Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Semi-Official Blog of Zack Hunt

Home
Progressive Christian
NC Pastor Shows What It Looks Like To Trust In God Rather Than Guns

NC Pastor Shows What It Looks Like To Trust In God Rather Than Guns

Last updated on: January 4, 2016 at 3:59 pm by Zack Hunt

NC Pastor Shows What It Looks Like To Trust In God Rather Than Guns 2016-01-04T15:59:17-06:00 Zack Hunt

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

revwright (Credit: Larry O. Wright Sr, Facebook)

There are 2 insidious lies that, perhaps more than any of the other misinformation and propaganda out there, stop the gun control debate before it can even begin.

The first is the myth that the only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. The second is the assumption that a commitment to nonviolence means a commitment to doing nothing in the face of evil.

Both lies reveal a profound lack of imagination in America. Not the sort of imagination that conjures up stories like Peter Pan and Alice In Wonderland, but the kind of imagination that looks at a violent world and envisions both alternative responses and creative preventative actions which do more than simply continue the never-ending cycle of violence.

But for Christians, adherence to these lies is even more problematic. For not only does such a commitment render us guilty both of bearing false witness and ignoring the life and teaching of Jesus of Nazareth, it also reveals a sad truth: our deepest trust is ultimately placed not in God, but in guns and the false sense of hope and security they provide.

Thankfully, though, we still have people like pastor Larry Wright in our midst, exposing these lies through a bold and courageous commitment to the way of Jesus.

During a recent New Year’s Eve prayer service at his church (and while Rev. Wright was in the middle of delivering his sermon on violence in his community), a man walked into the sanctuary of pastor Wright’s church with a gun in one hand and a loaded magazine in the other.

According to the Fayetteville Observer,

Wright said the man, who has not been identified by police yet, was carrying the rifle without a clip in one hand and a loaded ammunition clip in the other hand. But, Wright said, he didn’t know if the rifle had a round of ammunition in it.

Wright stepped down quickly from the pulpit when he saw the man, who appeared to be in his late 20s.

The man continued moving toward the front of the church, pointing the rifle into the air.

The two met, near the front of the sanctuary.

“Can I help you?’’ the pastor asked the man.

Wright, who is a 57-year-old retired soldier, said the man’s answer determined his next action.

“If he was belligerent, I was going to tackle him,” said Wright, who is 6-foot-2 and 230 pounds.

But the stranger was calm, and Wright took the weapon from him. He then patted him down, and the pastor summoned four strong deacons to embrace the disarmed man, in an effort to make him feel welcome.

Wright then prayed for the man, who fell to his knees and began crying.

The man was then invited to sit on the front pew, and Wright resumed the Watch Night service. During the altar call at the conclusion, the man came forward and asked for salvation.

“He gave his life to Christ,” Wright said in an interview Saturday with The Fayetteville Observer.

Shane Claiborne is famous for saying you can’t carry a cross in one hand and a gun in the other.

This is a great example of why I think Shane is right.

In many churches throughout our country, this stranger’s actions might have been a death sentence carried out at the hands of a pistol packing parishioner who had ordained themselves the church’s protector.

But in Rev. Wright’s church, a much different, much more Christian outcome unfolded because he chose to place his trust in the transforming power of the cross rather than the momentary power of the gun.

If Rev. Wright had followed the path of folks like Jerry Falwell Jr. and others who think it acceptable to bring an instrument of death into the sanctuary of the God who gives life, the man would likely be dead, instead of on his knees at an altar giving his life to Christ.

Rev. Wright trusted in God instead of guns and it made all the difference in his enemy’s life.

This is what trusting God looks like in the face of violence.

It doesn’t mean doing nothing and it doesn’t mean trusting that God is always miraculously going to keep us from harm. It means trusting in Jesus that his call to put away the sword and become peacemakers might actually be a viable path towards “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in haven.”

And it means trusting that if death does come, it is not the end.

No question about it, it’s much, much easier to write and preach about these sorts of things than it is to take the risk Rev. Wright did in the face of possible death. But if we’re going to profess our faith in the resurrection and proclaim our trust in God, then we need to either live it out, or at the very least, stop singing about it so boldly on Sunday morning.

That way we at least won’t look like such blatant hypocrites when the moment comes that we turn our back on confession.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath.
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand.

I don’t know if Rev. Wright is a committed pacifist or an adamant proponent of just war. But what I do know is there’s an important lesson to be learned in the actions of a preacher who denounced violence in the pulpit only to face that very threat in the middle of his sermon.

And that lesson is this: we can’t proclaim the death conquering power of the cross one moment and embrace the death causing power of a gun the next.

We have to choose between the way of Jesus and the way of the world.

Again, it’s far easier said than done and should the moment ever come, I don’t know what I would do.

But I know what I hope I will do.

If the moment comes, I hope I can find the same courage as Rev. Wright did and actually live what I preach.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

January 1, 2016

10 New Year's Resolutions I'm Pretty Sure I Can Actually Keep

Next Post

January 12, 2016 Has Ted Cruz Ever Actually Read The Bible?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Book Review Classifieds Commentary Fundie Friday Funny Pictures Music Video News Prophecy Technology Televangelist Throwback Thursday Tract Tuesday Tracts Uncategorized Videos

Select a Month June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 August 2018 June 2018 May 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 September 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz