In a recent Q&A video, John Piper exemplified how pastors rhetorically use emotion and circumlocution to avoid crucial questions so they can spend their time and their parishioners’ tithes on more spiritual things. Asked if Christians should keep guns in their homes to protect their families, Piper answers in the negative – albeit a contradictory negative. After hemming and hawing a bit – I’m not sure what shooting squirrels with a pellet gun as a kid has to do with whether I can lawfully take the life of a pagan who’s about to take mine and rape my wife – Piper draws upon the famous story of Christian missionaries who chose to sacrifice their lives rather than those of unbelievers. read more