Another school shooting has happened. Another community is shattered. More children are gone, and more families will never be the same.

And once again, I hear the same tired chorus of responses from many Christians, especially those who align themselves with political conservatism. Every single time, it’s the same:

• “Legislation won’t fix anything.”
• “Sending thoughts and prayers.”
• “We have a mental health crisis.”
• “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.”
• “You can pry my guns from my cold, dead hands.”
• “We don’t know why God is idle in the face of tragedy.”

Let’s be honest: none of these are solutions. They are excuses. Excuses to justify inaction. Excuses to protect idols. Excuses to numb consciences so people can cling to their weapons instead of protecting children.

The Mental Health Deflection

The “mental health crisis” line gets tossed around every single time. But if mental health is the issue, then why do the same people shouting it over and over also support leaders who slash mental health funding? Republicans have consistently cut budgets for community clinics, addiction treatment, school counseling, and other critical services. You cannot cry about a problem while voting to gut the very resources people need. That isn’t genuine concern—it’s a talking point to shield the gun lobby from accountability.

Learning from the UK

When the United Kingdom suffered the Dunblane school massacre in 1996, they didn’t just shrug their shoulders and offer “thoughts and prayers.” They passed sweeping reforms. They banned private ownership of most handguns. They invested in safety measures. And the result? Nearly 30 years later, there hasn’t been another school shooting.

Contrast that with the United States. We’ve had hundreds of school shootings in the same span of time. We are now a nation where kids practice active-shooter drills more often than fire drills. Where “bulletproof backpacks” are sold as back-to-school items. Where parents drop their children off at school and quietly wonder if this will be the last time they see them alive.

This is not normal. And it doesn’t have to be this way.

What This Reveals About the Church

Here is where I have to speak directly to the church. If the church cannot take the value of life seriously enough to protect it—no matter the political cost—then it is not modeling Christ.

Christ defended the vulnerable. Christ blessed the children and made them the center of his teaching: “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Christ did not glorify weapons of war. He rebuked Peter for drawing the sword in the garden, saying, “Put your sword back in its place, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.”

So how dare we claim his name while worshiping at the altar of the AR-15? How dare we talk about being “pro-life” while choosing guns over children’s lives?

This isn’t faith. It’s idolatry. It’s a religion of nationalism and violence wrapped in a thin veneer of Christianity.

A Call to Repentance

The question every church should be asking today is not, “Why does God allow this?” The better question is, “Why do we?”

We allow it when we elect leaders who are bought by the gun lobby.
We allow it when we refuse to pass even the most basic gun safety laws.
We allow it when we hide behind empty slogans instead of demanding real change.

And the church is especially complicit when it baptizes this violence in the name of “freedom.” The freedom to own weapons has been elevated above the freedom of children to live. That is not the gospel. That is sin.

If the church wants to be taken seriously as a moral voice in our society, it must repent of this idolatry. It must stand on the side of life, not guns. It must demand policies that protect the innocent, even when that comes at political or personal cost.

Because if the church cannot protect the lives of children, then the church has lost its soul.