Sheeps and Wolves

The story of man goes like this, God made humankind in his own image and it was very good. Humankind broke relationship with God by trying to be God and it got bad, really bad, really quick.


Have you ever thought much about the spiral of sin in the world? It's really quite heartbreaking to consider the great brokenness that exists in humanity. The first known sin was Adam's passivity, a sin of omission.  Then Eve takes the fruit of the tree, a sin of commission. Then, together they experience guilt and shame. They shift blame. God gives mercy and clothes them and sends them out of his presence. The next recorded sin: fratricide. That's, quite literally, one hell of a leap.

The killing of Abel sets the scene for the downward spiral and brokenness of humanity. It points to the thirst of violence in our hearts. We see this played out over and over again. Man killing man. We live in the most violent time in human history. Wars are constant. Violent crime is everywhere. Murder is so common in our cities that it largely goes unreported.

It seems as though the wolves are winning. The sheep are running for their lives.

So, what do we do about this?

The debate rages about whether or not people should have guns. The general public needs to arm itself, the argument goes, to be protected from the wolves that are on our doorstep. We need to allow the sheep to protect themselves from the wolves.

The other side of the argument is that violence begets violence. More guns means more violence which means more pain and suffering. Get rid of the guns and you get rid of the violence.

The problem is that both sides of the argument are broken. Neither side begins with the reality that we are a sinful, broken, people. We have violence as part of who we are. An armed public does not necessarily protect the sheep, it typically creates more wolves. A disarmed public does not necessarily decrease the violence, it just makes it easier for the wolves to eat.

When we understand and take seriously the brokenness of humanity, then it appears to me, that we find a third way.

There is great fear in some of those in authority. This fear, I think, comes from a lack of faith and trust in the sovereignty of God. Paul writes in Romans 13,

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience.

We see in this little passage some important principles based on God's kingdom rule. First, the governing authorities have been placed there by God. Second, those in authority are there to protect the good and bring wrath to the wrongdoer. Now, there are all kinds of questions that this passage raises due to the context historically. However, the more I have studied it, I am convinced that Paul was not speaking sarcastically here. We are to rest under the authorities over us as protectors of good.

I am grateful to know two men who are police officers. These men represent the sword. The fact of the matter is that I do not fear for my safety because I trust that these two men are representative of their profession. They are out there fighting the wolves and protecting the sheep. God has placed them in this role for the express purpose of carrying out justice.

If one experiences terror over those in authority we must ask "why?". It's not easy, especially in places like China and India where there is rampant persecution of the Church by those in power. How do we reconcile this reality with Romans 13? I don't know.

What I do know, is that in our context in the United States we do not fear the sword of the authorities.

Now, pastors, we have a role in this too. We are to preach the gospel in season and out. As we do, lives change. More people begin to have the image of God renewed in them and under the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit violence is dialed back. More people trust God and trust his providential reign to protect them.

So what does this have to do with gun control? Not much. What it has to do with is more about protecting the sheep from the wolves. If we will encourage the sheep dogs (our police) and if the shepherds would faithfully preach the gospel, we will begin to see fewer wolves because they will cease to be wolves but become sheep, following the Good Shepherd.