{"id":29991,"date":"2017-11-08T06:00:32","date_gmt":"2017-11-08T11:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?p=29991"},"modified":"2017-11-10T09:49:26","modified_gmt":"2017-11-10T14:49:26","slug":"why-violence-doesnt-stop-the-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2017\/11\/why-violence-doesnt-stop-the-church\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Violence Doesn’t Stop the Church"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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\"beaumont-chapel-1526736_1280\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Officials are saying that the church massacre in Sutherland Springs, Texas, was not due to religion.\u00a0 It was a \u201cdomestic situation\u201d<\/a> caused by a conflict between the shooter, Devin P. Kelley, and his estranged in-laws.\u00a0 But his in-laws were not there!\u00a0 He did kill his wife\u2019s grandmother, but if his motive was a family spat, why did he shoot nearly everyone in the sanctuary, including toddlers?\u00a0 Of course\u00a0massacring\u00a0a congregation at worship had something to do with religion!<\/p>\n

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(By the way, those who are calling for new gun laws need to realize that there is already a law against those convicted of domestic violence\u2013in Kelley\u2019s case, abuse of his wife and stepchild\u2013from purchasing firearms.\u00a0 But the military failed to enter his conviction into the national crime database used for background checks!<\/a>)<\/p>\n

At any rate, the killings called to mind so many more, around the world and back through time.\u00a0 Christians even at their best inspire a mysterious hostility from some circles.\u00a0 Individuals, rival religions, and governments have used violence against the church.\u00a0 And yet, somehow, it never seems to work.\u00a0 Far from being terrorized into giving up their faith, Christian survivors have a way of coming back even stronger in their faith than before.\u00a0 Why is that?<\/p>\n

Russell Moore has published a moving op-ed piece on the topic in the Washington Post<\/em>:\u00a0\u00a0Why the church shooting in Texas won\u2019t intimidate Christians.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

He summarizes the efforts of lone gunmen, jihadists in Syria, and totalitarian secret police.\u00a0 \u201cIf they looked overhead,\u201d Moore observes, \u201cin almost any of the churches they attempt to destroy, these killers might see what they miss: the cross.\u201d<\/p>\n

The church began with the crucifixion of its founder.\u00a0 But then He rose again.\u00a0 During the first generations of that church, Christians were given the death penalty.\u00a0 But far from losing heart, the church kept growing and kept getting stronger.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason was not that the church came to believe that they could find safety in the threats of violence,\u201d says Moore. \u201cThe reason was that the church came to conclude, in the midst of the violence, that death is not the endpoint.\u201d<\/p>\n

Much of the New Testament is made up of letters from the apostles of Jesus on why the cross is, counterintuitively, the power of God. The Christian gospel does not cower before death. Those who give their lives in witness to Christ are not helpless victims, in our view. In fact, the Book of Revelation maintains that those who are martyred are in fact ruling with Christ. This is not in spite of the fact that they are killed. They triumph even as they are killed. That\u2019s because they are joined to a Christ who has been dead, and never will be again.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Those who would like to eradicate Christianity, says Moore, \u201cshould see that Christianity can be easier suffocated with comfort, to the point that we forget who we are, than it can be terrorized with violence. Those who try to confront the church with the threat of death only remind the church that we were dead, and are now alive in Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n

The survivors of the congregation in Sutherland Springs will go through horrible grief.<\/p>\n

But one thing is certain: Come Sunday, they will be gathered again, singing and praying and opening the Word. That church will bear witness to the truth that shaped them: Eternal life cannot be overcome by death. And over that church will be a cross.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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\u00a0<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Officials are saying that the church massacre in Sutherland Springs, Texas, was not due to religion. I disagree.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":30000,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,600,20],"tags":[4272,1871,5875,2200],"class_list":["post-29991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church","category-crime","category-history","tag-anti-christian-violence","tag-religious-persecution","tag-sutherland-springs-church-killings","tag-theology-of-the-cross"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Violence Doesn't Stop the Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In reference to the Sutherland Springs massacre, Russell Moore discusses why violence has never stopped the church. 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