Well, I don't care if it rains or freezes,
Long as I have my plastic Jesus
Riding on the dashboard of my car
Through all trials and tribulations,
We will travel every nation,
With my plastic Jesus I'll go far.
(Ed Rush and George Cromarty, 1957)
Another cornerstone of my faith has
fallen to the wayside . . . the plastic Jesus.
Seems that the plastic Jesus as a symbol of faith has bitten the dust
and been replaced . . . heaven forbid . . . with the gun. Yes, the gun.
It is no longer good enough to have faith in Jesus to arm oneself
through the perils of the journey of life and faith; now one must armed one’s
self with a Glock.
With the recent school shooting in
Connecticut and mass shootings elsewhere there has been a lot of debate about
guns and gun control. Lots of proponents
on both sides of the issue are drawing lines in the sand and arming themselves
for the debate. This is not a new debate
. . . it has been going on for as long as I can remember. There is a lot of silliness on both sides of
the issue . . . some downright craziness on the extreme edges . . . and, it
seems that the issue is no closer to being settled than it was thirty or forty
years ago. And, of course, the church is
going to stick its nose in to put its two-cents worth in . . .
The
Christian Century had
a little blurb about this issue in its most recent edition (January 23, 2013)
in the section called Century Marks. The magazine shared a brief story about a
congregation in Oklahoma--Pryor Creek Community Church—that is one of a number
of congregations that sponsor classes on using concealed weapons. The thinking behind offering these classes is
as a form of evangelism . . . as a means of reaching out to new people and
gaining members. Apparently it
works. Despite criticism the church
continues to offer the class. I guess
having faith in Jesus is not enough, pack a Glock and be certain! Who needs a plastic Jesus, I have a .38 snub
nose right next to my Bible!
I really do not want to get into the
debate . . . I just want the debate to be civil, discerning, and filled with
common sense. I also want it to be
filled with faith. It is scary to think—especially
with concealed weapon laws in a lot of states, including Montana—that there are
folks sitting out there in the pews armed with guns. This makes a preacher more than a little
nervous. What if the guy armed with the
gun doesn’t like what I have to say in the sermon some Sunday morning . . .
BANG! End of discussion. Makes one chose his or her words carefully
from the pulpit. I know that I exaggerate,
but there have been more shootings in churches over the years than any of us
would like to mention.
The world seems to have gotten more
violent and unpredictable (crazy, if you want).
There is a cry for people to protect themselves . . . to arm themselves
against danger. Apparently the church,
at least in Oklahoma, sees this as an evangelism tool. I do not think that this is the mainstream
view, but it does make me uncomfortable . . . and, I imagine that there are
more congregations doing this than most of us are aware of. But what does this say about faith? What does this say about trusting God and
Jesus with our lives? Does Jesus want us
to arm ourselves? Aren’t we missing the
mark as the followers of Jesus when we offer such classes?
I believe that guns do not belong in
the church. If you want to have a gun,
fine . . . keep the gun at home when you come to worship. God will take care of us. I believe that. That is called faith. I’ll stick with my plastic Jesus . . . it has
gotten me this far . . . I am sure it can get me the rest of the way home. In these times I think that we need Jesus more
than guns. Bring back the plastic Jesus!
