Self-Defense as a Christian: Where to
Draw the Line
By Mark W. Hafner
As
a Christian for over 35 years, my main concern is to live a life pleasing to
God. The question of self-defense, as a
Christian, is an important topic; a topic each of us needs to be at peace about
before God. If you have the peace from
the Lord that He wants you to defend yourself, should you then buy a
firearm? If you have a firearm, are you
trained for self-defense with it? Would you be able to share with your fellow
Christians from the Bible that it is
reasonable for you to do so?
There
are different options available for self-defense in each of these main
categories: 1) Protection in the home, 2) Protection outside the home, and 3)
Protection in a motor vehicle.
“If a thief is caught breaking in and is struck
so that he dies, the defender is not guilty of bloodshed; but if it happens
after sunrise, he is guilty of bloodshed. A thief must 
certainly
make restitution, but if he has nothing, he must be sold to pay for his theft.”
(Exodus 22:2-3 - New International Version)
From
this passage, we see that when a thief breaks into someone’s home at night and
one defends his home and slays the thief, God does not hold that defender
guilty of murder. Now this is speaking of thievery at night, not an attack.
During the daytime, lethal force against a non-violent thief was not permitted.
So
what about a violent attack against someone regardless of where or when it
takes place?
Under
the civil justice laws in Israel, if a person willfully killed someone, an
“Avenger of Blood” had the legal right to pursue and to slay the murderer.
This being the law, lethal force to stop the murder from happening had to
be OK with God as well. It would make no sense for God to hold you guilty
for stopping a would-be murderer using lethal force and then give permission
to others to become an “Avenger of Blood”.
“I set the people, according to their
families, with their swords, their spears and their bows. And I looked and
arose, and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people,
do not be not afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight
for your brethren, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.” (Nehemiah 4:13-14)
In
this passage swords were the lethal weapons of the day. This self-defense with
a sword had God’s people poised to kill any attackers. They used the best
weapons of their day, a sword. I suggest we should too. So what are the best
weapons of our day? A shot gun or automatic pistol?
One
of the names for Christ is “The Captain of the Lord’s Host.” This title belongs
to a warrior doing justice with a sword (Josh.
5:13). We have to come to grips with this picture of Christ and balance it with
the image of Jesus with the little children on His knee. The eternal Christ is
no pacifist and we are to imitate Him.
In
Genesis 14, some kings kidnapped Lot,
stole his things, and fled. Abraham took over 300 armed, trained servants and
pursued them. He fought the enemy and brought back Lot, his family, servants,
and all they had stolen. Abraham believed in using lethal force.
Any
use of self-defense comes down to having wisdom for the situation at hand. This
wisdom can come from training, God’s holy guidance, and the natural human
instinct He gave us at birth.
Not
all Old Testament law applies to us
today as Christians. But civil justice from God’s perspective has not changed.
Here are just a few of the many Bible
verses for your consideration: 1 Timothy
5:8, Exodus 21:24-25, Luke 22:36, Psalm 144:1, Numbers
31:3, Genesis 9:5-6, Nehemiah 4:17-18, 1 Samuel 25:13, 1 Samuel
13:19-20, Numbers 1:3, Proverbs 25:28, and John 10:10-13.
It
is clear to me from the verses listed above that God’s wisdom has and still
does sanction lethal force to protect life and limb if necessary as a last
resort.
I
have come to the conclusion that Jesus wants me to trust in Him to protect me
and those I love. I have also concluded
that part of that trust in Him is that if need be He will use my preparedness
as part of His protection. I am armed for the same reason I have fire
extinguishers and spare tires – being prepared in case of a fire or having a
flat tire. To be prepared does not mean I lack faith, have a secret desire to
have a fire, a flat tire or a lethal conflict. We prepare for the unknown in
many ways: use of seat belts, locks on our cars and home, getting a flu shot,
etc.
The
verses like “Thou shalt
not kill” and “Turn the other cheek” might,
if looked at in a one-sided Bible study,
lead us to be pacifists: “Do not kill” means however ‘do not murder’ or ‘do not
kill with criminal intent, unlawfully, without God’s sanction.’ “Turn the other
cheek” is in reference to a non-lethal argument.
