The Ministry of Church Security

Photo courtesy of 2wayradiodirect.com

Last Sunday afternoon while riding with a pastor to his church, we got to talking about ministers hiring security personnel for protection. My friend told me of a Messianic pastor he knows who has bodyguards because of death threats. Little did we know a mass shooting had just taken place at a church in Texas. A lone gunman killed twenty-six people plus wounded twenty others at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs. Two men then chased after the killer who was eventually killed himself.

Ever since 9/11, many places in America have implemented increased security including churches. Occasionally, I’ve been asked to have my backpack examined, which I use to carry my laptop for taking notes during services. This used to annoy me. Then last year at a church leadership conference, I attended a workshop taught by the man in charge of security there. The information he shared gave me a greater appreciation for what they do. One thing he pointed out was his team look at their jobs as a ministry.

After learning of the attack in Sutherland Springs, I thought of what Jesus said in Matthew 16:18, “…and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” The Body of Christ should never cower in fear but stay on the offensive by fulfilling the Great Commission. Don’t forget we also have God’s angels for protection (see Psalm 91:11). Once I heard John Hagee talk about a time when a gunman came up to him during a service and fired six shots point blank. Not a single bullet hit Pastor Hagee. Nevertheless, John has security men stationed near him while he preaches to discourage future assailants. 

One shouldn’t be critical of First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs for not doing enough to prevent this tragedy. A generation ago, something like this would have been unthinkable in America. Satan is now exerting great wrath knowing he has a short time left (Revelation 12:12). Two years ago, a white supremacist killed nine African-American worshipers at a Bible study in Charleston, South Carolina. Eight years before that, a megachurch in Colorado Springs was attacked by a gunman who killed two people. That death toll might have been higher if a member of the church’s safety team hadn’t carried a licensed firearm. 

In these last days, every believer needs to be alert naturally and spiritually. Pastors can do their part by keeping their congregations covered in prayer and (if the Lord leads them to) step up security at their church.

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” - 1 Peter 5:8

A Biblical Viewpoint on Bearing Arms

Whenever a mass shooting takes place, there is increased talk in the media about gun control. That is happening again following the recent tragedy in Las Vegas, Nevada. From two 32nd story hotel windows, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock used automatic weapons to fire upon a crowd gathered for a country music concert. 59 people died and over 500 others were wounded. This surpassed last year’s Orlando nightclub massacre as the deadliest shooting by a lone gunman in U.S. history.

Back in 2012, Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher shot and killed his girlfriend before committing suicide hours later at the team’s practice facility. The next night during a nationally televised football game, NBC Sportscaster Bob Costas stated, “If Jovan Belcher didn't possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins [Belcher’s girlfriend] would both be alive today.” Some Americans think taking guns out of public hands will reduce the amount of murders in this country. One of my Facebook friends posted this interesting analogy: “Jim Jones killed a lot of people with Kool-Aid. Thank God Kool-Aid wasn’t banned or I wouldn’t have had a childhood.”

Although I'm not a gun owner, I strongly support the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, which protects the right of civilians to keep and bear arms. President Ronald Reagan stated two years after surviving an assassination attempt, “You won't get gun control by disarming law-abiding citizens. There's only one way to get real gun control: Disarm the thugs and the criminals, lock them up and if you don't actually throw away the key, at least lose it for a long time...It's a nasty truth, but those who seek to inflict harm are not fazed by gun controllers. I happen to know this from personal experience.”

Back when Jesus walked the face of this earth, the sword was the gun of its day. Both civilians and those in authority carried them. According to Luke 22, Jesus was not a pacifist like some anti-war demonstrators want to believe…

36 Then He {Jesus] said to them, “But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one. 

37 For I say to you that this, which is written must still be accomplished in Me: ‘And He was numbered with the transgressors.’ For the things concerning Me have an end.”

38 So they said, “Lord, look, here are two swords.” And He said to them, “It is enough.”

Of course, Jesus didn’t condone indiscriminate use of weapons. In response to Peter cutting off the right ear of the high priest’s servant, the Lord said in Matthew 26:52, “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.”  

The problem isn’t the National Rifle Association or gun ownership but wicked criminals who possess these weapons. Guns do not come alive and kill people on their own. Somebody has to pull the trigger. The solution can be clearly illustrated in this poem written by Darrell Scott whose daughter Rachel was killed during the 1999 mass shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado…

Your laws ignore our deepest needs

Your words are empty air.

You've stripped away our heritage.

You've outlawed simple prayer.

Now gunshots fill our classrooms.

And precious children die.

You seek for answers everywhere.

And ask the question “WHY”?

You regulate restrictive laws.

Through legislative creed.

And yet you fail to understand.

That God is what we need! 

“But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” – Matthew 15:18-19