Awaken the Sleeping Giant!
We sat in our padded chairs in a dimmed sanctuary, listening to a church planter give an excellent talk. To this day, we don't remember the gist of what he said. What we do remember is one video clip he played to illustrate his point, except that God wanted to make an entirely different point with the two of us.
The clip was taken from The End of the Spear, where the missionary pilot father is preparing to leave his son in the Ecuadorian jungle to make contact with an unreached tribe. The son asks his dad if they are taking their guns with them, "...to shoot the indians if they attack." In a response that seared into our brains, the father replied, "We won't shoot the indians. They are not ready to go to heaven yet."
Surrounding us in the church sanctuary that day were dozens of young men in crew cuts, from the neighboring Army base. How many of them now live with this burden of sending other people, innocent or not, into eternity who may not have been ready?
What do we, the Church of Jesus living in the United States, have to say to this burden? Will we remain silent and let souls be damaged on both sides of a gun?
About Us
Andrew LeClear and Christie Bain are the "we" in the above story. Our names are pseudonyms, not because we are ashamed of our message, but because we wish to enter the discussion on neutral ground. Many of the stories you will read here will also be under assumed names.
We have both been heavily engaged in the modern Evangelical movement. Andrew was, until recently, in vocational ministry. Christie has served as a Sunday School teacher and Communion server. Jesus has been ruining our lives in the last couple of years. He is revealing to us that He meant what He said in the Sermon on the Mount.
We also live in an Army base town somewhere in the middle of the United States. For many towns like ours, the base is the only reason this place exists. To say anything in dissent to the patriotic acceptance of warfare is murderous to our livelihood. It'll cost us something, but we are ready to kick the sleeping Giant of the Evangelical Church. Will you join us?