Duty to Defend

My article from this week's edition of the Rockford Squire:

In recent weeks, I have had conversations initiated by parishioners, acquaintances, and strangers alike, about the meaning of several sayings of our Lord, such as “Love your neighbor,” “turn the other cheek,” and “those who live by the sword will die by the sword.”  Some of them even specifically requested that I include my answers here in the newspaper!

 

On the surface, these verses might appear to command passive suffering by Christians confronted with danger, but on other occasions Jesus Himself uses a whip to cleanse the temple of greedy merchants (John 2) and instructs His disciples to buy swords (Luke 22:36), and He, along with Peter and John the Baptizer permit soldiers and centurions to continue in their vocations and even the strict Old Testament law excused from punishment individuals who kill defensively.  Even when the early church prohibited military service, it was because it required idolatry to Caesar, not because of the use of force.

 

When these passages are viewed within their context and when the reader takes the time to ensure he is not reading his personal biases into the text, we find that Scripture prescribes boundaries for the use of force, but without prohibiting its defensive use.  So, “turn the other cheek” (Matthew 5:39) prohibits violent retaliation for non-dangerous offenses rather than passivity in the face of danger. 

 

When Jesus admonishes Peter about his use of the sword at His betrayal in the garden (Matthew 26:52), Peter’s offense is not the use of force, but ignoring Jesus’ prediction that He would be betrayed and crucified and standing in the way between Christ and the Cross. 

 

To obey the command to love one’s neighbor, the Christian sometimes faces the necessary choice of which neighbor to love.  For example, a man might need to love his family first by preserving their safety, their property, and his ability to continue to provide for them by dispatching an attacker or robber, rather than showing mercy on the one who seeks to harm them or deprive them of the things necessary to sustain their life. 

 

God desires that all people would live in peace with one another, and at the Last Day, He promises to bring that to fulfillment.  Until then, He certainly warns Christians about the dangers of rebellion, revenge, and offensive use of force, but on occasions when confronted with danger, it has been the consistent witness of Scripture and church history that He authorizes the innocent to use force against the malicious in defense of self, others, or property, precisely as an act of love for those under our care and in keeping with the justice of His own character.