A Tale of Two Tragedies

"Do you believe in God? Written on a bullet Say yes and pull the trigger. ...and Cassie pulled the trigger." ----"Cassie" by Flyleaf When this song came out, reflecting on a young Christian girl's split-second decision to allow herself to be martyred at the Columbine high school shootings, I found my own thoughts drifting back over two similar tragedies which had diametrically different eternal consequences. I qualify all that I'm writing by stating for the record that any violent loss of life is repugnant. I also state for the record that I am a gun owner, support gun-owner rights and have a concealed weapons permit. Recently, a deranged, or simply very angry, man burst into the commons area of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, heavily armed, having just shot 4 people outside the building. His intent was to inflict terrible loss of life. New Life is the states largest church and services at the mega-church were just releasing. Having heard the shots outside, Jeanne Assam, a former police officer, and part of New Life's armed security team engaged the assailant and killed him. New Life, like many churches in America, has a full staff of security, half of which, according to Pastor Brady Boyd, are licensed and are armed. Ms Assam was lauded by law enforcement officials, Boyd and the church constituency for saving lives Contrast that event with the deranged man who, heavily armed, walked into an Amish schoolhouse, took hostages and then killed five little girls, aged 7 to 13, before killing himself. Clearly, New Life's proactive foresight to have armed security prevented in Colorado, what the Amish were unwilling to do in Pennsylvania...to use deadly force to protect itself. Let me clarify here. The Amish were not in a house of worship. Had the man come into an Amish home, the result would likely have been the same. The Colorado incident was hailed as a victory for conservative, gun-rights activists. Indeed, as a husband and father, a Christian, a gun owner, and an American, I demand the right to use deadly force, if neccesary, to protect my family. There is Old Testement precedent for this as well as admonition to the head of the home to protect his own. So why did I find the results at the New Life so much more unpalatable then in Pennsylvania? The answer lies in the starkest contrast between the two incidents. It wasn't the body count...it was the eternal ramifications. I don't pretend to be knowledgable about Amish theology. Like most people the most I know is from watching the movie, "Witness" with Harrison Ford. Clearly, I don't embrace their theology about the use of force in the protection of family. The Amish are ardent pacifists. However, there is one place that I can come alongside the Amish and where I part strongly from New Life. The Amish are willing to die for what they believe in. They don't want to die. They don't want to suffer. They didn't want to grieve the lives of 5 little girls. Yet, much like Cassie's decision to say that she believed in God at Columbine, the Amish do not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. The extraordinary belief that safety isn't an end paticularly in the post 9/11 age of fear and security leaves post modern Americans to shake their heads at the tragedy of 5 little girls being laid on the alter of martyrdom. Conversely, Pastor Brady noted at a news conference with Ms. Assam, that she had perhaps saved 60 or 70 lives with her quick action. In the aftermath, there was a gush of thankfulness of the church constituency and law enforcement. Then the events faded into media factoid history. But let us examine the eternal, transcendent consequences. It is very possible the gunman at New Life might have killed himself as so many lone wolf killers do after exacting their wrath. However, we will never know that because an agent of the church, representing Jesus, the Christ, the Savior...his Savior..., shot him dead. What we do know is that one lost soul will not be in the kingdom. One person who will never have the opportunity to repent, who will never receive our forgiveness, or our mercy or His Grace extended through us. Who will never know Salvation. So, with this result we are left to tally the scorecard between the two events. Our culture has already determined that the Amish, tragic though their loss is, are a partial victim of their own eccentricity. That culture has already assigned praise to Ms. Assam and New Life for their security measures. New Life and the culture have declared by their actions that they value their lives more than the salvation of one soul. We must now consider the hypethetical. What if a large number of New Life's congregation were killed, martyred for the Kingdom. Speculate that after his initial rage relented, the perpetrator doesn't kill himself and is captured or surrendered. Imagine further, that the church and the grieving families extended to the killer, unwarranted Christian grace and forgiveness that the Amish did to the killer of their children. (Oddly, no one doubts that the Amish would have extended forgiveness to their children's killer even if he hadn't taken his own life.) One wonders how far reaching the scope of the Amish experience has advanced the Kingdom. We will never know this side of Glory, outside of the immensely favorable testimony of their Savior that warmed the hearts of America in the weeks that followed. At New Life, we will never know the scope of what would have happened if the killer had been saved. I don't take away the proper right of self-defense of one's self and more importantly the protection of one's family. If I were at New Life that morning and I had been armed, I would have shot the man myself. But I would have been acting as the protector of my family. I wouldn't be an agent of the church. In much the same way that Timothy was charged with a higher standard of accountability in the pastoral letters, so too does New Life, and all churches now arming themselves, take on a higher responsibility and higher level of risk. Democratic Freedom and Christianity share that in common...risk. I know that Jesus would have allowed Himself to be crucified even if I was the only person on earth to believe. His love for me and for that killer are such that He did not love His life so much as to shrink from death. This is the attitude of the Amish. This is why we, as a culture, can't understand suicide, Islamic terrorist. Because we have been taught that there is nothing more valuable than life...as transient and temporary as it is...and that their testimony is only valid if it is a living one. Doesn't the New Life, and other similar churches, assume a greater level of risk. Certainly, Jesus spelled out the risk to His disciples, assuring them that if He, God Himself, would be persecuted, so too, would they. Still, He admonished us to "love our enemies" and to "offer them our other cheek". This is just one more example of how humanism has crept into the Christian world-view. Safety and comfort have supplanted freedom and risk. We can thank the Patriot Act for this spirit of fear. Christianity, like freedom, isn't supposed to be safe. The Gospel of Jesus is dangerous...provocative...convicting. One day we can ask Stephen about martyrdom. Or perhaps we can ask the countless saints recorded by Mr. Fox. Or we can simply sit at lunch with a nice, Amish family in Pennsylvania and reminisce about their late daughters. One thing is for sure. We won't be able to ask a repentant persecutor of New Life Church in Colorado. "Don't be surprised, When people die. Be surprised you're still alive." ---from "Cassie" by Flyleaf