{"id":14860,"date":"2016-01-04T15:59:17","date_gmt":"2016-01-04T20:59:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zackhunt.net\/?p=14860"},"modified":"2016-01-04T15:59:17","modified_gmt":"2016-01-04T20:59:17","slug":"nc-pastor-shows-what-it-looks-like-to-trust-in-god-rather-than-guns-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2016\/01\/nc-pastor-shows-what-it-looks-like-to-trust-in-god-rather-than-guns-2\/","title":{"rendered":"NC Pastor Shows What It Looks Like To Trust In God Rather Than Guns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"revwright\"(Credit: Larry O. Wright Sr, Facebook<\/em><\/a>)<\/p>\n

There are\u00a02 insidious lies that, perhaps more than any of the other misinformation and propaganda out there, stop the\u00a0gun control debate before it can even begin.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0that a commitment to nonviolence means a commitment to doing nothing in the face of evil.<\/p>\n

Both lies reveal a profound lack of imagination in America. Not the sort of imagination that conjures up stories like Peter Pan<\/em> and Alice In Wonderland,<\/em> but the kind of imagination that looks at a violent\u00a0world\u00a0and\u00a0envisions both alternative responses and creative preventative actions which\u00a0do more than simply continue the never-ending cycle of violence.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0placed not in God, but in guns and the false sense of hope and security they provide.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

During a recent New Year\u2019s Eve prayer service at his church<\/a>\u00a0(and while\u00a0Rev.\u00a0Wright was in the middle of delivering his sermon on violence in his community), a man walked into the sanctuary of pastor Wright\u2019s church with a gun in one hand and a loaded magazine in the other.<\/p>\n

According to the Fayetteville Observer<\/a>,<\/p>\n

\n
\n

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\u2019t know if the rifle had a round of ammunition in it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wright stepped down quickly from the pulpit when he saw the man, who appeared to be in his late 20s.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The man continued moving toward the front of the church, pointing the rifle into the air.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The two met, near the front of the sanctuary.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cCan I help you?\u2019\u2019 the pastor asked the man.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wright, who is a 57-year-old retired soldier, said the man\u2019s answer determined his next action.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he was belligerent, I was going to tackle him,\u201d said Wright, who is 6-foot-2 and 230 pounds.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wright then prayed for the man, who fell to his knees and began crying.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe gave his life to Christ,\u201d Wright said in an interview Saturday with The Fayetteville Observer.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Shane Claiborne is famous for saying you can\u2019t carry a cross in one hand and a gun in the other.<\/p>\n

This is a great example of why I think Shane is right.<\/p>\n

In many churches throughout our country, this stranger\u2019s actions\u00a0might have been a death sentence carried out at the hands of a pistol packing\u00a0parishioner who had ordained themselves the church\u2019s protector.<\/p>\n

But in Rev. Wright\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

If\u00a0Rev. Wright had\u00a0followed 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\u00a0on his knees at an altar giving his life to Christ.<\/p>\n

Rev. Wright trusted in God instead of guns and it made all the difference in his enemy\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

This is what trusting God looks like in the face of violence.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t mean doing nothing and it doesn\u2019t mean trusting that God is always miraculously\u00a0going 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 \u201cThy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in haven.\u201d<\/p>\n

And it means trusting that if death does come, it is not the end.<\/p>\n

No question about it, it\u2019s much, much easier to write and preach\u00a0about these sorts of things than it is to take the risk\u00a0Rev. Wright did in the face of possible death.\u00a0But if we\u2019re 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.<\/p>\n

That way we at least won\u2019t look like such blatant hypocrites when the moment comes that we turn our back on confession.<\/p>\n

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
\nThis is the power of Christ in me;
\nFrom life\u2019s first cry to final breath.
\nJesus commands my destiny.
\nNo power of hell, no scheme of man,
\nCan ever pluck me from His hand;
\nTill He returns or calls me home,
\nHere in the power of Christ I\u2019ll stand.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I don\u2019t know\u00a0if\u00a0Rev. Wright\u00a0is a committed pacifist or an\u00a0adamant\u00a0proponent of just war.\u00a0But what I do know is there\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

And that lesson is this: we can\u2019t proclaim\u00a0the death conquering power of the cross one moment\u00a0and embrace\u00a0<\/em>the death causing power of a gun the next.<\/p>\n

We have to choose between the way of Jesus and the way of the world.<\/p>\n

Again, it\u2019s far easier said than done and should the moment ever come, I don\u2019t know what I would do.<\/p>\n

But I know what I hope I will do.<\/p>\n

If\u00a0the moment comes, I hope I can find the same courage as Rev. Wright did and\u00a0actually live what I preach.<\/p>\n

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

(Credit: Larry O. Wright Sr, Facebook) There are\u00a02 insidious lies that, perhaps more than any of the other misinformation and propaganda out there, stop the\u00a0gun 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3437,"featured_media":14850,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nNC Pastor Shows What It Looks Like To Trust In God Rather Than Guns<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"(Credit: Larry O. 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