Christians, you can keep your ‘thoughts and prayers’. They mean nothing without action

’Thoughts and prayers’ Christianity makes our sinful passivity look heavenly, says Chris Llewellyn, but we are called to be active participants in bringing about societal change and social justice

I’m writing this from Nashville, Tennessee, a ten-minute drive from the scene of the horrifying school shooting at Covenant Christian School, which claimed the lives of three young children and three adults just a few weeks ago.

This tight-knit community is reeling from the tragedy, grasping for a way to process these events that, ultimately, defy comprehension. Wider secular society has responded with pleas for reform around gun laws. But here in the buckle of the so-called Bible Belt – the evangelical capital of the USA – many are looking to their faith for answers, and my very Christian corner of social media is awash with “thoughts and prayers”. I’ve been trying to work out why it makes me so angry.