Do Bible Believing Churches Play a Role in School Shootings like Robb Elementary in Uvalde TX?

 

Who is Really to Blame for Uvalde, TX?

It has been a little more than a week since the tragic events at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX. Hard to imagine the mind of an individual who would walk into an elementary school and brutally murder 19 students as well as 2 teachers. All this after he attempted to kill his grandmother. As you would expect, this has been a huge topic on the news ever since. It has also been the top topic on social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter. Everyone is trying to make sense of the senseless, but you know what? That can’t be done, you can’t make sense of a senseless act and any attempt to do so would be futile.

Another thing we have seen a lot of this week, is a search for where we place the blame. Many have pointed their fingers at an American society that puts very few limits on guns. Their feeling is that if we put tougher restrictions on gun ownership, these things will not happen. Others, on the opposite end of the spectrum, believe that had some of the schoolteachers been armed, it could have ended right there. There are some religious leaders who point a finger at a society that has systematically removed God from the schools, from the workplace, from anywhere that is considered a public place but is not a place of worship. And yes, there are many who place the blame squarely on the shoulders of the politicians. They believe that politicians no longer seem to have any desire to work together on any front, have led our country down the tubes. Nothing gets done because partisan politics in this country has died and drug this country down to the grave with it. The moral compass of our politicians on every side of the political spectrum has so decayed that the citizenship they have been charged with leading has followed their lead and thus the country, as a whole, has no moral compass. There are fingers pointing in other directions as well. It seems each side has passionate arguments, and to a certain degree there appear to be valid points for each consideration.

Like much of the rest of this country, I have struggled greatly with what took place on Tuesday, May 24th, 2022. I have also struggled with who to blame. As I stated earlier, I suppose that to a certain degree, each of the areas discussed above have some merit when it comes to blame. But could it be that the lion’s share of the blame lies somewhere else entirely? As I have thought about it over the past several days, and honestly, my thoughts have been heading in this direction for the past 10 years, all the way back to the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT in Dec. 2012. My mind keeps going to the same area for who is ultimately to blame. Please understand that it really pains me to say this, but I believe that in many ways the church is to blame. That’s right, the church. By the church, I want to clarify exactly what I am talking about. I am not talking about any specific church, nor any specific denomination. That being said, I do want to be a little more specific. The church I am referring to is the evangelic church in America as a whole. That group of individuals, nationwide, that profess to be Bible believing Jesus followers. We have put our faith and trust in Jesus, rarely miss a Sunday and are even in the habit of serving in some capacity.

Perhaps as you read this you are thinking to yourself, “The church? How could the church be to blame?” Allow me to answer your question with a question. What are we, as Bible believing Jesus followers called by God to do that has the potential to make such an impact that it may even stop our own Uvalde, TX experience? To see this, let’s look at Luke 10:25-37. I’m pretty sure you will be very familiar with this story. It is The Parable of the Good Samaritan.

25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

While the lawyer asked Jesus “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus’ answer was to give him a vivid picture of what a real neighbor looks like. After giving him that picture Jesus simply asked; “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”

So what does this parable have to do with Uvalde, TX? As I am in the habit of doing, let me follow that question with another question. A pretty telling question, and in my own case a pretty convicting question. Actually, the question has already been asked, it was asked by the lawyer who was addressing Jesus in Luke 10:25-37. And who is my (your) neighbor? Ask that same question of yourself this morning. Who are your neighbors? What do they do enjoy doing with their free time? What are they like? What are the chances they would knock on your door if they really needed someone to talk to? Ok, I get it; this wasn’t 1 question but several questions. The point is, if the majority of us were to answer this question honestly, we don’t really know the answers to most of those questions. When we arrive home from work, or shuttling the kids around, or from our errands or……. or from church. We push the button to open the garage and before we are out of the vehicle the garage door is on its way down. We relax on our back deck rather than a front porch. Sure, most of us may not have a front porch, but to be truthful, chances are even if we had a front porch we would still go to the back deck. We like our privacy. But there is a problem with this. God has not called us to be saved into seclusion. He has called us to be saved into the mission field. The “Jerusalem” Jesus is referring to in Acts 1:8 for us, is right where we live. Not just our neighborhoods, it where we work, where we go to school, the places we go for recreation. It’s where we live out our lives on a day-to-day basis.

Let’s go back to Uvalde, TX. What do you suppose are the chances that Salvador Ramos had people in his neighborhood that were Bible believing Christians? Let’s not limit this to just his neighborhood. Really, shouldn’t we include others he came in contact with on a regular basis? Now let’s go back to you and me, our “neighborhood”. Could there be a Salvador Ramos living near us? I would imagine that if each of us really put some thought into it, we could come up with someone who is similar in a lot of ways; quiet, a loner, sort of strange, maybe a little backward. We have seen them walk by our house a few times, usually we kind of turn the other way, or go back inside the house or garage, pretend to be busy doing something, anything, anything but smile and say “Hi” or “How’s it going?” They kind of scare us, perhaps rightly so. But is that how God has called us to react? Much of the time Jesus seemed more at home with the sinners than He did the religious. It also seemed the sinners gravitated towards Him, but not because He did what they did, not at all. It was because He accepted them, He loved them. He didn’t look down His nose at them, didn’t mumble under His breath about them or think to Himself, “What a loser!”

