John Piper posted an article today on Desiring God's web blog entitled Guns and Martyrdom, and this piece spoke volumes to me in light of some recent events. Last weekend I completed my concealed handgun training course, and Monday I turned in my application and course completion certificate to the VA Beach City Police Precinct. I am now registered and licensed to carry a concealed handgun in the state of VA. I know scary, huh? Yeah, yeah, yeah. (I can hear the onslaught of heckles coming now.) Needless to say, I was quite thrilled and excited to complete this course seeing that I have been looking forward to it for quite some time. However, I must confess, I have not given the entire situation much thought.
What am I going to do if I'm in a situation where I might "have" (for a lack of a better term) to take someone's life? Sure, I can sit back and smugly remark now that, "Pffhh, I'll just blow his freakin' head off!" But what will I really do if it's my life or his? As Piper noted (my paraphrase), "I'm ready for heaven, he's not." I am now sitting back thinking about the Gospel. Is this the Gospel? Is my life so dear to me that I can't afford to lose it? I mean, my initial reaction was, "Wait a second, that's extreme stuff Piper! I mean we're talking about my second amendment rights here!" But in reality, do I really have any rights?
As Americans, "rights" seem to be prevalent in our society. No where in the current known world or in the history of the world has an individual's "rights" been so prominent as in the United States of America.
Let's set aside rights, martyrdom, and a man's initial reaction to protect what's "his" (i.e. his life, family, possessions, etc) for a moment. What about the Gospel? What about taking someone's life so that they will never have the opportunity to hear/receive the Gospel again? Is my life really more valuable than theirs? Is that really my call to make? I think not. But is this whole thing Biblical? Is it Gospel-centered? I mean, the only reason that I took this course and obtained this permit was so that I could protect those that I love most: myself and my wife. To be honest with you, I'm not sure if I'm ready to die. Honestly, I think I still love myself way too much. But then again is the end of my life for me to decide?
I must admit that I am struggling with this present issue even as I sit here and type. For those that know me, I'm pretty sure that you would all agree that I am fairly strong sovereign-tist. So how does my theology (i.e sovereignty/providence of God) control they way that I live? In the larger scheme of the eschaton is it wise, biblical, or Gospel-centered that a Christian take another's life to save his? And I'm not talking about martyrdom here...(i.e. my life is not being threatened b/c of what I believe.)
Any thoughts? Insights?
7 comments:
My first thoughts are what would it have been like for Paul to be threatened with death?
Paul murdered Christians before his conversion (Acts 8:1-4; 9:1-2), and no doubt would have had the strength to do so in his gospel ministry. What stopped him from returning the lashes he received, or the treatment by his own countrymen in Philippi?
Even Christ's reactions to people is amazing - that is quite the personal study if anyone's up for it.
True, I haven't given much thought into what it means to 'carry' but I have a handful of friends who know the scars of frontline warfare and it's no video game.
As for gospel-living, the day we live in is treacherous and getting worse - true urban ministries - but I don't see much difference than with the apostles, they had uh, the nation of Rome out to get them. Our American pride may blind us, but I echo the struggle of taking one's life. I'd lean on the side of not shooting - though I am appreciative of the right to carry.
May God grant us wisdom and grace to sustain as we follow His will.
Your question has a broader issue at stake. There is a delicate balance of the rights/attitude of being an "American" and being a Christian because so many of them are in contrast. The whole American dream philosophy is not biblical. So what is really important? That is the struggle. Certainly the right to defend yourself is not anti-Biblical in fact I would say it is probably place in each person by God. I am sure if it was studied out there were Biblical characters who defended themselves. Substitute another weapon and another person, say my wife and a bat. Would it be un-Biblical for her to hit a guy in the head potentially killing him b/c he was trying to rape/kill her? Should she lay down her life in that situation. Also pragmatically, if you die there would be hundreds who would not hear the Gospel that you could have preached if you had lived for 30 more years doing Ministry. Just pray you don't have to ever use the weapon on another human, it would without a doubt be the hardest decision you would have to make.
Wes,
Your question is quite a difficult one and not one I have really ever thought about to be honest.
I personally do not have a gun, but it honestly has had nothing to do with the gospel- which means this is an area of life I have never thought of in relation to how the gospel should affect it. Rather, my grandfather was a Quaker and that anti-war ideaology was to some degree passed on to my father, who himself is not anti-war but simply did not like guns. However, I am neither anti-war or anti-gun, but based on my history at this point, I'd probably do more damage to myself with the gun than without. ha.
Joking aside, I do not know of another person alive that attempts to consciously live such a full-orbed, radical, gospel-centered life than Piper. This is why his life is so challenging. I think he is probably the epitome of living "counter-cultural" in the right way. I have found myself on many, many occasions evaluating my decisions in life (in relation to other specific areas unrelated to guns) because of his own radical living in that area. As I have done this, I have found it to not be so neat and tidy as I would like it to be. That is, I can emulate him exactlly and do what he does (which turns me into nothing other that a legalistic Piperite) or I can seek to get to the heart motivation and seek the develop such a gospel-centered critical eye to everyday living, where I am not simply being shaped by culture but shaping culture by my own life.
