It has been horrible to observe, live and minister through decades of growing gun violence and death in my country, the United States. I pray weekly with ministry friends whose urban and under-resourced neighborhoods are impacted weekly by this violence and death in ways that my neighborhood is not.
But I am also Presbyterian minister from the South who has led a church with a school, held my own 9 year-old children in my arms and watched as those same children navigated this increasingly confusing world in their 20's and 30's. You will understand if this week's shooting and the deaths in Nashville opened new doors of concern for me.
Growing out of that, let me share some early pastoral reflections on this time, with hope for providing some measure of guidance and guardrails for the people of Celebration-Harderwyk as we navigate together the days ahead.
Praying With Scotty Smith
I regularly pray using the daily prayer blog of Scotty Smith. No other single resource has helped me pray in light of the Gospel of God's Grace. This may be the 4,392nd time I have said that publicly. CLICK HERE to subscribe.
As it turns out: Scotty planted and pastored Grace Community Church in Franklin, TN, not far from the shooting. In fact, that church and Covenant Church where the shooting occurred are members of the same denomination (Presbyterian Church of America) and prestyery (regional body of that denomination). The lives of these pastors and their congregations were intertwined. That makes his prayers particularly poignant and helpful. Let these prayers guide your own:
- Hold Us Tighter, Jesus - Tues, March 28 - CLICK HERE
- Entering Grief and Risking Hope - Wed, March 29 - CLICK HERE
- Hate Evil, Cling to Good, Adore Jesus - Thurs, March 30 - CLICK HERE
And Yes, God's People Will Respond By Praying
I hear and empathize with the anguish of those who are saying, "It is PAST time for praying, we should DO SOMETHING!" That can be an expression of raw lament as we read in the Psalms. I get and affirm that. My own prayers will start that way at times.
But a prayer like that might also be the logical expression of people who either do not pray, or who do not pray to the LORD of the Scripture.
For Jesus and His followers, our prayers will start with where we honestly find our hearts. But they do not remain in such a dark place. For us, all that we do should grow out of our prayer. That is how Jesus operated. Prayers lifted to the God of the Bible connect us to a God who is at work in our world and empowers us to join in His work. That is what a full-vision of gospel-centered prayer entails.
Prayer that does not bear fruit in action - starting but not ending with our own changed hearts and behaviors - is simply sub-Christian. So are actions that are not birthed in prayer.
Prayerless Living Produces Godless Decisions.
Godless Decisions Produce . . .
Finding Reliable Information, Responding With Gospel Grace
About the only thing I am passing along at this time is the post by Joe Carter on TheGospelCoalition.org. I have grown to trust his "fact-finding" by reading many of his posts on a variety of subjects for years now.
- The FAQs: Shooting at Presbyterian School in Nashville - CLICK HERE
What Can You Say?!?
As best I am able to determine, the only public statement made since the shootings by Chad Scruggs - pastor of Covenant Church and father of one of the 9 year-old victims is this: "Through tears we trust that she is in the arms of Jesus who will raise her to life once again."
When I attempted to get on the church's website, it presented as "unavailable." Perhaps that is the way to ask for some privacy in this digital age.
Gossip and Godless Speech
Scripture has a good deal to say about gossip, "tale-bearers" and people who stir up conflict. None of the references are affirming or accepting.
Let me be clear: If you come across information that the police and authorities have not confirmed, then spreading it is gossip. If you are spreading "information" - by clicking the "like," "share" or "forward" for example - that authorities have specifically said they cannot confirm, that is malicious gossip.
There may be people and organizations that are willing to say "Better to be first than right!." I think Jesus calls His followers to be truthful and humble. After all, it was James - the half-brother of Jesus by the way - who said: "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry." (James 1:19) I will aim to be obedient to that rather than upset about being misrepresented or missing out on the latest (purported) hot scoop.
