Can a Christian Be a Gun Nut?

I’m surprised at how infrequently I really stop to think about it, but in one way I am living a life of uneasy tension as a gun-promoting, gun-toting, card-carrying NRA member who is simultaneously a committed follower of Jesus Christ.  The Sandy Hook shooting has shown me how easily I can compartmentalize my thoughts when it comes to certain subjects.  On the one hand, I’m an ardent defender of the Second Amendment to the point of including the availability of one-hundred shot magazines and Bushmaster assault rifles.  On the other hand, I’m basically a practical personal pacifist with a strong desire to avoid physical confrontations. 

I am lightning-quick to defend gun ownership, to point out the futility of trying to classify “assault” weapons, and to describe in no uncertain terms the “slippery slope” of Second Amendment concessions. Intuition tells me that a husband and/or father has every right to defend his family from intruders.  History tells me a free citizenry needs the ability to resist a tyrannical government and that an armed populace deters it, just as our founders understood and addressed with our Bill of Rights.  Common-sense tells me that it is far better for honest folk to be as well-armed as those who are evil.  I genuinely believe Wayne LaPierre got it right a couple of weeks ago when he said (quite controversially), “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun!”  If the subject comes up, I'll be quick to tell you what I think with some degree of passion.

At the same time, I’m sometimes concerned that maybe I’ve unintentionally maligned the words and character of Jesus when I strongly promote the capability of lethal force for a believer in Christ.  I struggle with reconciling my desire to show the kind of love Jesus talks about, while simultaneously maintaining the capability to kill my fellow man.  

Matthew 5:38-48  (NASB)

³⁸ “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ ³⁹ But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. ⁴⁰ If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. ⁴¹ Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. ⁴² Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. ⁴⁶ For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? ⁴⁷ If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? ⁴⁸ Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

When I read the words of Christ as above, it definitely gives me pause.  Am I violating the spirit of Jesus’ teaching by promoting gun ownership?  I’m not going to work through a Biblical exegesis of pacifism and self-defense here, but I have worked through these questions for myself through the years.  I have come to believe that Jesus was speaking about our individual relationships as we interact with people – not about the defense of our families or our lives.  I could point to passages such as:

Luke 22:36  (NASB)

 ³⁶And He said to them, “But now, whoever has a money belt is to take it along, likewise also a bag, and whoever has no sword is to sell his coat and buy one.

Here Jesus tells the same disciples who heard his Sermon on the Mount  (excerpted in Matthew 5 passage above) that the time had come to procure weapons of force.  Paul reminds us in Romans 13:4 that the civil authorities exercise the capability for lethal force as agents of God.  In the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter used his sword to defend Christ, who in all fairness, did tell Peter to put his sword away but who stopped short of rebuking Peter for sin.  In the Old Testament, God frequently used humans as instruments of punishment by using lethal force.

It is clear that when it comes to bearing personal insult or humiliation, particularly as a Christian, I am to turn the other cheek and not press my own defense.  I've come to believe that when someone else has the power of life or death over me as a Christian and makes my life dependent upon renouncing my faith, I am to hold strong for Christ and forfeit my life.  However I have also come to believe that it is no sin to take the life of an evil person in order to protect the innocent – in fact, I believe the sin is in not doing so when I have the power to act.  I have come to believe that sometimes (for example as during the American Revolution or in Nazi Germany), a citizen is duty bound to use lethal force to stop even greater horrors.

I do have one area of firearm uneasiness as a believer.  I am still at times uncertain if I’m justified Biblically to protect myself when nothing other than my well-being is at stake.  Do I really show the love of Christ by removing the threat to my own life?  Am I exercising a lack of faith?  On the other hand, would God care less about me than about others who are unjustly killed?  Would he not justify my self-defense?  My gut, my common sense, and the absence of commands to the contrary concerning protecting my own life lead me to believe self-defense is permissible.  My understanding of Christ’s sacrificial love and what he did for undeserving mankind, however, make me step back and think.

I have concluded that one thing is for certain: God is more interested in me sacrificing my life for Him while I'm living regardless of whether I ever sacrifice it in death.  I suspect that the man who has learned to give himself to God while he's alive will have less trouble giving himself when it comes time to die.

I’m still excited by the sight of holes in a bulls-eye, the feel of recoil, the smell of gunpowder and the sound of empty casings clinking on concrete.   I’m still a committed defender of the Second Amendment.  I will continue to renew my concealed carry permit, and I'll stay proficient with weapons while I teach my sons to use them responsibly as well.  I will continue to fight for the rights of our citizens to bear arms.  Having said all that, I suspect I will also continue to live with an uneasy tension between loving my enemies while I prepare to oppose evil with deadly force.  

Can a Christian be a gun nut?  I believe the answer is "yes" and hope I'm never more than just a gun nut.  I pray I'm never faced with using deadly force.  However, should a firearm ever be required to defend my family or the innocent, I pray for resolve and accuracy.