As it comes to the issue of being a martyr, Keiser just recently mentioned a book he has been reading where the premise is that a martyr is more than just a person that dies specifically because he in the act of giving the gospel at that moment, but rather one who dies to some degree because a gospel-centered decisions and patterns of life that inevitably lead to or are the way in which one is simpply living when he died. That is, if you die because you don't use your gun for gospel reasons, then you are more than a martyr than you might think. I don't say this to argue one way or other really other than that I thought it was a helpful thought to me when Keiser mentioned it.
One last thought that I would personally want to work through is that of the gospel implications of loving and protecting my wife as a husband since my relationship to my wife is to portray that of Christ and the church. Thus I would toss out the question of whether it is not also gospel-centered to protect my wife? Is it "right" to protect myself?-- you make a valid point here and I am really not sure. But I do think it is indeed "right" to protect my wife, whether this invovles a gun or not. That is, it may mean me dying so my wife doesn't, which would perfectly portray Christ and the church, or it may possibly mean harming someone else possibly.
In the end, I'm not sure that this is a one-size-fits-all decision for every person or even in every specific life scenario in which one might use a gun. Setting guns to the side though, if someone attempted to harm my wife, even not having a gun, I would probably attempt to beat the crap out of them, although I would most likely lose the fight and die...thus, I would have the best of both worlds-I sought to protect my wife AND I end up a martyr also since I would most likely lose. HA!
Andrew
Evil exists. And evil people with out any conscience exist. It is a fact of our generation. I have no love for guns. They terrify me but I would be a fool to say they are not needed.
I recently had a house mate that always carried. As a single woman it was a practical protection for her to enable her to travel across country alone.
Must we philosophise everything?
I guess I'm way to simple and practical but God has in the scriptures enabled people to use everything from a Tent peg to a smooth stone for His glory.
If you are ever presented with the situation---you will know what is right.
Isn't that what we depend upon Holy Spirit to do in our lives? Give wisdom?
Pack your heat and pray you never have to use it. But aim carefully if they come at my daughter.
Linda
Just came across another discussion on Piper's article going on @ The Thirsty Theologian - http://www.thirstytheologian.com/2008/06/30/john_piper_and_guns.php
"...Today I must strenuously disagree with John Piper. I’ve disagreed with him before, but never like this."
Interesting question Wes. There was a story in the Virginia Pilot this morning about a store owner (Dominick's Pizza and Pasta) who killed a robber. (Sorry don't have the link!)
Just had a wild discussion about guns with my wife! I guess at some point we have to face the question of where our trust rests: in God or myself. When confronted with a gun, can I really trust God to work out his perfect will for me? Do I think that includes a gun or not? I don't know either. :)
Very good questions, Wes. I have thought about this a little. Let me start with two disclosures. First, I have a .22 semi-automatic rifle in my closet. I also used to have a 20 guage shotgun, but I sold that several years ago. I grew up with guns and am very comfortable with them. Second, I completely agree with you on the way American culture has influenced the American church for the negative. The fact that the second ammendment gives me the right (as an American) to own my rifle has nothing to do with my responsibilities as a believer to live out and stand in the gospel.
In my opinion, this particular question is equally related to at least two others. 1) As Andrew has already raised, what is the Christian's responsibility towards war. Is pacifism the correct Biblical response? 2) What is the correct Biblical response towards child and spousal abuse? Is it okay for a wife or child to defend themselves against abuse (either physically or by reporting the abuse to someone else), or should they accept the abuse as God's will and allow it to continue?
Back to the original question for a moment - I think we could defend either answer to the question. In the OT law, God gave specific provisions for killing someone in self-defense. While that command is not repeated in the NT, I think an argument could be made for that position nonetheless. On the other hand, Jesus did tell us to love our enemies, turn the other cheek, etc. So, I think you could argue that way as well.
I might be oversimplifying this, and perhaps taking the cowardly way out, but I would like to suggest a different way of looking at it.
I suggest that we take this particular conversation out of the gospelogical realm and put it in a doxalogical realm. Could I kill a man who was attacking me or my family to the glory of God? Can taking a life, in that manner, be considered an act of worship? I think it can. That is the entire concept of capital punishment as outlined in the Scriptures. Man is made in the image of God. If one man sheds another's blood, then his blood must be shed. I don't think it is a stretch to apply that to an attacker ready to kill even if he never gets the chance to follow through on his intentions. Defending my family and protecting our lives can very much be an act of worship (at least in my mind).
That said, not defending my life could also be an act of worship. Can I willingly not defend myself to the glory of God? The answer has to be yes. There are multitudes of examples throughout church history who have done that very thing and have brought great glory to Christ through their deaths.
The answer to this question, I believe, ends up being very personal and subjective. Andrew made the right observation. We can attempt to think through these issues in classes and case studies, and come up with very nice, neat, black and white answers. But my experience (especially over the past 10 months) has shown me that these things really aren't so neat and tidy in real life. Linda correctly observed that we need the Holy Spirit's wisdom in order to make sense out of some of these situations. I think that is applicable here.
Just to be clear about the other two questions I raised. I am not a pacifist, but I respect people who have come to that position. As for the abuse issue, I take seriously my responsibility as a pastor and as a citizen to protect women and children that I know to be victims of abuse. It is not a lack of faith or trust in God on the part of the victim to seek help from someone else.
Thus ends my scattered ramblings. Thanks for the post, Wes. It is food for thought.
Stacy
Post a Comment