How Should the Church Respond to Violence?

Many around the United States are still shaken by the violent shooting in a movie theater last Friday morning in Aurora, Colorado.  Dramatic acts of senseless violence, particularly in places where we seek sanctuary (and modern movie theaters are such places in our society), demand our attention. They unsettle us and raise our anxieties by making us feel less safe in our surroundings and more worried about what the people around us might do.

In the days since, various groups have been responding to the tragedy.  The news media has been covering the incident using significant resources, offering around-the-clock updates on many aspects of the shooting, including stories about the victims and survivors, the police investigation, and the criminal proceedings against the alleged shooter.  The President and other leaders, including those of Hollywood and Denver area sports teams, have visited with those in the hospital and their families.  Pundits and commentators have begun speculating about what actions our government and society should take to make sure such awful things do not happen in the future.

As a pastor, I imagine that some wonder how the church and its leaders should respond to such tragedies.  Aside from bearing witness to the tragedy in our worship, through prayers for the victims and the affected community, what should Christians do in the face of such violence?

First, we should respond with humility.  In the wake of tragedy, we naturally seek information -- lots of information -- about the awful event and how it occurred as we try to make sense of something that seems so senseless.  There is no way to stop this natural human response.  However, it is important to remember something that our faith in a transcendent God often teaches us -- we will never understand everything about this mass shooting.  There are lessons that we can and should learn that may prevent similar violence in the future, but most investigations into crimes that seem irrational -- even where the criminal survives to be thoroughly questioned and studied psychologically -- usually end with as many unanswered questions as they have at the beginning, if not more.

Second, we should seek healing for the victims of violence.  In our congregations, we most often preach about Jesus' death on the cross and his teaching, as recorded in the Gospels.  But it is clear that in his day-to-day ministry, Jesus sought to bring healing to those suffering in a broken world.  It was so important that when (as recorded in Luke 10) he sent out disciples in his name, he commissioned them to proclaim the Kingdom of God and heal the afflicted.

The wider community in central Colorado is aching, not only from this shooting but from the painful reminder of the Columbine shootings in 1999.  To this large community, people of faith need to reach out to help individuals affected directly and indirectly by the violence grieve the loss properly.  Then, the much harder work begins, in which the bonds of community must be restored and strengthened.  In the wake of tragedy, we must counter the destruction that violence causes, and the fears and anxieties that it creates, with healing reminders that love and forgiveness are more life-giving and life-sustaining than hate and retribution.  This is not easy work, but it is vital to healing the broken bonds, especially for the young who will bear the scars -- physical, psychological, and emotional -- for the rest of their lives.

Third, we should not falsely judge.  A few among us will be entrusted with the criminal process.  These people will, of necessity, make judgments regarding punishing the alleged gunman.  Many, as community leaders and members, will make judgments about any necessary changes -- to laws, to procedures, to security systems, to emergency response -- that might benefit our communities in the future.  And almost all of us will make decisions about how the threat of such violence affects the safety of ourselves and our families.

But, we cannot judge too broadly.  If we do, we'll imagine potential mass murderers in untold numbers of our neighbors, if not even some relatives.  This is counter-productive and more destructive of our communities than the irrational act of violence in the movie theater.  The harsh reality, and one that Christians who truly admit the reality of human sinfulness should appreciate, is that we are all sinners capable of doing terrible things to one another.  If we do not take up guns and knives against other people, we open our mouths and say hateful things.  We shun and ostracize.  We belittle and bully.  Each of us is capable of destroying the relationships among our families, our workplaces, our schools, and our communities; and with shame, we each know that at points -- usually in the not too distant past -- we have said and done things that have unnecessarily hurt others.

Yet, as Christians, we know that this is only part of the story.  Through Christ, we are reminded of the divine gift of each person -- so much so, that Jesus promised that God will count it as a personal favor each time we reach out to other human beings who are hungry, sick, naked, alone, or in prison.  In the wake of tragedy, it can be unbelievably challenging to see this so-called divine spark in those who caused such pain and suffering.  But we are challenged to do just that, each day, in every child of God whom we meet on this earth.  We must see the value of life in both the victims and those whose actions victimized them -- in both gunshot victims and shooters, and everyone else in between.

It is not easy, and, needless to say, we as Christians will not do it perfectly.  But if we do it intentionally and honestly -- if, through our faith, we respond more with love and forgiveness, we can counter the despair and nihilization of tragedy with peace and with hope, with a divine assurance larger than any of us.  We can mend, and even cherish more fully, the tenuous bonds that tie us one to another.  We can sacrifice a bit of our time, energy, and money to strengthen others and help them through a difficult patch.  Not one of us can do it alone; but a movement of countless Christians, through small acts of love and giving, can offer a glimpse of God in the face of the violence and destruction that is not-God.  And this is no small thing.