A Christian's Perspective on Gun Control: The Tip of an Iceberg

One of the most controversial issues right now in the United States is about whether or not we should have "Gun Control" or retain our right to bear arms as put forth in the Second Ammendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. This ammendment states:

 

"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."

 

 

There are many interpretations of what this means, but since the beginning of this nation, the people's right to keep and bear arms for home protection was understood. That right is now under attack.


Some of you may wonder what position I hold on this issue. Let me start out by saying that coming from a military background I have always been a strong advocate for gun control. That may sound strange coming from a military man.


When I look in the Bible, I find a lot of things that seem contradictory, but that depends on my perspective. If I have a perspective lined up with the way God sees things, all those contradictions go away.

* When a word has a different color than the surrounding text, it is usually a link to more information. Click on the word(s) to follow it. (My wife says I should put in this explanation)

I think we all would agree that when it comes to gun control, responsibility is the key, but is that enough? What does that mean anyway?

 

 

To some Christians, this issue is a dilemma, after all, we are supposed to be concerned with what comes after this life... heaven and all. This is not our permanent home and we should be concerned with heavenly things, not earthly things. Render unto Caesar and all... obey those that have the rule over you. Yet we instinctively know we should stand up for what we feel is right and responsible.


Where is the dividing line? What stance should I take? Should I just let the government take my guns and trust in God when government's only declaration of trust in God stands uncertainly on it's swiftly devaluating currency?


What answers can we glean from the Bible? What answers can we glean from looking back at history? My opinions and thoughts on this topic will not please everyone, but I hope they will open your mind to the possibility that God may see this issue differently, and that it is just the tip of an iceberg concerning things you probably never thought about.

 Before you go on, please read:
"A Warning - Straight From My Heart" if you haven't already.

 

 

As I have mentioned before, history repeats itself because our gracious Lord is patient with us and wants us to learn from it. He keeps giving us chances to make good, quality and long-lasting decisions, but one of our reasons for failure is that we do not respect the age and experience of others. We do not give our ancestors and predecessors the credit they deserve by learning from the results of their decisions, or by seriously contemplating what their lives have taught us. Each new generation is self-centered to the point of being reckless and irresponsible.
 
 
I like my blogs to be interractive; in this way, I can pull from the experiences and viewpoints of others and not have to explain things in such detail. Having to explain things in detail in my own words would be a waste of time and a dishonor to the testimony given by others with firsthand experience. I do have comments that will come after these links.
 
This first is to a link to the testimony of a lady who experienced gun control firsthand.
 
 
Australia is just beginning their ordeal with gun control.
 
 
 
It seems to me that a Biblical precedent has already been set on this issue way back in Esther's day when God's people were allowed to defend themselves. They were facing laws against their freedoms and rights as well.


Being a Christian and having a gun for protection is just as lawful to God as having a sword in Bible times, just the technology has changed. It is not a decision whether we trust in ourselves or whether we trust in God. It is not as some scorners put it, "trusting in a gun or trusting in God", it is a matter of responsibility. 


Having a strong military acts as a deterrent for war and keeps bad guys in check. Our streets and homes are a microcosm of the world, just having a gun deters bad guys and can save lives even if it is never fired. 


A gun is just an inanimate tool. I can be used for evil or for a deterrent and protection against evil. God does not give us the spirit of fear, but man can and does. The Bible specifically states we are to equip ourselves against evil for reasons I will cover shortly.
 
 
 

What happens if I choose not to equip myself, but decide to lay down my life?

 
 
 
 
This may be a difficult concept to grasp, but laying down my own life is not what Jesus wants. He says that if we lay down our life for a friend, this is the "greatest love", but jeopardizing or laying down the lives of others in my care and responsibility is "NOT the greatest love". It is murder.
 
 
We should not seek to save our own lives, but give them freely to others. We are supposed to LIVE for others, not die for them, Jesus took care of the dying part. What good are you dead? Who can you protect or provide for if you do not struggle to stay alive to provide life for others. Is it love if you willingly give your life, "Hey, kill me instead of them", when you know they will continue killing after they dispatch you? Or should you use all the tools at your command to defend yourself so you can protect and defend others? Jesus said in
 
 

John 10:10

¹⁰ The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. 

 
 
Why do Christians think He came just to die and not for the purpose of giving life? He gave His LIFE that we might live. Not His death (only in a roundabout way). All most Christians seem to concentrate on is His death on the cross which we are very thankful, but Christ Himself did not concentrate on death. He was all about life. Notice He didn't stay dead very long? His death was just a tool and He wants to move on with life, the important part. There is much more to the Christian life than Jesus death. So let's move on.
 
 
This may sound funny, but I am dead serious... Only life begets life, death cannot produce life, so our goal is not to be dead. It is a simple fact, but we must be alive to continue God's purpose for mankind.
 
 
Jesus' death was a necessary sacrifice to attone for our sin and restore the fellowship between man and God, but the reason He came was not to die, but that others might have life and have it more abundantly. In other words, he does not intend for others to die, that was for a specific purpose. He wants them to live.
 
 
We have a figure of speech when we say that we "die daily to self-interest", but natural dying is not where our focus should be. It should be on continuing life, natural living with quality. Your natural death doesn't do anyone any good.
 
