I can remember hearing a story or two every year about some type of violent act or disruption breaking out in a church. The biggest one that comes to mind is the attack at New Life Church in Colorado. I was having a conversation with a man from my HaganaH class (Israeli martial art) and the topic of church violence came up. I began researching it and I was a bit shocked at how quickly violence and crime committed at churches is rising.

Carl Chinn has been involved in creating emergency response procedures for churches since 1991. In 2005 he was part of a team that created the security plan for his home church, New Life Church in Colorado Springs. He was one of four security team members that put that plan into action the day the gunman attacked in 2007.

Carl Chinn has kept track of deaths at churches since 1999. The amount of incidents was relatively low, with 10 or less incidents a year from 1999 to 2005. Starting in 2006 the numbers slowly began to increase and then skyrocketed in 2009 with 105 incidents and 53 deaths. In 2010 there were 118 incidents with 51 deaths and so far this year (2011) there have been 37 incidents and 16 deaths. The incidence of violence at churches from 2005 to 2010 have gone up over 1,000% from 10 to 118. You might be thinking that 118 incidents is still relatively small compared to how many churches there are. What if it were happening at Daycare centers? If the same level of violence was taking place in Daycare centers, there would be outrage and rightfully so.

The Christian Security Institute has an article by Chuck Chadwick called Church Crime Statistics. In it he explains how he searched the National Archive of Criminal Justice and found that “The data file for 2008 has over 5 million records and among the data structure is a field called “Location”. Low-and-behold location code 4 is for “Church/ Synagogue/Temple”. There were over 24,445 crimes attributed to location code 4 (Churches/Synagogues/Temples). I am willing to concede that not all are going to be Christian churches, but the majority would be.”

The data he gathered was only for 2008, I would be interested to see data from 2000 – 2011 to see if there is a rising trend. I am willing to bet there is. From these two sources we can see the trends rising, but why is that? I think the first reason is because of the economy; people are growing more and more desperate. Another reason is from Mathew 24:12 “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold”. I’m not saying we’re in the end times, but with every day that passes, we get closer and satan knows it.
 

What can we do?

Now that we are aware of the danger of rising crime and violence committed at churches, how do we act prudently to mitigate this danger? Awareness, planning and preparing, just like any other danger.
 
Awareness

It wasn’t that long ago that churches left their doors unlocked and there was no need for security. As I mentioned, just a few years ago there were less than 10 murders on church grounds, whether related or unrelated to the ministries on the campus.

Part of the problem is convincing those who cannot see the danger that there is one. Finding out if your church is aware of the rise of violence and if they have a security plan or team in place is a great first step. Pointing them to this article or to the links I mention in this article could be used.

There is a segment of Christians who believe that God will protect them and that it is wrong to use force to defend themselves, or others. I have recently written on this subject in an article I called Should Christians Practice Self-Defense?. In it I explain why I think modern day Christians have Christ’s meaning of “turn the other cheek” wrong.
 
Planning and Designing Security Procedures

Consulting a lawyer and Insurance Agent are a must when designing your security plans. I’ll cover some things that might be legal in one region and not in another, or that might not be covered by a particular insurance policy underwriter.

One of the biggest parts of security is having a plan to put in place for the various threats that the church may face. Churches have some unique security needs as they offer a wide variety of services, from childcare to counseling, high tech equipment for services or productions to multiple cars in the lot unattended.

This should translate to procedures for the multiple risks, such as, car break in, missing child, stolen property, vandalism, shows of disrespect or attention getting to assault and active shooter.

Security at many facilities can be inflexible and for many of the policies at a church they should be as well. However someone walking in to a church looking frustrated, angry or confused, could actually be depressed, worried or just a hurting soul in need of a loving touch from God, in the form of a listening ear.

Because we do not know a person’s heart like Christ did, we have to let their intentions be shown by their actions. We should walk in love until someone’s actions require intervention. Then we must execute the security plan for the given situation.
 
Preparing

How do you prepare to put your security plan into play? What kind people should fill the security roles? What kind of training should people have?

I read an article written by Charles Grennel called “Sheep, Wolves and Sheepdogs”. It’s about a lecture given by William J. Bennett to the United States Naval Academy on November 24, 1997. It is really worth reading, but I want to mention a couple of things here.

Mr. Bennett states “Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident. We may well be in the most violent times in history, but violence is still remarkably rare. This is because most citizens are kind, decent people, not capable of hurting each other except by accident or under extreme provocation. They are sheep.”