The Gospel of John tells the account of another Samaritan, this one a woman. In New Testament times, you can’t be much more of a loser that The Woman At The Well we read about in John 4. She was a half breed who had lost count of how many men she had slept with. She was filth through and through, but before Jesus was done with her, she was clothed in His righteousness. Shouldn’t that be our desire for the Salvador Ramos’s God brings us into contact with? I know, we may not be able to reach them no matter how hard we try, but shouldn’t we at least try? What a fool David was to go to battle against a giant who was covered in body armor, had a sword, shield and spear as well as an armor bearer with him, when David had nothing more than a sling and 5 stones…… But you know what? David knew that the God whom he served could direct his stone to the perfect spot. He didn’t approach Goliath in fear and trembling, he ran towards him like a man possessed. Guess what, he was a man possessed. The Bible tells us that David was a man filled with the Spirit of God…. he was a man possessed. Don’t we serve the exact same God? So since we do, let’s start serving Him fully and making a difference in our “neighborhoods”.

We have got to get to the point where we stop searching for who to blame when things happen like what took place at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX, and start, as individual believers, taking responsibility to do whatever it takes so that when Jesus looks our direction He can say of us that we have proven to be a neighbor. Who knows what God may do through our willing and available hearts? We could very well be an important tool in the hands of the Master Craftsman that changes a life destined for utter destruction into a life of eternal significance. We may be the one used of God to stop a potential Salvador Ramos, not with a gun, or our religion, or our political stance, but with the unconditional love of Jesus Christ that is flowing through us.

Jim Canady

Perhaps you don’t struggle in the areas I addressed below. To be honest, this was written as much to me as it was to anyone else. However, if what I wrote struck a chord with you. Let’s do some brainstorming now. What can we do to do better? What are some steps we can take? I know for me and my family, we need to purpose in our hearts to make a difference in our “Jerusalem”. That place where God has placed us. What about you, I would love to hear your thoughts. Jim

(Please note, this is largely a reprint of a blog post I wrote in Dec. 2012 after the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown CT. I made a few changes to match what recently took place.)

The Powerful Faith of Faithful Friends

The Powerful Faith of Faithful Friends.

Mark 2: “1And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that He (Jesus) was at home. 2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And He was preaching the Word to them. 3 And they came, bringing to Him a paralytic carried by four men. 4 And when they could not get near Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. 5 And when Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’ 6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this Man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in His spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, ‘Why do you question these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’—He said to the paralytic— 11 ‘I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.’ 12 And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

Friendship is a great thing. In many ways it makes life bearable and enjoyable at times when it could easily be the opposite. A good friend stays by you through thick and thin. In life’s good times and when things aren’t going your way. In today’s passage we see a story of great friendship, we see a story of great faith, we see a story of great determination.

As usual Jesus was about His Father’s business. He was preaching the Word to a packed house, when all of the sudden dirt began to fall from the ceiling. Soon beads of light began to show through that same ceiling. Not long after that there was a gaping hole large enough for a man to fit through. As the people stood in astonishment looking up, they saw a man being lowered through that hole. He needed to be healed and his good friends were determined enough that they were going to stop at nothing until he was face to face with the One Who could heal. These were the type of friends that everybody needs. The type that are going to allow nothing to stand in the way of friendship. These guys were bound and determined.

The stories had spread everywhere about this man Jesus. He had the power to heal, He had compassion for the people, He was a powerful teacher Who spoke with authority like no one else. Everywhere He went the crowds followed to listen to His teachings and to experience a touch of the Master’s Hand. They had heard that if you had faith, you could be healed. They had faith and so on this day they set out to see this Jesus. There was an excitement welling up inside of them as they carried their friend towards the place where Jesus was staying. The excitement quickly diminished as they neared their destination and saw throngs of people were headed in the same direction. When they arrived at the doorway it was jammed full of people.  Every entry, every window was packed. When they tried to get in no one would move for them. They weren’t about to let that stop them. They carried him up the outside stairs to the roof of the home and began to tear away. They agreed that they would repair it when they were done, but for now they will stop at nothing until their friend was face to Face with the Master. Soon they were lowering him through a hole in the roof, soon his mat was at the feet of Jesus, soon the paralyzed man stood to his feet having experience a touch of the Master’s Hand.

