Can a Christian be a Guns Right Advocate?
As a Christian, it is my personal conviction to be held to a higher standard, and to live a life in accordance to scripture. Of course, I fall short daily. That’s life, and that’s part of being a Christian. As a Christian I have to ask myself about the things I do, say and think, because often times, the things I do, say and think are sins. However, I’m comforted by the fact that grace abounds, and that Jesus’ streams of mercy are ever flowing.
With that being said, I question all the things I’ve ever known. If you know me, you know I love guns because it’s all I’ve ever known. I grew up in a Christian family with a father and grandfather who both had a passion for guns which ultimately led me to pick up on guns pretty quick in life. As I’ve grown up, left the house and had to make my faith my own, I questioned my love for guns. After all, they’re killing machines, right? I mean, nobody in their right mind could love guns and be a Christian. That would be counter intuitive because guns are a symbol for the opposite of love, right?
Guns very well can be a symbol of hate. For instance, if I loved guns because with guns I can kill someone that I hate, then absolutely, that is where a gun would be a symbol of hate. But that’s not why I love guns. I love guns for a number of reasons: they’re a part of my heritage, I enjoy hunting, skeet shooting and target practice, and they have the ability to help protect my family and others around me from harm. In my opinion, those are all good motives behind my reasoning for loving guns, but I believe that my opinion is worth nothing if it’s not backed by scripture so let’s review a few areas of the bible that back my reasoning.
When I think about my heritage, I think mainly about my dad and his side of the family because of the distinct theme among that side of the family: we love hunting and we love guns. And I grew up doing just that with my dad.
Once or twice a year, we’d go hunting somewhere. Some of my best memories from my childhood are from hunting with my dad. Growing up, picking up a gun was a way to honor my dad, and it still is. My dad, whom I trust as a spiritual leader in my life, told me guns can be used for good such as provision and protection. And from a young age, while hearing scripture for the first time, Ephesians 6: 2 always stood out to me, which is, “Honor your father and mother”. Spending quality time with my dad at a gun range, or going on a long road trip to go hunting were ways I knew I could honor my dad. With full confidence, I can say that being a gun lover is a way of honoring the Lord because it is my way of honoring my earthly father.
My second reason for loving guns is because I enjoy taking part in sports such as skeet shooting and target practice. The Bible doesn’t talk a lot about doing something simply for fun, and shooting guns is often times something I do for fun, so I was having a hard time trying to find scripture to back up my reasoning. However, I thought about how choosing to shoot guns is a personal choice of mine, and there really is no passage in scripture that blatantly says “Thou shall not own a gun”. What I’m trying to say is that scripture isn’t very clear on what is right and wrong regarding owning weaponry; therefore, I believe your decision on guns is a personal conviction that doesn’t need to be heavily debated over. We see Paul talk about this idea in Romans 14. He says,
“Accept the one whose faith is weak,without quarreling over disputable matters.2 One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.3 The one who eats everything must not treat with contemptthe one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judgethe one who does, for God has accepted them.4 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant?To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand”
I love this passage because it gives us freedom among the things that aren’t very clear cut in the Bible. The main idea of the gospel is to accept the Lord as your personal Lord and savior, not quarrel over issues that Jesus never really talks about.
Speaking of the gospel, this brings me to my final point, which is that guns give me the ability to protect my family, and others around me.
I know this to be true because we see an exact example of this in the gospel from one of Jesus’s disciples. As Jesus was about to be captured by a mob of Chief Priests and soldiers, the apostle Peter drew his sword in defense of Jesus. Additionally, According the Luke 22:49 it says that not only does Peter stand up to defend Jesus but a couple more of Jesus’ followers asked, “Lord should we strike with our swords”. Following this, Jesus says the famous line, “He who lives by the sword dies by the sword” and as true and holy as this statement is, I don’t think Jesus is trying to say you can’t defend yourself. If you look in Ecclesiastes 4:9, King Solomon says that “there is a time for peace and a time for war”. I believe Peter confused the time. It would have been foolish for Peter to take on that mob. One, because they were heavily outnumbered, and two, it was God’s divine and perfect will for Jesus to be captured.
Additionally, as a man who, Lord willing, will one day have a family, I believe it is my right and duty to protect them above my life. In a hypothetical scenario where my family or other innocent bystanders around me are in danger, I would do my best to step in and help. Psalms 82:4 says "rescue the week and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked" and even Jesus, when talking to his disciples said in Luke 22:36 "let the one who has no sword, sell his cloak and buy one". God doesn't call us to stand on the side lines in the midst of evil and let it happen. senseless murder does happen and sometimes is needs to be stopped.
I know some of y’all reading this may not be Christ-followers, so you may think this is all irrelevant to you. That’s okay to think that, but I know it’s a big stereotype that us southern Baptists are hypocrites for loving guns as much as we do. I wanted to give adequate reasoning as to why we believe what we believe on gun issues. With all this being said, guns are not the gospel. Jesus’ death and resurrection is the gospel. Don’t put all your faith and hope in guns but rather turn to Jesus for your guidance. To all my gun totin’ southern Baptists out there, remember the passage in Romans that Paul talked about. There’s no sense in quarreling over your opinions; you can state your opinion to fellow believers who may not hold the same opinion over gun rights as you do, but you do not have the authority to Judge God’s people. We all answer to one master.
