Should Christians Use Guns?

Should Christians be gun owners, and should weapons be allowed in churches and on Christian schools, colleges, and university campuses?

There is a debate amongst many Christian groups as to if Christians should or should not carry guns. Some Christians believe that they have the right to defend and protect themselves while others make the argument that having such things show a lack of faith. Furthermore, some Christians do not believe that it is Godly to carry weapons at church or on Christian schools, colleges, and university campuses? Nevertheless, what does God have to say on this issue.

When God first created the world, everything was good. There was no sin, corruption, pain, misery, or death. The Bible says: “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day” (Genesis 1:31). Sadly, when Adam and Eve defied God by yielding to temptation, everything changed. They were kicked out of Eden and the first murder was committed by their son Cain against his brother Abel. The Bible says: “Now Cain said to his brother Abel, ’Let’s go out to the field.’ While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him” (Genesis 4:8). Jealousy and hatred resulted in Cain making a wrong decision to murder his innocent brother, and of course, God was not pleased. The question may be asked, “What exactly constitutes murder?”

When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, He wrote for the sixth commandment: “Thou shall not kill” (Exodus 20:13). God did not approve of His creation taking the life of another human being in which He had given breath to. To elaborate further, God did not take joy in an innocent person’s life being taken from them. The Bible says: “There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community” (Proverbs 6:16-19). The Lord did not approve of anyone being killed who was innocent of a crime. We see evidence of this in the story of David and Bathsheba when he set up her husband Uriah to die so that he could cover up his affair. God sent the Prophet Nathan to rebuke David and he was punished because of his sin (2 Samuel 11-12). During Moses’ day, the Lord set rules that allowed refuge for someone who may have been innocent of a crime until they were tried by the law and/or killed someone accidentally. The Bible says: “Six of the towns you give the Levites will be cities of refuge, to which a person who has killed someone may flee” (Numbers 35:15). God also allowed for Israel to defend themselves when the situation called for such action.

After Judah’s captivity was over, they had been allowed to return home to rebuild. Nehemiah was over the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls, but they had enemies who opposed them. Their enemies were plotting to attack them to prevent their progress. Therefore, Nehemiah encouraged Judah to not be afraid for God was with them, and he stationed half of the men to serve as guards as the other men worked on the wall. The guards had spears, shields, bows, and armor. The builders had a sword at their side with their hand on it as they worked with the other one (Nehemiah 4).

We also know the story of David and how God helped him to kill the giant Goliath and countless other times throughout Israel’s history when God delivered them from their enemies in battle. So, some may say, what did Jesus say on this matter? The Bible says: “He said to them, ‘But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one’” (Luke 22:36). Jesus was about to leave the disciples and complete His mission on the cross, so during the time that He was with them, they had no need for protection. This, however, was about to change because He would no longer be with them. Therefore; they would need a source of protection not only in the Spirit but in the natural. Jesus, nevertheless, was not promoting vigilante justice, for when a disciple, Peter, took his sword and cut off the ear of the soldier who was making His arrest, Jesus rebuked him. The Bible says: “When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, ‘Lord, should we strike with our swords?’ And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. But Jesus answered, ‘No more of this!’ And he touched the man’s ear and healed him” (Luke 22:49-51). Jesus was disapproving of Peter using his sword for anything other than proper defense. Jesus had this to say to Peter in Mathews’ Gospel: “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword” (Matthew 26:52). So, once again, we see that Jesus did not want anyone to use a weapon when there was no proper justification to do so, and in His case, He had a mission to complete and a sword was not to get in the way of that. Now, the question has often been, “What about having faith?”

The Apostle James speaks about faith being accompanied by works in his book. A person can say that they have faith, but if they do not put any works with it, it is dead. The Apostle James wrote: “You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone” (James 2:24). The apostle was saying that when we claim to have faith in God, we are to also put our actions along with that faith. For example, a person can claim that they are believing God for a new house, but if they never do the paperwork, set the money aside, or fix their credit to align themselves in a position to receive the blessing, then their faith is useless. Therefore, when it comes to the matter of guns and safety, it would be wise for Christians to have this same approach. 

We are living in the last days, and times are getting worse by the day. The world is growing colder, and many people will stop at nothing to do needless harm to others. They will often try to attack soft targets (schools, churches, gun-free zones) where they know that there is normally no one who can challenge their threat of violence. As a result, we are seeing more acts of gun violence not because of the guns, but the people who misuse them to cause harm to others. This is why Christians may need to arm themselves not only in the spiritual but in the natural. Ephesians 6 tells us to put on the whole armor of God, and while we are to do so spiritually above all else, we also have the enemy who desires to kill you in the natural as well. Did Nehemiah not have faith because he told Judah to arm themselves? No! Their faith was to be not merely in their weapons, but in God who was able to give them victory through their weapons. Christians will continue to disagree on this subject, but just as the man who took down the gunman recently because he was armed, less of these attacks will occur if Christians, Jews, and others will arm themselves first with the Spirit and then in the natural against the forces of evil. There is a lot more that can be said on this subject, but for now, I will leave you with this text.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

²     a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
³     a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
⁴     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
⁵     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
⁶     a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
     a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
⁸     a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.

Something to ponder….