The Lord was revealing to His disciples – as He is to us, today – that the times and state of things would change and even get worse … so they would need to ensure that they are prepared in the area of security!
Apostle Dr. Steve Lyston,
From time to time, we will hear people say, “How can he be a Christian and he’s carrying a gun?” or “How can he be a pastor and he’s carrying a gun?” Some would respond, “That’s not right?”
We are living in a time now where many people don’t value life the way they used to or should. Regardless of whether they are Christian pastors, Christian soldiers, Christian police, Christian lawyers, Christian anybody, they have a right to carry legal weapons to protect their lives, property and families.
Richard Henry Lee (1732-1794), a signatory to the United States Declaration of Independence who helped form the Second Amendment in the first Congress, wrote ” … To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of people always possess arms and be taught alike.”
Interestingly, most wealthy people always teach their children at an early age how to use a firearm. There is no scripture in the Bible that says that Christians should not bear arms. While firearms did not exist then, all the people were armed. The Book of Nehemiah tells it. They carried bows, spears, swords, slingshots, darts, arrows and more, for war and self-defense (Nehemiah 4:17-18).
KILLING VS MURDER
Many often reference, “Thou shalt not kill”, when it comes to Christians (Exodus 20:13). The Hebrew word for ‘kill’ is ‘ratsach’, which means ‘to murder’. The Oxford Dictionary clearly explains the difference between killing and murder. ‘Murder’ is the unlawful, intentional killing of a human being. Thus, what the Bible was speaking of was not self-defense, but the intention based on the hatred, revenge and anger fostered in the heart and breeding an evil intention to murder. But if, as a Christian, someone enters your home to rob, murder or rape you or your family member(s), you have the right to defend yourself, your family and your property.
A number of persons quote Matthew 5:38-39 also to justify their views. However, this scripture was not telling us as Christians to be passive, nor was it instigating violence, murder and stupidity. The Lord was not telling us that if someone punches us on the left side of our face we should turn the right side also so they could punch it, too! Certainly not! The Lord was telling us that where someone does evil against you, you are to leave vengeance to Him, and to the law of the land to deal with it. So we are not to seek to take revenge ourselves, is what He was saying.
When someone comes after you with a deliberate, evil intention, don’t go back after them; at that point, it festers in the heart and becomes revenge, and if you kill them for that, it becomes murder – not self-defense!
Luke 22:35-36 says: “And He said to them, ‘When I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything?’ So they said, ‘Nothing.’ Then He said to them, “But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one.”
The Lord was revealing to His disciples – as He is to us, today – that the times and state of things would change and even get worse – security-wise and economically! Meeting the needs would not be as it was when He was on earth! So they would need to ensure that they are prepared in the area of security!
Believers also must accept the protection of an ordered government of the land. But the family is also the first line of government. The man as the head is responsible for the physical and spiritual protection of his household (Ephesians 5:25-33).
So, as a Christian, would you allow the strongman to come into your house and ravish your family and rob you of your property?
In the same way that the tablet used in the days of old are indeed very different from the tablets we use today, the sword was the number one weapon of use in battles and self-defense in the days of old. However, today, a sword is outdated and is only used on parade in a military square. They have now upgraded from swords to guns. Things and times have changed. The gun is a more accurate and up-to-date weapon than the sword and the stone.
There is nothing wrong with a Christian using a gun for self-defense. What would be wrong is if the Christian places more trust in the gun and than in God! For the Christian, God must always be the first source of protection!
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