I want to thank all of my subscribers for bearing with me as I navigate starting a podcast. What I’ve noticed is that there is a solid mixture of folks that listen to/watch the podcast and some who only read the articles. In the interest of furthering this ministry I’m going to do both. If you didn’t listen to the first episode of the Zero 5 Podcast I am not very tech savvy, so all of this is a learning experience for me. Thanks again for your patience and faithful following of Zero 5.

In this episode/article I want to address current events and how churches are reacting. If you’ve been following the news there have been 4 terrorist related attacks in the U.S. in the last couple of weeks (Austin, NYC, Michigan, and Old Dominion Univ.). Two of these attacks were directed specifically at people because of their religious affiliation. The reaction to this and intelligence that is getting spread after the start of the war in Iran among churches varies widely, but there are some reactions that are concerning.

Fear Based Reaction

There seems to be a lot of heightened reaction being born out of fear. The common quote that I see on social media is, “It’s not if, it’s when.” I’ll be honest, I absolutely can’t stand that quote! While the person using it may be attempting to encourage preparation, to the non-sheepdog it only elicits fear. Sheepdogs understand preparation and quotes like that push us to be more prepared; we are proactive with regards to threats and violence. Quotes like that nudge us out of any sort of complacency. Non-sheepdogs (sheep) hear things like this and the immediate reaction is to act out of fear.

Throughout the Bible God’s people are told “do not be afraid”, “do not fear”, or “fear not”. That phrase is used 365 times in the Bible. It is a command from God because fear is an outright display of lack of faith in Him. A perfect example of this is when Moses sent men to spy out the land of Canaan. The men came back with a report that that land was incredible but it’s inhabitants were formidable. Despite having witnessed first hand, many times, the God’s power and favor the Israelites still reacted in fear!

A fear-based reaction is our attempt to take control of a situation ourselves. If we are going to our church leaders and saying things like, “if we don’t get barricades someone is going to ram into our church just like Michigan and people are going to die,” or “we need to tell our people not to loiter after service because they create a target rich environment for a terror attack” we are fomenting fear and trying to control it by our own means.

Preparation Through Love

If we are reacting out of fear it is because we lack trust in God to control the threat level and want to exert our own influence over it. Utilizing fear to coerce our church leaders to make decisions on security postures and upgrades faster than they would normally feel comfortable doing is roping into that distrust rather than relying on the wisdom God has imbued them with to become church leaders in the first place.

Instead, we should become and remain prepared. We prepare because we trust that God is in control. We prepare because we trust that God will equip us to handle any situation we face through His power and not out own. We prepare because we love our congregation so much that we will step in the gap, potentially at the cost of our lives, to protect them. However, preparation is not an overnight transformation!

Preparation happens well in advance of an elevated threat level. It happens in the boring times; the peaceful times. True warriors prepare for war during times of peace, not immediately before the battle. If you have been waiting until NOW to start training and preparing your team you are behind the ball, and are likely reacting out of fear. Can you still make adjustments to your security plans and update your training? Absolutely! Will all the training in the world be enough to stop whatever threat may come your way? ONLY GOD KNOWS THAT! And that is why we prepare out of love for our congregation and with trust that God is with us.

Conclusion

We are smack in the middle of one of the most dangerous times for Christians in the U.S. history. We have people within our own country that hate us, fueled by groups and other countries that hate us; one of which we have just begun a war with. However, Ecclesiastes tells us that there is nothing new under the sun. This is nothing new for our God; it’s new for us, but not for Him. We MUST trust in Him, and we must prepare because we love our families and we love our congregations. Not matter what, we must not operate out of fear!

PROTECT HIS PEOPLE. GIVE HIM THE GLORY.

Thank you for reading the Zero 5 Safety Training Substack or listening to the podcast. Please consider a paid subscription or a subscription-free donation to support us in getting church safety ministry tips and information out to church protectors.

Get full access to Zero 5 Safety Training's Substack at zero5safetytraining.substack.com/subscribe