Should Christians Be Preoccupied with Guns?

Earlier this week, I wrote about Christians and gun control and proposed that a Christian can be pro-gun.  I hold to that and hope that it was thought-provoking for you if you read it.  If you haven’t read it, you may want to scroll down a little bit and read it first, because it is a good disclaimer for some of the things I am about to say.  The question that I ask in the title, though, is a very sincere question.  I know a fairly decent amount of Christians who own guns.  A lot of those Christians really like guns.  They use them for hunting, for recreation, and love to watch movies with a lot of guns and a lot of action.  So I ask an honest question: should we as Christians be so preoccupied with guns?

I believe that Christians have the right to defend themselves and their families.  I do not doubt even for a second that guns can be used in that role.  I won’t take the time to spell out all of my reasons for that because I’ve only got so much room here before you guys take one look at this post and say “Dude, I am not taking a half hour to read this thing.”  If you’re more curious about my reasoning behind that, let me know in a comment and we can discuss it further.  The point is, Christians have a right to defend themselves and their families and guns can fulfill that role.

What is a Christian’s attitude towards violence, though?  I see Jesus telling his disciples to carry a sword in Luke 22, but beyond that what I see is not a preoccupation with violence.  On the contrary, I see violence as a grim reminder that sin exists in the world.  The first act of violence in the Bible is Cain killing Abel in Genesis 4.  Cain’s punishment is severe, showing that violence is not something looked favorably upon by God.  Among the seven things that God hates in Proverbs 6 are hands that shed innocent blood.  On the contrary, the picture of God’s people in Isaiah 2 shows them turning their weapons into agricultural tools. 

Here’s the thing: weapons do have a legitimate use for the Christian.  However, it should absolutely be the last resort and it should pain us to have to hurt another person.  I fear that many of us would rejoice at the opportunity to use a weapon on an evildoer, not mourn that violent action had to be taken upon one of God’s lost children.  Read that last sentence again.  It sounds different when you put it in that light, doesn’t it?

We are to be a people of peace.  People of peace are not obsessed with weapons of war.  I often wonder what Jesus thinks of us in our current circumstances.  It helps me remind myself that it is not that Jesus “was,” Jesus is.  So what does He think of our  preoccupation with guns?  Somehow I can’t see Jesus getting excited about machine gun slaughters in the movies or the precision of an AR-15.  Are we being Christ-like in the things that we pursue?  Or have we so removed our ambitions to be like Christ that he never enters that facet of our life?  Do we remove the thought of him so that we don’t have to feel guilty for having an interest in something that doesn’t fit Him?  If Christ is our all, He must fit into every facet of our lives, not only those that are most convenient.