In light of the tragedy at Lakewood Church in Houston I felt it might be good to take another look at the question: Would Jesus have armed guards at His church?
Please don’t jump to conclusions but track with me till the end here.
I know all the logical reasons why this is necessary but so often Jesus didn’t do the “logical” or the “necessary.” So I genuinely wondered what would Jesus do?
Jesus did have an armed guard at a prayer meeting. Peter sprang into action defending Jesus by cutting off a man’s ear. Jesus rebuked his protector, told him to put the weapon away, healed the wound and quietly went with the intruders to His death. (Luke 2:50+)
Additionally, He witnessed the slaughter of his apostles and thousands of followers even up until today when many are still brutalized and killed for following Him. But, for His precious flock in America, surely He approves of armed men gunning down any who threaten to do them harm. Right?
Do one to others …?
Again, I know all the logical reasons and explanations. But, instead of man’s logic, I prefer Biblical reasoning. Jesus speaks of loving our enemies and turning the other cheek. How does that align with “gun down the dangerous intruder?” It seemed like an evil twist on the golden rule: Do one to others before they do one to you.
I finally came to a Biblical conclusion that satisfies me. I wish I could say I had a vision or angelic visitation but it simply came through an obscure little booklet that appeared on my office bookshelf years ago. It was written by a missionary who has spent much of his life ministering in war-torn areas and has experienced first-hand the fruit of man’s brutality, hatred and evil.
Can you justify armed guards when Jesus said, turn the other cheek and love your enemy? The parts of the explanation below that are in italics are paraphrased selections from the booklet. The rest are my own thoughts prompted by the booklet.
Turn the other cheek
Jesus said, “If someone slaps you on the right cheek, let him slap your left one too. (Matthew 5:39) He did not say, “If someone stabs your right cheek let him stab you in the heart too.” Nor did he suggest that if someone rapes your sister you should stand by and watch him attack your mother also. Yet, that is how some pacifists misapply these passages.
“If someone slaps you …” Let us not suggest more than Jesus taught. A slap is an insult. Don’t fight over an insult. Don’t kill to preserve your pride. Don’t retaliate just because of an insult. A slap can hardly be interpreted as a threat of bodily harm or fatal injury. Matthew 5 was never meant to abolish national defense or self-defense. The Old Testament law which calls for capital punishment for murderers and military defense for nations was not done away with by the coming of the Lord.
Love your enemies
Jesus said we are to love our enemies, and love our Christian family, and honor our parents and love our neighbor. So what do I do if an “enemy,” whom I am to love, is trying to hurt or kill a brother or sister, or harm my parents or my neighbor? Is it loving my neighbor to do nothing if he is in danger? Is it honoring my parents to allow them to be abused, hurt or killed?
An unanswerable dilemma?
Am I faced with an unanswerable quandary of “Who do I love, my neighbor or my enemy?” Not at all. God’s love – the example of true love – does not permissively allow us to do anything we want, freely participating in sin and evil. God’s love constrains us. To honor my parents, or love my neighbor, I may need to restrain an evildoer, an enemy. I can’t stand idly by while he commits heinous sins and claim that I am loving him. That doesn’t even make sense. If I knew my child was going to harm someone, I would, out of love for him, do everything I could to stop him from hurting others.
Can I restrain, perhaps even kill, the perpetrator of evil while loving him? That might be tough but I do not have to hate the evildoer and I am certainly not loving my neighbor by idly standing by while he is attacked or killed. Honoring my parents might require I do something unloving toward one who is harming them.
So, my conclusion, remembering that we are still required to “submit to governing authorities” (Romans 13) is, when it is legally within his power to do so, a pastor is demonstrating love for the Lord’s people by protecting them from those who would do them harm. And the hope is that the very presence of force will deter the evildoer from carrying out the plan. aka peace through strength.
Perpetrators of evil are to be loved, forgiven and even cared for if wounded but killed if necessary as an act of love for our neighbors, family and friends.
If you’d like to listen to me and my son, Joel, discuss this topic further,
CHECK IT OUT HERE.
Am I crazy? Am I missing something? I welcome your comments.
If you want to read the entire booklet or find out more:
Peter Hammond
The Christian at War
https://www.frontlinemissionsa.org/