Guns Are Us

The Rev. Franklin Graham slammed President Barack Obama’s gun actions Wednesday, saying that they “will do nothing to change this horrific problem.” Graham is quoted in a “Newsmax” article today written by Todd Beamon ( http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/franklin-graham-sin-humans-kill/2016/01/06/id/708454/#ixzz3wZmAJe9V).

Graham went on to say, “you can take all the guns in America and put them in a pile on the Mall in Washington, D.C—and those guns will stay there and will eventually rust and decay. Not one gun will crawl out of that pile and shoot or harm anyone.

“It takes a human being, and a human heart bent on evil, to pick up a gun, load it, and pull the trigger. The problem we have in this country is sin.”

Graham laid blame on the removal of God from society and a Hollywood industry that glorifies violence. He proposed a heavy tax for manufacturers of any movie or game that graphically displays violence.

Tuesday President Obama had announced plans to tighten federal background checks for gun sales, require gun sellers to be licensed or face criminal prosecution, and to expand mental health treatment. Most critics argue that these measures would have done little or nothing to prevent mass shootings the nation has suffered.

Graham lamented our nation collectively turning our backs on God and reaping horrible bloodshed. “The only cure?” he asked. “Jesus Christ. That’s what will make a difference in our nation.”

I say “Amen” to that. The question is, however, “What will we followers of Christ do about it?”

We are as guilty as anyone in expecting the government to fix whatever is broken—unless it impinges on our freedom. And I’m as guilty as anyone. Illegal immigrants? Sluggish economy? Threatened recession? Terrorism? Mideast firestorm? Healthcare? Government should solve it all. If they don’t or won’t, we complain.

I’m not a politician-sympathizer. Government has acerbated the country’s problems, not alleviated them. It frightens me when I see this administration’s flagrant disregard for the Constitution. For the president to declare we are a nation of laws, then ignore or break those laws is the height of hypocrisy and a genuine threat to America’s freedoms.

As long as they’re not the start of a slippery slope, the president’s announced gun control measures are not unreasonable. But laws have limits. When Graham diagnoses sin as the root of the nation’s problems, he’s pointing to the human heart—sinful human nature. The Bible makes it blatantly clear that even God’s laws can only curb evil, never remove it. For that we need a new heart, a new righteous human nature. This is what God promised through the new covenant established in the blood of Jesus Christ . . .

“I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God, and they will be my people.
No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying,
‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”
(Hebrews 8:10–12).

Graham is right, of course. The only cure for gun violence is Jesus Christ. Only he can remove guilt that plagues us, turn us toward righteousness and justice and love, and give us rock-solid hope instead of artificial escape.

Typically we regard spreading the Gospel as good for the sinner or a means of building up the Body of Christ. But we also must think of it in terms of societal good. I’m reminded of the question, “If you were walking alone down a dark street one night and met a group of intimidating-looking guys coming toward you, would you feel better if you knew they were returning from Bible study?”

In Christ, we have the cure for the vicious curse of deadly violence. The question now is . . .