God and Guns ... what would
Jesus do?
This is a blogpost I did way back in
August of 2008, but it's still my most popular. I've expanded it a bit since
then, and I hope you enjoy!
As I wandered a maze of booths hawking
guns and other eclectic items at a gun show recently a thought occurred to
me: What would Jesus do? Would Jesus be happy I was there? Would Jesus want
me to join an anti-gun crusade? Would Jesus direct me to buy a Glock for
self defense, or kick those tables over and preach non-violence? Would he
distinguish between hunting rifles and assault rifles? Would he be against a
magazine that holds more than 10 rounds?
As Christians try to understand what
faith calls them to do to follow Christ, questions on self defense and
weapons are unavoidable. Though all Christians know their immortal soul is
held safe by grace in the hands of our Lord, whether a Christian should take
steps to protect his mortal being and family or trust in God for protection
remains a point of debate. And proponents of either view use passages from
the Bible for support.
Christians who believe in
pacifism, or at least pacifism on an individual level, focus on the fact
that Jesus is the "Prince of Peace" and said in his sermon on the mount (Mt
5:39) to "turn
the other cheek " when slapped. They
further focus on mount Gethsemane, where the mob comes to take Jesus and
Peter drew his sword and cut a man’s ear off. In a powerful and oft repeated
verse, considered wisdom by even non-believers, Jesus says to Peter (Mt
26:52), "Put
up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall
perish with the sword " (commonly
translated to "he who lives by the sword, dies by the sword").
Christians who believe in self defense
use the same story from Gethsemane, and point out that not only was one of
the twelve Apostles carrying a sword, but though Jesus warns against living
by the sword he did not tell Peter to cast his sword away or admonish him
for having it; he told him to put it back in its place. He rebuked Peter,
not for carrying a sword or attacking the man, but because he "cannot avoid
the cup" he has been chosen to drink and thus it is wrong for Peter to stop
what is happening.
And it is just before the
confrontation on Gethsemane, during the last supper, that Jesus commends his
disciples to (Lk 22:36)
sell their cloaks and buy a sword
if they don’t have one. The disciples answer that they
have two (one of which was presumably used by Peter at Gethsemane) and Jesus
tells them that two are enough.
So some Christians find that the Bible
teaches pacifism and against weapons ownership, and others claim the bible
as a mandate that Christians should own weapons. And of course there are
other biblical passages used for support by either side, though these are
the ones most often identified .
So where is the answer? Christians
know the bible is infallible and does not contradict itself, so how can
intelligent people of faith follow such extremely different viewpoints? And
find biblical support for them?
As in all biblical debates between
believers, it is because humans view the bible through the goggles of their
own conceit, sin, and life experience. We create a rationalization to ignore
the passages that don’t appeal to us and revel in the specific parts that
do.
But is there truly an answer? If
someone could look at the bible intellectually and without bias (which does
not identify anyone either reading or writing this article) what answer
would they come up with? What would Jesus say to me, a man actively trying
to follow the path he has ordained, owning and carrying weapons for self
defense?
Of the two extreme viewpoints, one
that the bible forbids Christians weapons and the other that Jesus himself
ordered us to have weapons ... neither speaks to my heart or my faith, and
quite frankly I don’t believe that either is supported by a complete reading
of the bible. But there is no contradiction in the bible, there is only the
need of people to find in the bible justification for what they already
believe.
Perhaps what we can best do is state
what we read in the Gospels (I am not a bible scholar, but I have read the
works of people who claim to be):
- Jesus never carried a weapon, though at least
one of his disciples obviously did. But Jesus was not weak or afraid to
confront the wicked with force. To defend the temple of the Lord (Jn
2:15),
He made a whip of out of cords
and drove the money lenders out. A whip is not a
deadly weapon, but neither is it a feather boa. It causes pain or draws
blood (how much Jesus did or didn’t do of either is not spoken of) and
using it against fellow humans is not a peaceful act.
- Jesus forbade his followers from using
violence to answer indignities, even violent indignities (such as a slap
on the cheek).
- Jesus forbade us from answering a legal attack
with violence (if a man sues you for your tunic, give him your cloak as
well).
- We are not allowed to use violence to avoid
forced servitude, though I believe there is an assumption that servitude
is legal (if a man forces you to go one mile, go two miles – something
Roman soldiers were allowed to do to civilians in the time of Christ).
Although most people view Christians as
"conservative" and hence pro-gun, several of the most popular denominations
in America are on the record as having anti-gun stances. A reading of those
positions on their websites indicates that their opinions are based on
cultural issues rather than biblical mandates (the
Presbyterian USA website starts out by
saying they began supporting gun control in the 1960’s after several
prominent assassinations, but since the bible was not written or changed in
the 1960’s one has to wander why these events prompted a change in faith).
But since other denominations are either neutral or
silent on the subject (or at least without a written opinion) then some
denomination must be wrong. Which is not surprising, as even the most godly
of denominations can lose their focus on Jesus and find themselves involved
in a debate on a cultural matter – once again, the goggles or pride and sin
that are worn by everyone in and out of the church.
But one thing that sets Christians apart from many
people with no faith is that we inherently understand that there is evil in
the world, and it is caused by the nature of mankind and the Devil himself,
and not what guns are or are not available. There was murder and mass murder
long before gunpowder, and there continue to be such things in countries
with no firearms. Such as the
mass murders in Japan with knives or the 1994 genocide
in Rwanda committed with machetes . And of
course even in America the worst school massacre of all time was committed
in
Bath, Mi, in 1927
with explosive instead of guns and the worst terrorist attacks were
committed with fertilizer explosives and box cutters.
It’s not the job of Christians to change culture by
passing laws and supporting political candidates; it is the job of
Christians to spread the good news of the gospel and prepare the way for the
second coming of Jesus and to be Christ’s kingdom builders. And we do this
by teaching people the gospel and converting them, because if all were
converted to believers there would be no need for gun control laws of any
kind and no discussion about self defense.
But if human history makes anything clear it’s that
we can’t create a Utopian, violence free society through the laws of man.
The nature of man is too flawed for that.
The bible was meant as a book for all times and
leaves many things open for us to figure out for ourselves. I find no place
in the Bible where it forbids individuals from defending themselves, and it
is the God given nature of men to defend their families. And whether we
choose to support the availability of tools for such defense (such as guns)
is left to us.
Not to say that we shouldn’t have passion for our
political causes on earth; God certainly didn’t mean for us not to share our
morals with the world. And the presence of firearms is society is a subject
upon which educated individuals can disagree.
But to answer my original question, What Would
Jesus Do … to answer that would be a sacrilege. I cannot know what the son
of God, the only human who has lived and not been a victim of his own sinful
nature and not seen the world through sinful bias, would do. Any comment on
that would be a reflection of what I would WANT Jesus to do.
All I can comment on is what he DID do and what he
DID say; and while he spoke with perfect wisdom on how to live, how to
worship, and how to find salvation … he did not limit nor encourage his
followers as to what implements they should obtain for their mortal self
defense.
I can’t know what Jesus would do. I can only pray
for guidance and decide what I will do. And given the history that I read,
and doing my best to analyze the issue from every side I can understand, at
this time I choose to own firearms.
If this someday becomes the wrong choice for me, I
hope God will lead me to find that wisdom in a manner not too painful.
NOTE: Please see my new post that
references this
here.
