Guns, Violence, and Christians
Having just gotten back from a wonderful weekend in Chicago, I find that two of my favorite Bible teachers are at odds with one another–in a very respectful manner of course–over the use of guns in self-defense.
John Piper makes the case in the context of people breaking into his home in an attempt to harm him and his family,
I suspect the same could be said for almost anyone who breaks into my house. There are other reasons why I have never owned a firearm and do not have one in my house. But that reason moves me deeply. I hope you don’t use your economic stimulus check to buy a gun. Better to find some missionaries like this and support them.
However, James White does not agree as he says,
So with all brotherly respect I must disagree with John Piper on this topic. We live in a land where evildoers are flourishing and are often given special protection by the governmental authorities! But my duty to protect family and home is God-given, and I do not see how God is glorified by my allowance of violence against me or my family in my home. So, in closing, I have no suggestions to offer regarding your “economic stimulus” payment (a tank of gas, perhaps?), but in light of the Lord’s command to sell one’s cloak so as to obtain a sword, I would say you are surely not sinning to look to the protection of yourself and your family in your home. And should any evildoer think of looking up my home, thinking he will find an unarmed victim, think again. I will be glad to proclaim the gospel to you today, but if I find you coming through the window of my bedroom tonight, you will be ushered into eternity post-haste. Some decisions are, indeed, final.
I’m not certain how to reconcile this disagreement in my own head. Piper advocates a more pacifistic route where as White doesn’t. White makes a biblical case, but Piper’s only argument is when the people breaking into his home to do violence, he won’t pick up a gun and shoot because, “[They] are not ready for heaven. We are.” That is a powerful statement. I want to come back to this discussion tomorrow once I have given it some thought. However, I leave it for the reader of this post to think about his own position on this issue.
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Piper makes me just uncomfortable enough in my libertarian/constitutional political conservatism to remind me that this “sweet land of liberty” is not that “city with foundations” to which we look forward. Ultimately I think I disagree with Piper’s conclusion, but I am reminded that loving lost people is more important than consistency in abstract political theories. Ultimately, I think it is *more* loving to ensure my neighbor’s right to self-defense than to deny him that right, but dear Lord Jesus, keep me from sinful pride exhibited in an itchy trigger finger.