Lord, You have
been our refuge in every generation. Before the mountains were born, before You
gave birth to the earth and the world, from eternity to eternity. You are God.
Psalm
90: 1-2 (HCSB)
I heard an amazing thing last week. In
Texas the state legislature meets every other year to consider new laws and
mandates. Contrast that with the almost continual barrage of new laws, taxes,
and legislative morality that comes from Annapolis. We are constantly blitzed
with attempts to make abortion a birth control method, mandate the celebration
of alternative lifestyles, overlook criminal actions, reduce criminal
penalties, suppress the civil rights of citizens, and tell us the new political
and social normal.
The latest “du jour” right under
attack is gun ownership. A lot of you have said, “With all the talk about guns
lately, it is making me wonder if I should get one. What do you consider to be
the biblical perspective of a Christian having a gun for protection purposes?”
My answer: I wish we could live in a world without guns
and violence. That world has been promised and is coming, but until then we
live in a fallen world dominated by the lusts and sins of humankind.
I don’t think gun ownership is a
Biblical issue. Whether for sporting or personal security purposes, gun
ownership is and in my opinion should remain a matter of personal preference.
People who try to use Matthew 26: 52 to say the Bible is
against gun ownership have misinterpreted the passage.
Jesus was being arrested by a large band
of soldiers. Peter drew his sword and stepped between Jesus and the soldiers as
if to defend Him. Jesus warned him that if he didn’t put his sword away the
soldiers would draw their swords and he wouldn’t survive.
Earlier Jesus had advised the disciples
if they didn’t have a sword to sell their cloaks and buy one (Luke 22: 36). Therefore He couldn’t
have been opposed to owning a weapon for self defense.
Jesus did however address the
responsibility of such ownership and its use.
I know there are some of you who find
this whole discussion troubling and I understand your feelings. On the other
hand I find those exploiting this topic, just as homosexuality, birth control, abortion,
and other issues are being used, for political expediency, just as tasteless.
The morality of America is now being legislated not self-determined by majority
culture.
When was the last time you heard of a
new bill that addressed an actual need and wasn’t a stopgap or reactionary
response to a lobbying or special interest group? “Liberty and Justice for all”
has been changed to “never let a crisis go to waste!”
The lesson here for us is that some have
treated the truth of scripture in much the same way, compromising truth for
political and social correctness. And frankly that scares me more than an armed
and trained citizen with a gun.
Let us continue to pray for peace and
clarity in all things. And perhaps we should all think about moving to Texas?
Yours
in Christ,
Pastor
John
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