If
you would come to the same conclusion that I have, here are some reasons for
arming yourself:
1.)
It is a right afforded to me by God from a balanced view of biblical teachings.
2.)
It is a right afforded to me by the U.S.
Constitution (which many believe the hand of God was involved with) and by
Missouri law. It is therefore my duty and responsibility to make my country and
neighborhood a little safer.
3.)
It is a right in Missouri to obtain and carry a firearm and, in my opinion, the
more of us who obtain a license to carry a firearm the harder it will be for
politicians to reverse that freedom in the future.
4.)
I choose to take responsibility for my own and my family’s safety. Police will
tell you that they do not have the ability to keep us safe. Courts have ruled
that the police have no legal obligation to protect you. Our safety is our
responsibility. Police generally arrive
at a crime scene after the harm has been done.
5.)
Times are getting worse and criminals are becoming far more aggressive than in
years past. Therefore, I must be better prepared and more alert. Over 80% of
the time when an armed citizen pulls a firearm in self-defense no shots are
fired and the assailant is stopped.
6.)
I want criminals to fear that the next person they choose to assault may be the
one that will have a concealed firearm to stop them. The more law abiding
citizens that are armed, the less sure criminals can be of the outcome of their
actions against us.
So,
am I saying that all Christians should be armed? No. Some are better suited for
that than others. On one occasion, two of the 12 apostles carried swords (Luke
In
everyday life, you and your family must be prepared! Fathers are to be the provider, priest, and
protector of the family. Moms are to fill in if Dad is not able to for any
reason.
We
are fully justified, in my understanding of God’s
Word to value the life and person of an intended victim more highly than
the life of a violent assailant. The attacker must be stopped. God will be with
us if He calls us to protect His gift of life.
How
do you know where to draw the line, as a Christian, with self defense?
1.) Study the Bible verses I have referenced here and pray about their meaning.
2.) Pray about the level of
preparedness and training God would have you to do and obey Him.
3.) Accept when God says it’s time
to die.
4.) Accept when God says it’s time
to defend those around you and fight with all your might and be prepared.
5.) Never seek revenge or be the
aggressor with others.
6.) Accept that God does use people
to do His justice.
7.) Live by faith not in fear.
Our
Founders and the 2nd Amendment
Now
that we’ve seen what Scripture has to say about self-defense we’ll take brief
look at what our Founding Fathers thought about the subject.
“Laws
that forbid the carrying of arms...disarm only those who are neither inclined
nor determined to commit crimes...Such laws make things worse for the assaulted
and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent
homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an
armed man.” - Thomas Jefferson.
“Are
we at last brought to such a humiliating and debasing degradation, that we
cannot be trusted with arms for our own defense? Where is the difference between
having our arms in our own possession and under our own direction, and having
them under the management of Congress? If our defense be the real object of
having those arms, in whose hands can they be trusted with more propriety, or
equal safety to us, as in our own hands?” - Patrick Henry.
I
believe it’s quite clear that our Founding Fathers did not put the 2nd Amendment in our Constitution out of fear that the
government would stop target practice or prevent people from hunting. They
wanted to make sure the citizens of the Republic not only had the right to
self-defense but had the tools necessary to defend themselves should the
government become tyrannical. They
wanted us to be able to defend the Constitution
against all enemies both foreign and domestic.
Those
who teach that our forefathers didn’t write the 2nd Amendment of the U. S. Constitution
for the purpose of armed personal self-defense are either being dishonest
or don’t know the original intent and historical facts regarding the 2nd
Amendment. In either case, any attempt to circumvent or
remove the rights granted by the 2nd
Amendment should be vigorously opposed and viewed as a direct assault
on our biblical responsibilities to protect our lives and the lives of our
family.
Mark
Hafner is a National Rifle Association certified instructor
who conducts basic pistol classes and classes to obtain Missouri Conceal Carry
Weapon permits in the St. Louis metro area. He is available for individual
or group training. Mark is married, has nine children, six grandchildren,
and is a Master Degree student at Trinity College of the Bible & Theological
Seminary in Newburgh,
