A brother in The Lord Chad Williams former SEAL Team Operator just started a new question answer blog. The 5-13-14 is solid. Regarding engaging /taking a life of the enemy in combat or self defense as a Christian. navysealchadwilliams/ask-a-navy-seal/ Ive posted Chads answer here but checkout the blog too. Enjoy, Victor Hey, Chance– That is a great question that I have paid some thought to. Lets deal with the scriptural justification, which should then inform the appropriate psychological state. A favorite passage that pacifists often like to throw in my face is Matt. 5:39 where Jesus says, “whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.” A superficial reading and understanding of this statement would lead pacifists to believe that Jesus is calling us to be a doormat to be walked on. That however, is not the case. It is often said, the key to any text is always the context. Nothing about that changes here as the context in this particular situation leads me to believe that Jesus was not speaking in a wooden literal sense. Other statements of Jesus and the Apostle Paul back my conclusion up but lets keep it here for a moment. I believe Jesus was using a figure of speech here because of the surrounding context which would have us all literally cutting off our hands and plucking out our eyes if we took things in a wooden black and white sense (the way pacifists would like us to treat Matt. 5:39). Jesus just got done saying, “if your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you … and if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you …” Now, does the pacifist say we should cut off our hands and pluck out our eyes when reading Jesus’ preceding words that lead up to the “turn the other cheek” line? No. Ok, then where is their consistency? Apparently, consistent biblical interpretation ebbs and flows to the convenience of their preconceived view. I do not believe that Jesus was speaking in a wooden literal sense in that text and I do believe that Jesus does intend for us to defend ourselves when a threat presents itself. In Luke 22, as Jesus was sending His disciples out to spread the Gospel, He said, “he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one.” One of the disciples replied, “Lord, look, here are two swords.” Jesus replied, “It is enough.” Why would Jesus tell His disciples to bring a sword? Self defense of course! Is the sword just a figure of speech? No more than the other pieces on the gear list that Jesus gave them. I suspect Jesus really intended them to bring: money bag, knapsack and sword!” It would be inconsistent to allegorize the sword but not the other items. We could also consider what Romans 13 says about governing authorities, “if you do evil, be afraid; for he [solider, policeman, SEAL, pararescue] does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Much more could be said, but I think I even Romans 13 alone is scriptural justification for pulling the trigger against evil forces that have intent and the means to murder innocent people. And in light of such passages I never experienced any conflicting sentiments. The evil in this world is very real. While overseas I learned of a suicide vest maker that took two mentally handicapped women, strapped explosive vests on the girls and shoved them off into a market place. As the women wandered into a crowded area, someone used a remote firing device to detonate the charge from a distance, shredding the two women to pieces and murdering/injuring over 70 others caught in the blast. Something MUST be done to stop that kind of evil and Romans 13 gives the nod to those governing authorities that do. It has been said, “all that is required for evil to triumph is for good men to stand back and do nothing.” May God bless those that sacrifice their lives daily to protect our freedoms from evil, even to the point of their own bloodshed. And praise God for the sacrifice once made at the cross of Calvary so that we could have freedom from the evil and eternal consequences of sin. Navy SEAL Chad Williams Speaker and author of SEAL of God
Posted on: Wed, 14 May 2014 02:11:12 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015