I HAVE A CONFESSION TO MAKE. I could probably count on one hand the number of times I have shot a gun. I’ve been skeet shooting a few times. I’ve never been hunting. For my son’s thirteenth birthday, I took him and his cousins to gun safety training, and then we shot pistols.
You might be wondering why I am sharing this. Doesn’t this make me lose credibility on the issue of guns? That’s possible. But I see it differently. Here’s why: I don’t feel the need to defend a particular issue related to guns. I’m not in the military or police force. I have not had a bad experience with guns, nor did I grow up with any animosity toward them. I simply want to know how Christians should think about questions that often relate to guns, such as these: Is it ever okay for a follower of Jesus to take another person’s life, and if so, when? How do I balance the command to love my enemies with a readiness to act in my or others’ defense?
These are tough questions that divide Christians. Whether you rarely shoot guns (like me) or regularly shoot them, your generation has been deeply shaped by the reality of gun violence. Movies, song lyrics, social media, and video games often glorify violence. Firearm-related injuries are among the leading causes of death among teens.[1] And even though school shootings account for 0.2 percent of annual gun deaths in the United States, nearly all schools have active shooter drills, which may contribute to increased fear and anxiety around the issue of guns.[2]
Let’s step back from some of the emotion surrounding this issue and try to think clearly about God and guns.
The Heart of the Gun Debate
My guess is that you have no problem with someone owning a knife and probably not a shotgun or rifle either, but what about a tank? As cool as it might feel to drive a tank to school, my guess is that you probably think it’s a bad idea for citizens to be able to own vehicles designed for mass destruction. Assuming that’s your position, I totally agree!
Most of the modern debate about gun ownership is not if people should be able to own them but what kinds of weapons people should be able to own and under what conditions they can carry them.
Laying Down Your Life for Others
Still, a few Christian denominations, such as the Brethren and Mennonites, believe that all violence or killing is wrong for believers. They are opposed to Christ’s followers ever taking the life of another human being. While violence clearly existed in Old Testament times, pacifists such as these believe we should look to Jesus having willingly laid down his life for us as our example. Even more, Jesus calls his followers to “take up [their] cross” and do the same for others (Mark 8:34).
Some are quick to label pacificism as weak or cowardly, but this is a gross misunderstanding. Pacifist reformers like Martin Luther King Jr. model how nonviolent resistance can lead to moral revolution. While I am not a pacifist, I have deep admiration for Christians who are willing to lay down their lives in trusting God before using violence against other human beings (see 1 Peter 2:21-23).
The Case for Guns
In contrast to pacificism, many Christians believe they have a right to self-defense, including owning a gun, because they are pro-life. Author Karen Swallow Prior jogs thirty-five to forty miles per week. Given that she is a woman and sometimes runs alone, she feels the need to be vigilant about self-defense. One male driver pulled up next to her and asked if she wanted a ride. Another man exposed himself to her as she jogged by. As a result of these kinds of experiences, her husband bought her a small gun to carry when she jogs. How does she justify this as a Christian? She explains, “While as a Christian I try to cultivate my willingness to lay down my life for the sake of the gospel or for the life of another, I don’t believe I’m supposed to risk my life for a would-be rapist. To me, being pro-life means protecting my own life too.”[3]
The best defense for the moral right to own a gun is grounded in the right to life, as we see in Karen’s example. If a gun is necessary for self-defense, then owning a gun can be justified as a means of securing the right to life. Although a good case can be made that people need guns for hunting and can enjoy them recreationally (as in skeet shooting), defending oneself and others is the strongest argument for the right to own and use a gun.
The Bible and Guns
While the Bible obviously doesn’t mention guns, it does seem to allow for acting in self-defense. For example, if an Israelite killed a thief who was breaking into their home at night, they were not guilty of a crime (see Exodus 22:2). And Nehemiah encouraged the city wall’s builders to carry weapons to fend off intruders (see Nehemiah 4:1-23).
Perhaps the most common verse used to indicate that Christians can defend themselves is Jesus telling his disciples before his arrest to buy a sword (see Luke 22:36). Detective J. Warner Wallace asks, “Why would Jesus say this? At the very least, Jesus was calling His disciples to prepare themselves for their own defense. And the sword (a killing instrument) was evidently permissible in the eyes of Jesus.”[4]
Wallace may be right here, but we also need to keep in mind that just a few verses later, Jesus scolded one of his disciples who used a sword to cut off the ear of the high priest’s slave. Jesus said, “No more of this!” and then healed the slave’s ear (Luke 22:49-51). Many scholars take this passage as Jesus rebuking his disciples for taking him literally.
Others who defend the right to use weapons in self-defense point to the fact that the New Testament does not condemn soldiers for being in the military. When John the Baptist was preaching a message of repentance, some soldiers asked him how they should respond, and he said, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages” (Luke 3:14). If laying down your sword is always the right thing to do, then why didn’t John mention this? In another case, instead of rebuking a Roman centurion’s occupation, Jesus commends the man as a model of faith (see Matthew 8:5-13). If the use of force is forbidden for a follower of Jesus, shouldn’t we expect some indication that soldiers seeking to honor God should leave their profession or lay down their arms?
While this case is certainly not airtight, the Bible does seem to allow for the use of force in some instances.
Three Bad Arguments about Guns and Violence
Before we close this chapter, let’s briefly consider three bad arguments about guns and violence.
“Violence Never Fixes Anything”
While sometimes violence encourages more violence, it is false to claim that violence never fixes anything. Violence helped end the Holocaust. Violence helped free slaves in the Civil War. Violence doesn’t fix everything, but it can help to fix some things.
“Guns Don’t Kill People; People Do”
This is a false dilemma. It is not either guns or people, but people using guns. While it is true that people can kill with other kinds of weapons, guns can more easily be used to carry out mass killings. The fact that people are the ultimate cause of gun violence is not a good argument against reasonable restrictions on gun ownership.
“No Law Can Prevent All Gun Violence”
This is true, but why should we resist laws that help reduce some violence, even if we can’t stop all violence? The question should not be whether a policy stops all gun violence but whether it genuinely helps reduce gun violence without eliminating the right to own a gun.
What Can We Do?
Consider three steps Christians can take:
[1] Rebecca M. Cunningham, Maureen A. Walton, and Patrick M. Carter, “The Major Causes of Death in Children and Adolescents in the United States,” New England Journal of Medicine 379, no. 25 (December 20, 2018): 2468–2475, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6637963/.
[2] Tim Walker, “Unannounced Active Shooter Drills Scaring Students without Making Them Safer,” National Education Association, February 25, 2020, https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/unannounced-active-shooter-drills-scaring-students-without.
[3] Karen Swallow Prior, “Can Guns Be Pro-Life?,” in Cultural Engagement: A Crash Course in Contemporary Issues, eds. Joshua D. Chatraw and Karen Swallow Prior (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2019), 333.
[4] J. Warner Wallace, “Is Jesus a Pacifist?,” Cold-Case Christianity, October 6, 2020, https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/is-jesus-a-pacifist/.