Photo by Aaron Thomas on Unsplash

With each new national act of violence, prominent figures rush to express their personal agony over how such a thing could happen and to call for prayer. Anxious Americans want to know the motivation, as if a mental health condition or bad influences might help make sense of a shooting or a bombing or worse. We need someone or something to blame. We’ve grown cynical about solutions, but there actually may be some things the church is uniquely positioned to provide.

Ever since Saturday Night Live’s serious response to 9/11, late-night programs have periodically offered moments of immediate reflection after very public acts of violence. After the Trump shooting, Stephen Colbert remembered seeing Bobby Kennedy’s coffin on television as a kid and recalled other political figures of all persuasions being shot. He claimed, “Not only is violence evil, it is useless.” His point being that it doesn’t achieve a goal. He also recalled quoting from Isaac Asimov’s novel Foundation after the Steve Scalise shooting on the ball field, “Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.”[i] Those observations are simplistic. Violence can be useful in self-defense. And didn’t the Civil War and WWII change things? Violence should always be our last resort, but that assumes rational actors.

Simple answers are not a solution to every question, but they can change our thinking and actions. For example, I always want to know the age of the shooter because most mass shooters are young adult males. I wonder if some targeted gun control on that demographic might slow the trend. I also want to know the type of gun because the availability of assault weapons could be curtailed. They were banned in this country for years. Too simple?

Systems theory suggests that if you change one part of a complex network, you can create change in the entire system. So I was intrigued when Elizabeth Neumann, a former Homeland Security official and author of “Kingdom of Rage,” concludes that most high-profile acts of violence are not motivated by ideology. Neumann notes that we might conclude that the cause is Islamic terrorism, or “…societal inequality, lack of education, or poverty…”[ii] The problem with those explanations is that most people who experience those conditions do not act out in violence.

Instead, researchers found that “…the top factors included being disrespected, psychological distress, a recent crisis…and feeling like a helpless victim.”[iii] Most who choose violence are looking for significance and belonging. And they find it in all the wrong places.

Most recently, Matthew Livelsberger exploded a Tesla Cybertruck outside the entrance to a Las Vegas hotel. We know now that he suffered brain injuries in the military, a highly cohesive organization. Notes left in Livelsberger’s phone revealed that he wanted to “create a spectacle.” Shamsud-Din Jabbar joined ISIS in the last year, moved into a Muslim neighborhood, but never attended the mosque. The New York Times reports that while Jabbar “was surrounded by believers…he remained an outcast.” His plan was to kill his family and friends at a “celebration,” but he reasoned that the media focus would not be on the ISIS cause and that driving a pickup truck through a New Orleans crowd would draw attention to the significance of his mission. Luigi Mangione had been part of a cohesive private school and later a co-living surfing community in Hawaii. After a back injury he left. He had not talked to his mother for nearly six months when he shot the United Healthcare CEO (not his healthcare provider). For each of these recent events, the perpetrator was arguably struggling with belonging and felt an act of violence would make them significant.

The Christian Church is in a unique position to respond to that universal human desire. “For millennia, religions provided answers to the needs for belonging, love and significance,”[iv] notes Neumann. Christian teaching is clear that we have significance in Christ, not in our achievements (Eph 2:9). We have significance in the Body of Christ, each gifted in ways that no one can say to another, “I don’t need you” (I Cor 12:21 NIV). As sisters and brothers in Christ, we belong to the family of God. When Jesus goes public with his ministry at his baptism, the parental voice from God says: “You are my Son, whom I love, with you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11 NIV). That is the pinnacle of belonging and significance.

What can a church do? For one, examine the messages that are being communicated. Will people hear somewhere in a weekend worship service that they are significant and have a place in the Body of Christ? I became a Christian during the dawn of Bill Bright’s effort to find a simple way to share the gospel message. The Four Spiritual Laws begins with, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” He knew people needed to first hear belonging and significance.

Lauren Daigle’s wildly popular song, “You Say,” includes lyrics like:

“I keep fighting voices in my mind that say I’m not enough…

Remind me once again just who I am because I need to know
You say I am loved when I can’t feel a thing…
And when I don’t belong, oh You say I am Yours…
In You I find my worth, in You I find my identity”

Are people hearing those Gospel messages?

What can a church do? Days of service can help. Create opportunities for people to make a difference. Doing things in your community that improve lives allows people to “belong” to a group doing something significant in a small way. A friend of mine pastored a congregation that sat in the shadow of a church going “mega.” He found that people would come to their smaller church because it was a place where there was room for their children to belong and be significant.

What can a church do? Look for the loners? Believe it or not, many people come to church because they want to know what God thinks of them and if there is a place for them. Sit with the loners. Engage in conversation that communicates welcome and value.