He goes on, “Then there are the wolves who feed on the sheep without mercy. Do you believe there are wolves out there who will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in denial.”

Lastly, he states, “Then there are sheepdogs and I’m a sheepdog. I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf. If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen, a sheep. If one has a capacity for violence and no empathy for one’s fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath, a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? What do you have then? A sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the unsheltered path.”

In the security field, having the capacity for violence is a needed trait, but because we’re talking about churches, there are other characteristics that are needed as well. I think the person should be bearing the fruit of the spirit in their every day life. I think they should have a firm faith and be in the Word. My thinking is this; satan knows our weaknesses, we need to be grounded in the Word, wearing the Armor of God, ready to wrestle with principalities in the spiritual realms (Eph 6-12) and flesh and blood. Paul, however, was only partly right. Sometimes we do battle with worldly beings that are influenced by the spiritual.

Another quality that I believe is a must is meekness. I was listening to a Podcast by Chip Ingram and he gave one of the best definitions of meekness that I have heard. He said something along the lines of “Meekness isn’t weakness, its power under control. That Arabian horses have immense power and could cause much damage, but they keep their power under control.”

During my research for this article I found a company called Intruder Response that really impressed me. They are a security training company that trains schools, businesses and churches. They understand the unique situations that churches are in and they know how to work with them. In an interview hosted on their site, one of the founders, Vaughn Baker, mentions that a security person at a church needs to have a servants heart and a warriors mind. I couldn’t have put it better myself.
 
Armed or Unarmed?

I think every church should have security plans in place. However, the level of security presence may vary. Some churches might be able to have the plans in place and have to do little else. Others may need video surveillance and security personnel trained in lethal and non-lethal self-defense. There may be some church security forces that, because the church is on the same property as a school or because of state law or for liability reasons, are restricted from carrying firearms on the premises.

Real-world self-defense classes may be a good fit here. I take a martial art called HaganaH, which is an Israeli inspired fighting system. It teaches armed and unarmed fighting and weapon defenses. It is designed to quickly train people, it does not take years to become proficient.

Personally, I think having a lethal option available is preferred. You can choose to use less force but the opposite is not true. If your security force is armed, they should be trained. If you are carrying a gun, you need more training than CCW. The CCW is a basic competence test and also covers the legal issues involved with carrying and shooting someone. Am I saying that you need to be SWAT capable? No, but clearing misfires, shooting multiple targets and many other things are not covered under the CCW class.

Training is important because you do not rise to the occasion; you default to your competent level of training. In other words, you need training, but taking one training class does not make you trained. If you frequently practice at the range what you learned in a class that is a different story.
 

WHY?

New Life Church

On December 9th, 2007 an armed man walked onto the campus of New Life Church. There were roughly 7,000 people on the church grounds at the time. The gunman had three firearms on him; an AR15 rifle, a .40 caliber handgun and a 9mm handgun. There was also an AK47 in his car. I remember hearing a report that the gunman had 400 rounds. The gunman opened fire in the parking lot and made his way into the main foyer; shooting five people, killing two. The only reason he wasn’t able to murder many more is that he was met by trained and armed security personnel that brought the fight to him. Sheepdogs.

After September 11, 2001, churches swelled. I believe the terrorists are aware of that. I have had the belief for some time now that if there is another terrorist attack in America, the churches will be a second wave of attacks. This article called Expert: Security Checkpoints Near Soft Targets May Soon Become The Norm Has the same concern for many soft targets. It states “Counter terrorism expert Juval Aviv said terrorists seeking revenge for Osama bin Laden’s death will turn to attacks less dramatic than the destruction on Sept. 11 — focusing instead on soft targets like hotels, places of worship and mass transit hubs.”

 
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Growing up my parents used to tell me two things that you may have heard in your youth; “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” and something along the lines of “Don’t start fights, but if you get hit, then finish them.” Their meaning was to only use violence as a last resort and then use only enough to stop the fight. There are believers that think using any form of violence is wrong. They often site a few different scriptures to support their arguments, and they site Martin Luther king and Jesus Himself as examples. I’ll be honest; I have never understood pacifists. I can understand not slugging everyone that frustrates me but I have always held the opinion that sometimes when a man steps too far, a whoopin’ is one of the fastest ways to set him straight and yes, myself included.

