I ask that no one shoot me after reading this.
I am not a Republican. I am not a Democrat. I am, in fact, barely an American, because I believe we who belong to Jesus are literally citizens of His Kingdom, and the affairs of this world—including America—are only important in how they affect His Kingdom.
I do not own a gun. I am not against owning guns—I took target practice with the often hated “Bushmaster” on New Year’s Day (well, I was in Texas). I have family who own these guns, and I have family who believe they should be outlawed. I do not have “an axe to grind” in this debate—except for my concern over how Christians are participating in it.
So let me propose a simple question: Why would a Christian be upset over an argument between people rooted in this world about whether or not they can have guns? Similarly: Why would a Christian rabidly defend the “right” to have a gun? Why would a Christian even consider the idea of using a gun to shoot someone in self-defense?
I hesitantly come to this conclusion: Because deep down we don’t trust Jesus. I admit I don’t. Jesus told us not to be violent with others. We are commanded to “turn the other cheek” if someone attacks us (Matthew 5:38-39; and to not “return evil for evil” (1 Peter 3:9). I struggle with this as I have struggled with no other issue in the 40 years I have been a citizen of His Kingdom.
You see I am by nature a violent man. In my youth I was quite good—frighteningly so—at violence. Not because of skill or conditioning, though I had that, but because I was willing to harm another person. I was ok with that—I even thought, under certain circumstances, it was a good idea.
What scares me is part of me still does.
Turn the other cheek: how can we believe Jesus meant this? The problem isn’t in exegesis (the study of the scriptural passage itself). It leads to only one conclusion—Jesus meant what he said literally. He taught it, he practiced it, his followers practiced it for centuries (it is interesting to note that historically, “Christians” did not begin to ignore this teaching until being “Christian” was acceptable to secular society). Yet this teaching is almost universally rejected by Christians today.
Why?
I think it is because we really do value this world—the things of this world—safety, property, etc., and we know from looking around us that Jesus isn’t necessarily invested in our having either property or safety in this world. So we take steps to protect them ourselves. We put our kids in martial (the word means “war”) arts classes, and buy guns for protection. When someone threatens our “rights” (odd that nowhere in scripture do we see any emphasis on our rights) we go ballistic and join in the outcry against these efforts. And we simply don’t talk about turning the other cheek.
I know this is hard to hear—even harder to live. I literally pray constantly that God will not put me to the test on this issue, because I know what I believe but I honestly don’t know what I would do.
So what’s the point? Just that we who belong to the Lord need to constantly be vigilant not to allow our values and actions to be determined or influenced by the world around us. Jesus didn’t leave us without guidance. But following that guidance–following Him–requires faith in Him, and a willingness to turn our back on the values of the world.