As all of us would testify, there has been much buzz around the assassination attempt of Donald Trump of late. Every news outlet has analyzed and reanalyzed what happened, looked in the mysterious life of the would-be assassin, and called for changes in the Secret Service. But what surprises me is that preciously few articles have been written regarding the man who died by the assassin’s bullet. Corey Comperatore died when he jumped in front of his family to shield them from bullets fired at Trump. He was shot in the head. His heroic defense of his family despite the danger posed to his own life is an act of gigantic proportions that outweighs the political and security debates surrounding the tragic incident. Yet, we hear very little. It is a sad commentary on what our corporate minds is focused on. Yet, there is a greater surprise. Of the news coverage on Comperatore, much is made of his support for Trump and his role as a volunteer fire chief. But there is very little to do with Comperatore’s faith in Christ. It is hard to miss it in the official statement released by the family that reads, “Our family is finding comfort and peace through the heartfelt messages of encouragement from people around the world, through the support of our church and community, and most of all through the strength of God.” So, in the interest of understanding the man, I dug deeper and found that Corey Comperatore was an engineer, a member of US Army Reserves, and a long-term active member of Cabot Methodist Church. His pastor stated, “Corey’s love for Jesus was clear in the way he lived his life. He was a faithful Bible reader. Corey drew particular strength from Paul’s Letter to the Romans, always telling new Christians they should read that book first.” Every neighbour and friend the media interviewed spoke of his faith in Christ. His legacy was not that he jumped in front of Trump to shield him from a bullet, but that he covered his wife and their two children with his body when he heard the shots being fired.
It reminds me of what Jesus did for sinners He loved – to take the place of judgment for our sin and so die that we may live (2 Corinthians 5:21). No one could save us from certain death. No one could shield us from righteous judgment. The world says, “That’s heroic.” The Bible says, “That’s atonement.” I doubt if Corey Comperatore was thinking of that Scripture when he leapt in front of his wife and children, but he certainly had a model of it in Jesus that shaped him to what he became. And it doesn’t matter if the world strategically decides not to make his faith in Christ the central conversation in the political debates that flow from this event; it matters that those of us who know about his faith change the conversations and direct it back to the Jesus that Comperatore knew and loved. That’s the greatest news story. Jesus died for sinners, of whom we all are chief.
Just Church
Our mission as church is to point to Jesus, the One Who died for our sin. “The vision of Just Church is to establish a church in just the way Christ called the church to be – true to His Word, loving Him, loving one another, and loving the lost.”
