Disordered affections
*Disordered affections: whatever keeps us from being free; something that isn’t life-giving; becomes an idol
This newsletter will be shorter than usual because quite frankly, I’m pretty worn out. This has been a tough week. As most of the country has heard by now, there was another school shooting and this time it was here in Nashville at The Covenant School, which is a private Christian school for Pre-school thru 6th grade. As usual, everyone is placing blame and arguing over the reasons why this kind of thing keeps happening here in America. And as usual, our government leaders are doing nothing about it - except offering “thoughts and prayers”.
Look, I’m usually pretty good at seeing both sides to issues. I tend to believe that we all genuinely want the same thing - to live in a safe world, where we are free to love and be loved. I can usually see that even when two sides don’t agree on the way to get those things, they have good intentions much of the time. However, this gun situation in America has gotten down right ludicrous. We have a horrible case of Disordered Affections.
Do we really believe that the right to own semi-automatic weapons is more important than the safety of our children??? And please.. don’t tell me it’s not a “gun problem'“, but a “heart problem”. It definitely IS a gun problem. No other country in the world has this many mass shootings, and they also have evil people, criminals, mental illness and other “heart problems”. What they don’t have is more guns than people like we do in the US. (Read Rev. Benjamin Cremer’s blog: The Gun Problem is a Sin Problem for more excellent commentary and resources on this)
If there is indeed a “heart problem” in America, I believe it’s the fact that too many hearts have turned to guns as their savior. And if you don’t believe me, just see how those people respond to the thought of having to give some of them up. They react worse than an addict who has their drug taken away. They completely freak out. I’ve seen it. You’ve seen it. I know you have.
I know all the talking points. I’ve been listening to them for years. I know all the reasons why gun extremists feel that giving up their right to own any gun they want and as many guns as they want is “taking away their 2nd Amendment rights”. And clearly that is the most important thing to them. (Let’s not talk about what kind of guns were available to have when they wrote that 2nd amendment. Things have changed, folks!) I also know that many of our leaders in congress have taken millions and millions of dollars from the NRA and in exchange for that donation money, they have sold their souls to make sure no reasonable gun laws are passed.
This letter is to my friends who are weary and feel like this is never going to change. I feel your weariness but we can’t stop fighting for what is right. And fighting for the safety of our children is RIGHT.
I don’t have a lot of bible verses committed to memory, but there is one that has been floating around in my brain this week. It is Galatians 6:9.
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
I have prayed and prayed over this and I feel the Spirit telling me that it’s time to move on this. I have never been an activist. I have always been a peacemaker at heart and choosing sides is often hard for me. But I have never felt more clear about anything. We must do something to stop this gun idolization that so many Americans have. It is literally killing us. Again - Disordered affections.
I have a highlight on my Instagram page that says “gun control” and I’ve been posting call to action opportunities - from phone numbers to call, marches to participate in and organizations that you can donate to or get involved in. I’ll list some at the bottom of this newsletter as well.
This is important friends. SO VERY IMPORTANT. Please pray about this and let the Spirit guide you. I believe with all my heart you will feel this same urgency that I do. God has given us all the tools to make this world a better place for us all. He gave us brains, heart and soul - and the Holy Spirit to guide us. We can pray all day long, but I’m telling you, waiting on some supernatural thing from God to change this mess isn’t going to happen. WE made this mess and only WE can fix it. He will guide us and help us, yes, I believe so. But we have to take action NOW.
Thank you to those who have reached out this week for good conversation about this topic. I’ve talked with friends who are on both sides of the aisle and without exception, everyone wants to see a change. So let’s bond together and make this country safer for us all.
Love to you all… M
*Disordered Affections - St. Ignatius of Loyola used this term to describe deep-seated desires that pull us away from God.