should all be issued a gun at birth, but the gun issued should be a musket, because who can rob a 7-11 with a shingle shot gun that takes 5 minutes to load? While I disagree with universal gun ownership, I agree with the point. The shooter in Charleston sat in the Bible Study for NEARLY AND HOUR before opening fire. AN HOUR!!! (2) How was he able to do this? First, he was invited in and shown Christian hospitality (more on this below), and second, he had a hand gun. He had a gun you can conceal. I am willing to bet that the shooter would not have been allowed to sit for an hour in the Bible study if he was carrying a long rifle or shot gun. While a shooting may have still happened, he would have been stopped at the door and the hour long infiltration, resulting in a higher loss of life, avoided. I believe there is a place for gun ownership.
I believe that the farmers and hunters I grew up with have a right to own and use guns. I believe that travelers in the backcountry in my home state of Alaska should be able to carry a gun. What I think we need to ban are guns that are easily concealed and firearms made for military purposes (assault rifles, etc.). It is time for the United States to ban a large amount of the weapons we have allowed for too long.
While I felt myself strongly responding to the American gun culture in the wake of Dylann Storm Roof opening fire, it was the fact that he killed Christians at a Bible study that has struck a cord deep inside of me. It did not strike the hollow tone of the ranting found on Fox News who feverishly tried to paint this shooting as anti-Christian. (3) (4) I want to be perfectly clear, the members of Emanual A.M.E. were not killed because they were Christians, but because they were black, however they were living out their Christian faith.
The A.M.E. church has a saying, "the doors of the church are open." When young Mr. Roof came to Emanuel A.M.E. asking for the pastor and wanting to join the Bible study he was welcomed in through those open doors. He was shown hospitality. He was given the seat next to the Pastor. The members of that church did what we are all called to do as followers of Jesus. They invited someone in - someone other/different than them - and welcomed that person into their fellowship. It is something I was taught in my youth by observing those Cambodian Bible studies. It is something I have done in my ministry many, many times. This welcoming, inviting, entertaining hospitality is at the core of what it means to follow Jesus. Jesus is always inviting those he did not know, those different than himself to join in. The members of Emanuel A.M.E. are not only victims they are martyrs. They died bearing witness to a Jesus who welcomed everyone. Let us not forget that Jesus was betrayed by someone at his table - someone sitting next to him.
People of God - those striving to follow Jesus - it is easy for us to become comfortable with our faith. It is easy to forget that the way of Jesus - the welcoming of the other - made him a target. Let us not forget, in our comfortable Christianity, that when we follow Jesus we are promised that it will not always be easy, that it will not always be safe, that it will not always turn out well, but let us keep going. Let us NEVER stop inviting in the stranger. Let us never stop offering hospitality. Let us continue to bear witness to the Jesus that calls us to join him at the table even though we do not belong.
Joel K
Let us not become weary in doing good,
While I felt myself strongly responding to the American gun culture in the wake of Dylann Storm Roof opening fire, it was the fact that he killed Christians at a Bible study that has struck a cord deep inside of me. It did not strike the hollow tone of the ranting found on Fox News who feverishly tried to paint this shooting as anti-Christian. (3) (4) I want to be perfectly clear, the members of Emanual A.M.E. were not killed because they were Christians, but because they were black, however they were living out their Christian faith.
The A.M.E. church has a saying, "the doors of the church are open." When young Mr. Roof came to Emanuel A.M.E. asking for the pastor and wanting to join the Bible study he was welcomed in through those open doors. He was shown hospitality. He was given the seat next to the Pastor. The members of that church did what we are all called to do as followers of Jesus. They invited someone in - someone other/different than them - and welcomed that person into their fellowship. It is something I was taught in my youth by observing those Cambodian Bible studies. It is something I have done in my ministry many, many times. This welcoming, inviting, entertaining hospitality is at the core of what it means to follow Jesus. Jesus is always inviting those he did not know, those different than himself to join in. The members of Emanuel A.M.E. are not only victims they are martyrs. They died bearing witness to a Jesus who welcomed everyone. Let us not forget that Jesus was betrayed by someone at his table - someone sitting next to him.
People of God - those striving to follow Jesus - it is easy for us to become comfortable with our faith. It is easy to forget that the way of Jesus - the welcoming of the other - made him a target. Let us not forget, in our comfortable Christianity, that when we follow Jesus we are promised that it will not always be easy, that it will not always be safe, that it will not always turn out well, but let us keep going. Let us NEVER stop inviting in the stranger. Let us never stop offering hospitality. Let us continue to bear witness to the Jesus that calls us to join him at the table even though we do not belong.
Joel K
Let us not become weary in doing good,
for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
- Galatians 6:9
- Galatians 6:9
(1) http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/19/us/politics/obama-charleston-shooting.html?_r=0
(2) http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/19/us/charleston-church-shooting.html
(3) An excellent discussion of this can be found on Comedy Central's The Nightly Show from June 18. I know its a comedy show, but it was excellent coverage of a sad incident, with little comedy involved: http://www.cc.com/full-episodes/5awodx/the-nightly-show-june-18--2015---church-shooting-in-south-carolina-season-1-ep-01074
(4) In my mind Fox News pushed this theme in an effort to divert its largely white audience away from the fact that the shooter stated he wanted to kill black people. These type of avoidances of the issue of racism just reenforces the status quo.
(2) http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/19/us/charleston-church-shooting.html
(3) An excellent discussion of this can be found on Comedy Central's The Nightly Show from June 18. I know its a comedy show, but it was excellent coverage of a sad incident, with little comedy involved: http://www.cc.com/full-episodes/5awodx/the-nightly-show-june-18--2015---church-shooting-in-south-carolina-season-1-ep-01074
(4) In my mind Fox News pushed this theme in an effort to divert its largely white audience away from the fact that the shooter stated he wanted to kill black people. These type of avoidances of the issue of racism just reenforces the status quo.
No comments:
Post a Comment