Every time another church is attacked I go deep into what ‘ifs’. As a pastor of a flock, I am called to care for my flock.  But the metaphor gets cloudy.  Am I supposed to wrestle with bears and lions?  Am I called in any sense to physically preserve my sheep and protect them from physical harms.  I am not a doctor so I don’t care for their health.  I am not the CDC and I really had little interest in pretending I could protect them from Covid-19.  And I am not a trained security officer so I stand up front and preach to them on Sunday instead of walking the perimeter of the church property.

My responsibility to my flock ends at the spiritual.  I don’t care for their physical health.  And I cannot guarantee any protection from harms anywhere, including the church property.

More than a disclaimer, this blog is meant to identify what I think Christians ought to reasonably expect from their pastor.  They ought to be prepared for the day of their death by connection to Jesus Christ in this life.  My role has more to do with the invisible flaming arrows of the evil one, than metal bullets.  My concerns rest most centrally on a battle against spiritual forces than any flesh and blood intruders.  My arena is gospel, Bible, hope, truth, proclamation, oversight, and prayer.

The closest my role gets to a security plan is in the area of oversight.  We must gather together with some semblance of security.  We ought to be mindful of our situation.  The disciples gathered in the upper room and the door was locked (Hmmm . . . I  wonder why?).  It is not enough for me to merely say, ‘do not fear’ while demonstrating zero care for the fear of the flock.

Every headline of another shooting at a church (Two in Michigan in the past year), leads to fearful calls, texts, or emails and a review of our plans.

We do have an on-site meeting scheduled for our hall monitors and officers, and leadership to meet with a trained consultant on the subject of security.  That was on the schedule PRIOR to this most recent shooting in Grand Blanc.  It is sad that we live in a world where places of faith are now the target of acts of nihilistic violence.

As a pastor, I believe that it is increasingly important that we have a plan.  And yet it is also important that our plan doesn’t interfere with our mission AND that it springs from a trust in the sovereign God.  I am tempted to trust on the one hand, to statistics . . . “It isn’t likely to happen here!” Or on the other hand I can trust in guns, “on any given Sunday we have enough officers carrying to take care of business!”

But I can assure you in a very sad and dark way that no security plan on paper was brought into consideration when the truck rammed through the foyer of the church mid-service and shots began flying.  I am not a fatalist.  But I am a Christian.  And that means that my hope and trust rests ultimately in God instead of statistics or guns.

Christians, who were once thrown to the lions in the Colosseum, cannot claim immunity from harm in this world.  But we can trust that however we go out of this world, we will be brought into his presence with great joy.  Our sins forgiven.  Eternity ours!  And none of that calls for a naïvety.  We continue in the pursuit of a wise plan WHILE trusting in our Savior!