As followers of Christ we’re told that we’re to die to self and become more like Him. I found a martial arts class that I wanted to take so I decided to dig into the Word and pray about it, asking God for wisdom. If I came to the conclusion that the pacifists have it right, not only was I going to avoid the martial arts class but I was going to ask for God to change me into a pacifist. His will not mine be done, even if I don’t understand it.
 
The Old Testament

There are many examples in the Old Testament where God used violence, commanded His angels to, or commanded His people, the Jews, to use it. Some examples are; the flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, the plagues brought on Pharaoh and the Egyptians. I’ll stop before this article is even more long-winded.
 
“Thou Shall Not…”

I know there are some people who think that the Sixth Commandment states not to kill. However, “Thou shall not kill”, is actually a misquote of the actual commandment. The actual commandment is “Thou shall not murder”. All murder involves killing but not all killing is murder. There are some people who are confused by a Christian’s ability to be pro-life and pro-death penalty. What they fail to understand is that we are pro-life of the innocent, both child and victim of murder. The government is sanctioned by God to seek vengeance for crime and when government puts a murderer to death it is an example of when killing isn’t murder, its justice.
 
“An Eye For an Eye” Exodus 21:23-27

This is an often misunderstood verse. Gandhi is credited as saying “Any eye for an eye, leaves the whole world blind.” Gandhi did not understand rabbinical law. If he did he would have understood that this verse was not about retribution. Author R. Kent Hughes writes in his book The Sermon on the Mount: The Message of the Kingdom, that eye for an eye was “Far from being savage legislation, it was intrinsically merciful because it limited vengeance. The typical primitive blood feud knew nothing of equity. A small infraction by one tribe against another – for instance, trespassing – was met with a beating, which was returned by homicide, which was then countered with genocide.”

He goes on to explain that this law “was given to the judges of Israel as a basis for adjudication as Deuteronomy 19:16-21 makes so clear. Individuals were not permitted to use this law to settle disputes with others, only the courts were permitted to do so. Moreover it was not literally carried out by the Jewish legal system.” “The Mishna devotes an entire section entitled Baba Kamma to assessing proper damages”
 
The New Testament

As we saw in the Old Testament section, God used violence and commanded it to be used. As Christians we, in large part, use the New Testament and the life of Christ as our guide. While He didn’t directly use violence, was Jesus a pacifist?
 
The Sermon on the Mount – Mathew 5:38-48

This is one of Jesus’ most famous sermons and also one of the most cited to depict Him as a pacifist. In it Jesus explains how to deal with insult, unfair lawsuit, walking an extra mile and borrowing freely. Only one of these deals with the topic at hand, so I will only cover it.
 
Turn the Other Cheek

There are so many people who think this verse means, offer the other cheek to be slapped, to not only not defend yourself, but to ask for more. The trouble with this is that context is important. I have done a fair bit of research and I have found four theories that take the verse in context of the Jewish people at the time of Christ.

Here are some things to keep in mind.
 
Use of the Left Hand

Many cultures have used the left hand for “unclean” tasks and I believe some still do. I remember my father, who is left handed telling me that when he was a child his parents tried to force him to use his right hand for writing and other tasks. I mention this only to give some example of how widespread this practice was. Because the left hand was used for unclean tasks you would not use it, not even to strike someone you deemed less honorable then yourself.
 
Honor

Honor is something else that is lost on western culture. In many cultures, even today, honor is valued higher than life. This is why there are honor killings in some religions and cultures. Honor was also very important in the days when Jesus walked the earth. He condemned the Pharisees for always wanting to sit in the place of honor. He also rebuked the disciples telling them in Mark 9:35 “Anyone who wants to be the first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else.” One would only slap someone they considered less honorable then themselves and Jesus states, “If your right cheek is slapped.” Since the left hand would not be used, one would have to use their right hand for a backhand slap. A backhanded slap carries more dishonor then a palm.
 
The Theories

From this point the four theories separate a bit. Theory one states that if, after the slap you “turned the other cheek”, the person would then either have to use their left hand to backhand slap you, which would bring them dishonor; strike you with an open palm or fist or the slapper would walk away. Either of the three options would put you at the same level of the slapper. So when Jesus said to turn the other cheek, He was telling those thought of as “lower” to put the slapper in a sort of checkmate, thus them declaring the slappee their equal.

