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Christianity Today, December (Web-only), 2007 |

Colorado Shootings Reflect Big Threats at Big Churches

Growth of megachurches has spawned an industry devoted to protecting and securing large congregations.

Kevin Eckstrom, Religion News Service | posted 12/11/2007 09:08AM

With megachurches come mega crowds, mega money, and increasingly, mega security concerns.

The crowds—anywhere from 2,000 to 20,000 worshippers each weekend—can be an attractive target for a deranged ...

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Cornelius

Posted: December 22, 2007 12:36 PM

ENZYME: Let's keep verses like that in perspective: It does not say "if your enemy rapes your daughter, give him your son as well." nor "If your enemy kills your wife, offer him your children as well." ALEX: This is not about persecution of an oppressive government which we are supposed to submit to. These are crazy individuals seeking to commit great evil. We have a duty to stop it through lesser evil. Everything the security guard did was in line with what our Constitution provides for. NEWSONG: Spiritual weapons fight spiritual foes in the heavenly places. Physical weapons fight physical foes. Honestly, if a murderer was about to kill someone in the presence of a police officer and the police officer got on his knees and prayed RATHER than intervening, he would not be fulfilling his calling given to him by God. I would hope that he (or she) would do both as the church security guard did.

George

Posted: December 13, 2007 11:49 PM

The lead paragraph places the event in proper perspective. Mega crowds, mega money and mega security clearly belong together. In the midst of a violent society it only seems natural to have armed security, and those sworn to protect the house of prayer may well be heroes. But it is a tragic commentary on our faith when American Christians can say no more to violence in our families and neighborhoods than to shoot back. Is this the faith of the Holy Martyrs?

Alex	Posted: December 12, 2007 4:52 PM

It is sad that so much of the analysis from CT and other Christian organisations in the aftermath of this tragedy has focused on church security.How do you think Christians living in Iran or China would react to these kinds of discussions? Christians in those countries face extreme persecution daily. It is hypocritical for comfortable middle-class Christians in the developed world to laud the sacrifice of the martyrs and yet spend literally tens of thousands of dollars protecting themselves from making the ultimate sacrifice for the Gospel.

debbie

Posted: December 12, 2007 12:43 PM


I go to First Baptist Dallas and only wish that our church had armed guards on Thanksgiving nite. Two robbers stole 8 TVs and tied up the three security we had that nite. I remember the nite that several people were killed in Ft Worth at the SYATP rally.

Prince

Posted: December 12, 2007 12:43 PM

Let's be realistic with this thing. Security is an absolute must have in a church of that magnitude. Even with the greeters, ushers and deacons on security, the risk is still at a high level because of the size of the congregation. You need trained individuals capable of handling conflicts and crowds to reduce the level of risk. We can dismiss the idea of breaking the megachurch into a lot of small churches because leaders must be called by God and equipped to do the work. The Word of God says that many are called but few are chosen. One reason that hinders many from being chosen is their unwillingness to heed the call. Unless people heed the call and are humble enough to be equipped for the work, God won't set them as a shepherds.

Ralph Gaily

Posted: December 11, 2007 9:12 PM

What a new concept.....trim down the giant, overly large, unable-to-be-tended-to congregations, into lots and lots of smaller, intimate, manageable churches where people can know each other and the leaders can tend sheep instead of being CEO's. It would alleviate a lot of what looks to be some new trends coming our way, besides being more efficient in a number of ways. Maybe the big salaries are a stumbling block ......maybe our "cathedrals" have become something unruly.... maybe this "bigger is better" mentality has run it's course.....maybe we could get back to the way it was in the beginning .....simple. It won't solve all our problems, but it will address many ....let's just do it ! I really can't imagine the suggested trend of arming the church to protect our assets/property. There's no end to this security nightmare once it gets going !

newsong

Posted: December 11, 2007 7:29 PM

"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 2 Cor. 10: 3,4 Perhaps some churches ought to think about increasing their spiritual "security" staff by hiring faithful prayer warriors who know about spiritual warfare. "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places. Therefore take up the full armour of God..." Eph. 6:12, 13 I see no guns mentioned in the list of the full armour of God. While the prayer warriors are at it, perhaps they could fight the true enemy behind school and mall shootings too.

enzyme6

Posted: December 11, 2007 4:18 PM

I have been also kinda trying to figure out whether churches should have security guards. If we are allowed self-defense, then it seems that there is not even a question of turning the other cheek. Why not prevent yourself from getting slapped in the first place? And regardless of whether or not what Anonymous says sounds like "pious platitudes", we should be asking what the Bible asks us to do - even if it means the death of hundreds of Christians.

Julie

Posted: December 11, 2007 2:27 PM

When the Jews of the Old Testament were threatened with annihilation by the machinations of Haman, they fasted and prayed for deliverance. God came to their rescue through the edict of King Xerxes, which granted the Jews the right to "destroy, kill and annihilate any armed force" that might attack them (Esther 8:11). Nowhere did Jesus or any New Testament writer state that this was wrong. Self defense is not the same thing as vengeance, which is clearly condemned throughout the NT. Maybe Anonymous would feel differently if his children had been killed by a gunman. Giving a thief your coat is not the same thing as allowing the people you shepherd, along with their families and little ones, to be slaughtered by enemies of God. And remember, Jesus told his disciples to sell their cloaks so they could buy swords. What possible purpose could He have for this, other than self defense?

Steve Johnson

Posted: December 11, 2007 11:58 AM


Nice pious platitudes! If your advise was followed we would be burying a hundred Christians instead of four. If that happened then who would you blame? Lets be thankful the church had the foresight to protect its members from being further victimized.

Anonymous

Posted: December 11, 2007 11:27 AM


When I first heard this story, my immediate thought was "why does a church have armed security guards?" I just kept thinking about Jesus stopping Peter from using his sword to defend them from arrest. I agree totally with Anonymous.

Anonymous

Posted: December 11, 2007 11:00 AM

It seems to me that our focus is all wrong. What about Jesus command that if they take your coat give them your shirt as well. If huge churches become a security risk maybe we need to rethink our approach to church and gather in smaller numbers. As far as pastors being targets. Do you really think Paul, a high profile pastor, would carry a gun, not to mention Jesus. I think instead of being counter cultural we are becoming the world. Jesus is our safety net not our security systems.

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