Here is a post I have thought about, but avoided for several reason, the main one being that I had not fully settled all the “what if’s” in my own mind. This may seem strange since I serve overseas in a war zone, but I am going to give a stab at it now (no pun intended). It should be clear from the get go that I do not hold my views on the use of violence and deadly force as superior to any other person’s. I have friends that I respect and admire who hold views that range from pacifists all the way to the other end of the spectrum and everywhere in between.
Something I found very helpful when weighing this issue in my own mind was something John Piper pointed out about Christian suffering. Lamentations 3:22-23 say that “the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” God is faithful to give us the new mercies every morning for the day to come.
Looking at martyrs such as Jim Elliot, who chose to died rather that to us the rifle they had to defend himself and his companions, I can say with all truthfulness that I would not be able to endure something like that. However, God has promised that if He calls us to endure something, he will also give us the grace to endue it. The same can be said for any of the “what if” situation I might dream up. Right now, I may not know what the right response would be under certain circumstances, but I trust God would give me the grace and ability at such a time to act rightly.
I can say whole heartedly and without a shadow of a doubt that I believe in owning guns. Aside from recreational uses, part of being a man or woman is at times a call to defend. Sometime this can mean physically and at the cost of a life and it is therefore your responsibility to have the tools and skill to do so.
The waters become mudded when it comes to listing what is worth defending at the cost of another person’s life. I do not think I could justify defending my own life. For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. For the one threatening my life, to live is their only hope, for to die will be a certainty of hell.
I believe in capital punishment and in the police and military’s right to use deadly force. These citizens have taken an oath to uphold the law and are therefore God’s instruments of justice here on earth (Romans 13), though they may abuse this power. This is why I could justly kill an enemy while in the military.
I believe in the use of deadly force to protect innocent life. If someone else’s life was in certain danger and the only way to protect them was to kill their attacker, I would do so. It would be have to be a last resort and even then there are exceptions, perhaps the most obvious being abortion.
I believe in using deadly force to fight for a just cause. This is an extremely rare case, but I think that at times God brings a people to a “flash point” and that they are wrong not to act. Large scale examples of this would be the American Revolution and the Civil War. In these instances, people were united and motivated by just cause for the better of them all, instead of a just seeking personal fame, fortune, and power.
Very well put!
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