Speak With Discernment President Falwell, Jr.

The President of my school is making waves in the news. President Falwell Jr. made a statement that made my ears cringe. It wasn't the call to obtain legal means to protect yourself. But when he generally said, "End Muslims before they walk in"[1].  How can a gun stop them before they walk in? Would knowing that the "good" are armed stop radicals that will commit suicide to carry out Jihad? And don't you have to see them to use a gun so how would we be able to stop them before they came? How do you know they are the radical Islamic followers and not the non-radical Islamic followers if you do not let them walk in? I do believe that Falwell meant well when he made this under 3 minute statement to my fellow classmates at Liberty University.

He started by saying that Liberty University would be offering scholarships for the first responder's children as well as the victims children. His heart was in the right place. He is showing compassion and being moved to action to help in a way that he can help these families. He is also caring for the students of his school by wanting them protected. Liberty University does offer a class for concealed carry and only students and faculty ages 21 and older can carry on campus.

I do believe that in cases of radical Islamic terror killings that if more "good" people were armed there would be less life lost and I cannot overlook the fact that when radical Islam strikes that there are also unsaved (people who do not have Faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior) lives that are in the victim count... the shooter is not the only lost soul. I fully believe in fighting for the weak ones, the lost ones. That includes the shooter and the lost souls in the room and all over the world. But unfortunately, the shooter is making a choice that will more than likely have hardened their heart so much they are unable to see the Light because they choose not to see it or they will not stop killing and choose to be taken out or in most cases or in multiple cases they commit suicide.  

But when we, Christ followers, lack discernment in our words we cause a ripple effect that isn't like the ripple effect we learn in our Evangelism classes at Liberty. We cause one that will make more people stumble away from the Christ instead of coming to the cross. When we group, or do not use discernment in our words that group, a certain people group with the radicals we turn a lot of people against the very people the church should be fighting for... the lost. I do believe President Falwell Jr. was referring to radical Muslims but how he worded it, how it came out, it was way to general. Fear is running rapid in our country. And let us be honest, this is SCARY. THIS IS TERRIBLE. But when we use fear to aim and fire at all in this group instead of just radicals we are doing more damage than good. Now, we are seeing where people will not let the Muslim lady at the checkouts be the one to serve them and the customer makes a scene to get another cashier. And people discriminating on this group. And Christian's in the very season we celebrate our Savior's birth are forgetting the very reason why He came... To save the lost. We are forgetting that "these Muslims" are also souls that He came to take a cross for. 

So, President Jerry Falwell Jr and all Christ followers we need to use discernment in our words and in our actions. I would like to think that Falwell meant that we would teach them about Jesus if they showed up at Liberty University but his "teach them a lesson if they showed up here" [2] is not referring to witnessing but to a reason for concealed carry. 

What did Jesus do? Jesus was a target for many in His day. He ran from them for a long while. There are many times when we see Jesus slipping away so that He wouldn't be stoned and examples like, "So from that day on they planned together to kill Him [Jesus]. Therefore Jesus no longer continued to walk publicly among the Jews, but went away from there to the country near the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim; and there He stayed with the disciples" (John 11:53-54). But when His time came to be led to the cross He did not fight the arrest in John 18 and in fact when the soldiers asked for Him, He answered Three times with "I am He".Here, the Great I Am declares who He is and will not run because this was why He came. He did not run anymore or have to slip away. It was His time. So, Church how will we know when we should run and fight back? How do we know when it is our time? We must rely on the Holy Spirit and we must be willing to listen and discern what the Holy Spirit is telling us to do. We must be willing to yield to God and to follow Him to the point of the cross if we truly call ourselves Christ followers. 

Pray for the Lost.
Pray for the Enemy.
Pray for the Holy Spirit and the Word to speak louder than fear in your life.
Use Discernment. 

[1] and [2] Orbmedia, "Evangelical Christian College President Says More Concealed Weapons Could "End those Mulims"!" (President Jerry Falwell Jr speech at Liberty University), accessed 12/8/2015, ​https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM-0j_ggYUDJCozhtN0JoIA.