A megachurch pastor may have figured out a way to lure unsuspecting rednecks into his church by giving away free AR-15’s to people who register to come to worship services. Pastor of River of Tri-Cities Church in Johnson City, TN, Todd Holmes, made the announcement on Instagram last week.
Of course, we’re always opposed to gimmicks and giveaways to lure people into Church. We’re of the sacred belief that what you win people with, you have to keep them with. Some churches give away cars. Some churches put on extravagant circus performances. LifeWay and the Southern Baptist Convention have even given away Harley-Davidsons. But most churches don’t give away guns no matter how useful they are.
We can say emphatically that at least this guy probably knows his potential audience. We’re not arguing that owning an AR-15 isn’t a good thing–everyone should own one. It’s a God-given right protected by the Constitution. But a cursory glance through the church’s website, though, demonstrates that this pastor and the rest of the church staff probably have very little knowledge of Scripture and the church is probably not well-fed with the gospel and sound preaching.