But let’s backtrack for a little bit, let’s go back to the friends. We have already looked at their great determination. They were bound and determined to let nothing stand in the way of getting their friend before Jesus. Now that’s friendship. But that brings us to the next question. Why? Why did they go to such great lengths? When I look at this, there are basically two very real possibilities that seem to jump to the forefront of my mind:

1. These men were incredibly ignorant. They would have had to have been ignorant or they would have never torn a hole in the roof of someone’s home. Unless possibility number 2 is true. 

2. These men had amazing faith. Now one of these possibilities makes perfect sense, the other doesn’t. 

Number 2 is the only one that makes any sense at all. That is exactly what happened with this these men. There was no doubt in their minds that Jesus not only could, but that He would heal their friend, or they would’ve never gone to such lengths. That is putting legs to your faith. 

My prayer is that you and I would exhibit this type of faithful friendship, and that we would put legs to our faith. 

Seeking daily to be a good friend and to put legs to my faith,   

Jim Canady  

God’s Word Entrusted to Us Is Meant to Be Shared

God’s Word Entrusted to Us Is Meant to Be Shared

Romans 3 “¹Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? ²Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. ³What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? ⁴By no means! Let God be true though everyone were a liar, as it is written,

‘That you may be justified in your words,
    and prevail when you are judged.’

⁵But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) ⁶By no means! For then how could God judge the world? ⁷But if through my lie God's truth abounds to His glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner?⁸And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.”

In Romans 3:1 – 8 Paul continues his dialogue specifically directed to his Jewish readers. He begins by pointing out that one of the big advantages of being a Jew is that they were “entrusted with the very Words of God” (NIV 1984). In looking at Paul’s statement, please don’t miss the keyword in that statement. I underlined it for emphasis. The word is “entrusted” the K JV uses the word “committed”. These word uses are important. Paul didn’t say that the Word had been given to them. Givengenerally gives the impression that the gift is given with no strings attached. Paul’s use of the word “entrusted” or “committed” indicates that with this great gift comes great responsibilities. God’s Word is given that it might be re-given over and over again. Interestingly, we can give this gift away yet still maintain possession of it ourselves. 

I’m not sure you noticed, but I transitioned from the Jews to us as believers. Just as the Jews were entrusted with the gift of the Old Testament, we have been entrusted with the completed Word of God. Just like the Jews, this gift brings with it a responsibility to re-gift and at the same time maintain possession of it ourselves. We re-gift through living transformed lives, through teaching and preaching, through quoting, through reading aloud, through sharing… really there are many, many ways we can re-gift the Word of God. The main thing to understand is that God’s Word is not given with no strings attached, but entrusted, which means it comes with important responsibilities.

In this life there may be times that we are entrusted with the responsibility of gifts that exceed our capabilities to fulfill the trust. That is not the case with God, God never misjudges our capabilities! If the ball is dropped on what God entrusts into our care, that is completely on us. We are fully worthy of God’s trust because His gifts to us bring with them His power through the Holy Spirit who indwells us. We are worthy of His trust because the Worthy One empowers us. Therefore, walk in a manner worthy of His gift entrusted into our care.

The Most Dangerous Prayer.

Is today’s “Sinner’s Prayer” the equivalent of the outward sign of circumcision for the Jews?

Romans 2:17-29 “¹⁷But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God ¹⁸and know His will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; ¹⁹and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, ²⁰an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— ²¹you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? ²²You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? ²³You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. ²⁴For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

²⁵For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. ²⁶So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? ²⁷Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. ²⁸For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. ²⁹But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.”

While today’s passage is specifically directed to the Jews; it fits well with a lot of things that are present with the modern-day believer. Paul spends a considerable amount of time in these verses talking about circumcision. To the Jew, circumcision was the outward sign of the covenant between God and the Nation of Israel. Jews saw circumcision as a guarantee of God’s favor on them, whether they lived a life that was pleasing to Him or not. It takes very little time in reading through Jewish history, to see the God’s favor was not guaranteed by the outward sign of circumcision. Paul is quick to point out that God’s favor rests not on the Jews were physically circumcised, but on the Jew, who had “circumcision of the heart.” This type of statement should not surprise anyone. God has never been enthralled with what enthralls man. Need proof? Look at God’s conversation with Samuel in 1 Samuel 16. Samuel was at the home of Jesse, looking to anoint the next king of Israel. When Jesse’s oldest son Eliab stood before Samuel, he was certain Eliab was the one. Physically, he fit the prototypical king. Yet God said to Samuel “⁷But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees, man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

For the Jew, it was the outward sign of circumcision, for today’s church, I wonder if the outward sign isn’t the Sinner’s Prayer? We put so much weight into this prayer as if it were a guarantee of God’s favor, even if the life of the one who prayed the prayer remained unchanged. Could it be too many in the church today or trusting in Jesus as their Savior, but turning their backs on Him as their Lord? If so, how does this mess with what Paul writes in Romans 10:9 & 10? “⁹because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved. ¹⁰For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”

What are your thoughts?