Theory two is much like theory one, except by turning the cheek you could see the true motives of the slapper. If they regained composure and left you alone, then you have not acted out of vengeance. If they truly meant you harm and went for a punch or left handed attack you could then defend yourself and not be acting out of vengeance.

Theory three asserts that Jesus was not talking about an actual slap, but was talking about an insult. He meant that we should not trade insults or an eye for an eye, that we should ignore the insult. This is perhaps the first version of “sticks and stones”?

Theory four comes from R. Kent Hughes and his book The Sermon on the Mount: The Message of the Kingdom. He states “When Jesus spoke of being slapped on the right cheek He was describing an insult that comes because of ones faith. It was an insult for which a Jew could seek legal satisfaction according to the law of Lex Talionis. That is, he could seek damages. But do not do it “If you are dishonored as a heretic,” says Jesus, “you should not go to law about it; rather you should show yourselves to be truly my disciples by the way in which you bear the hatred and the insult, overcome the evil, forgive the injustice.” In short, though you could take your opponent to the cleaners, do not do it, instead lovingly absorb the insult.

What this means for us is that when we are insulted or abused for Christ’s sake (whatever form that insult may take), we must not respond by getting even, by getting our legal pound of flesh according to Lex Talionis, but must turn the other cheek. Jesus calls us to swallow our pride and give up our “rights” to reparation and fairness. That is the basic, essential interpretation.

The four theories while different have the same basic message; don’t react to insult, whether physical or verbal. None of the theories assert that Jesus was telling us to “turn the cheek” to take another slap. I think that is because when you put the verse in the context of the culture in the day in which it was written, it just doesn’t make sense.
 
The Two Swords Luke 22:35

During the Last Supper in Luke 22:35 Jesus reminds the disciples that when they go to spread the good news to bring nothing with them. Then in Luke 22:36 Jesus tells them something very interesting; He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.” Here is another place where context is key. In R. Kent Hughes book The Sermon on the Mount: The Message of the Kingdom the author is explaining Mathew 5:40 and in it he explains how valuable the cloak was in that day; “It was possible in that day to sue others for the very shirt on their backs. However, no one could take anothers cloak for a permanent, twenty-four-hour-a day possession. A cloak or outer robe was indispensable for living in Palestine. So even if you lost your shirt (or tunic) in court and your opponent asked for your cloak and won it he had to return it every evening for you to sleep in.”

Seeing how important the cloak was, why would Jesus then tell the disciples to sell it if they did not have a sword? The closest thing I can think of that we would depend on as much as they depended on their cloak is our vehicle. This would be like Jesus saying, find another way to get to work, another way to get the kids to practice and sell your car and buy a rifle. Why would He do that? I believe that He knew He would be leaving soon and He wanted to make sure the disciples were equipped to defend themselves physically.

A sword, like a rifle, is a weapon used for violent acts or for the threat of violent acts. Whether offensive or defensive it is still a violent act. Jesus could have told the disciples to run away if faced with danger. He could have told them to call on the Father to send a fleet of angels but instead Jesus told them to get swords. In Luke 22:38 the disciples said, “See, Lord, here are two swords.” “That is enough,” he replied. We can only speculate but I think that Jesus wanted them to be able to defend themselves but not be seen as an armed force.
 
Peter in the Garden of Gethsemane John 18:10, 11

Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) 18:11 Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?” Jesus knew Peter had the sword; He had just told them to buy them at the Last Supper. Jesus stopped Peter from interfering with God’s will. In Mathew 26:52 Jesus tells Peter “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.” Two things stand out here. Jesus did not say that none of His followers should live or die by the sword. Jesus was telling Peter that he should not live by the sword because Jesus had already told Peter in Mathew 16:18 “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”
 
The Second Coming Revelation 19:11-21

The first time Jesus was here He tossed the temple tables but never used violence on another person. However, when He comes back, Revelation 19:11-21 describes Jesus killing with His very words and treading the nations in the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. That doesn’t sound like a pacifist to me.

I do believe that under certain circumstances we as Christians are allowed if not required to use violence to defend ourselves, our loved ones and those whom are unable. What are those circumstances? The same ones my parents gave me when I was young, “Don’t start fights but if you get hit finish them.” Violence should always be as a last resort. When it is used there should be sufficient violence to stop the threat. When the threat is removed, if you do not stop, you are no longer defending yourself but taking vengeance and vengeance belongs to the government and ultimately to our God.

 
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