SAFE at Church?

SAFE at Church?

People used to refer to houses of worship as sanctuaries, because they were a place of refuge or safety. But no more! The violence at houses of worship like Sutherland Springs, leave us all wondering where we are safe. Not at Walmart, not even in church?!

Why the madding violence? Why must we witness bloodshed in the house of God? Consider this.  In 1877 American Evangelist D.L. Moody wrote: “A good many years ago there was a convention held in France, and those who held it wanted to get the country to deny a God, to burn the Bible—wanted to say that men passed away like a dog and a dumb animal. What was the result? Not long since, that country was filled with blood. Did you ever think what would take place if we could vote the Bible and the ministers of the Gospel, and God out from among the people? My friends, the country would be deluged with blood. Your life and mine would not be safe in this city tonight.”*

Moody nailed it!

Violence follows rejection of God. And the problem with America is that we are unwilling to go there. We already made that decision when we voted God and the Bible out of our schools a generation ago. Not wanting to endorse any one religion, we offered students no religion at all. But more was lost than religion; we lost a fixed moral reference point. And things have been deteriorating ever since. The anti-hate campaigns and the “be kind” bells cannot restrain a heart that has deified itself. So let the talk go on and on and on. Let the media tell us we need better laws, better education, better safeguards. Nope! We need better people. I wonder how much worse it must get before we invite God back?

*D.L. Moody. Moody’s Sermons, Addresses, and Prayers. New York: Goodspeed & Co. 1877. p. 447.

Comments are closed.