 
 
My wife, Julie wrote a good article about this. Check it out here.
 
 
God is all about balance... light and dark, sea and dry land, male and female, etc...  There is also the matter of hijacking the God given jurisdiction of another person or entity.

 

A man's natural jurisdiction is the protection of those under his care even to his death. A woman was made and purposed to help create and nurture life; this is her jurisdiction. The two may seem opposed, but they have the same goal in mind, to create and protect a godly seed for The Lord; it is the reason a man and a woman are to become one flesh. You cannot produce a godly seed by spirit only, flesh is necessary. Flesh enables us take action that spirit directs.

 

Malachi 2:15

And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.

 

If you are not protecting your wife and family, you are dealing treacherously with them. If you let someone come in and do harm to your wife and children right in front of you, you are betraying their trust and the responsibility God gave you when He gave you a wife.  If we let evil conquer us, what will become of the godly seed in the following scripture?

 

Revelation 12:17 

And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

 

With parallel purpose, but somewhat different tasks, a man and woman's jurisdiction can sometimes be questioned. Strong emotions can be on both sides. With the balance God created, one's spouse can pull the other back from the brink of overstepping their jurisdiction, this is part of the process of becoming one with your spouse.  Paul shows this in 1 Corinthians 14:33-35 and 1 Timothy 2:11-12 when he talks about how women should be silent and how Paul does not suffer a woman to teach. Here is what my wife says about that.
 

 

Just as balance is important in a marriage, so is balance in the three branches of our government. We have three branches of government that should balance each other. Our nation was designed to have government OF the people, BY the people and FOR the people. A three legged stool does not wobble, but it will fall if an outside influence (emotion and hype without truth...like the media) helps one leg take out another leg. 

 

Our government is out of balance and should be brought back to the purpose for which it was designed. But with what I see happening, I have little hope. Perhaps God is using this to further His purpose and bring about the end times. Who am I to criticize God? I do however think that He wants me to stand up for what I believe in, and be responsible to live the kind of life He would be pleased with, rather than give that up because He is making something else happen for a purpose. Remember God is a God of balance. As society gets darker, His people shine brighter.

 
Going back to gun control...
 

Just now we find out that an assault rifle was NOT used in the school shootings in Connecticut, but that hype and emotion was the driving force used to inflame the public on the topic of gun control and slant public opinion in a certain direction. After directing public emotion toward a "logical" decision (to ban assault rifles) there was only one report that sought to counterract this baseless course of action and provide balance. You can find it here.
 
 

 

Just as this old military man mentioned a few days ago in an online Bible discussion, handguns were used to create a greater number of casualties, but they say an assault rifle is to blame. Gun control is just a continuing step of the government taking away the God given jurisdiction of a man to provide and protect for his family. 

 

The breakdown of the family always leads to the failure of a country, and ours is on the fast track. Just today for the first time in history, the ban was completely lifted on women in combat roles. This will further weaken our country because it trains a man to ignore his natural instinct and nature to protect a woman; considering her as "just one of the guys" that must hold up her end and do a man's job. When he returns home, what happens then?
 
 
 
As I implied before, a woman's jurisdiction is protection and nurturing. Something war is not. War has a much higher chance of destroying a woman emotionally than a man, leaving her an emotional cripple. She must go against her nature to go into combat. It weakens both the man and the woman from the purpose God designed them for, so I believe that lifting the ban on women in combat roles is the wrong path. It is another piece of evidence of a Godless society.

 

It is also not the jurisdiction of the government to get involved in my family and take my place as protector or provider for my family. Over the last several years, government has modified its role from "protector" of its citizens to include the role of "provider" and has usurped and weakened the man as the head of the family. Men are "only good for procreation" when the government will provide for and protect the family. This re-defines what a family unit is and destroys the morality of society further.  Government has overstepped its jurisdiction to gain power and control over the people from which its power is derived. It is out of order, it has come between the man and the woman. It is a direct violation of Jesus' command in

 

Matthew 19:6

Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

 

Our elected leaders have opened the door to selective abuse of personal freedoms and tyranny of the people. They have decided what is good for us and for everyone. They have decided what is "socially acceptable" and "politically correct"; they have discovered Socialism. 

 

Do you understand why Christians should be more vocal on the issue of gun control? To the ungodly, gun control seems perfectly reasonable, to a Christian it is just the tip of an iceberg that threatens our families, our way of life, the continuation of the United States and the Kingdom of God.

 

We pray to God that we do not have to use our weapons to combat evil, but at present, they are a very effective deterrent. Ephesians 6 tells us MEN (not women) we must be equipped with armor. It is OUR job to go to war and we should be prepared; that armor includes a sword. This is not a woman's jurisdiction, but our wives do lend balance and insight.

 

There are two fronts to this battle. One of the spirit, but also one of the flesh.

 

Ephesians 6:12 says "we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places". This is what is happening right now in the United States. How long that will take place is unknown.

 

The other side to that balance is that we may be called on to wrestle in the flesh as well, because only in the preservation of fleshly bodies can we ensure a godly seed.
 
 
Do I believe in gun control? Absolutely! Guns should always be in control. They should stay in control of the responsible citizen.


Here is a ray of light in this very dark topic.