Pastor shot while preaching on Sunday

On Sunday night I heard the news that a pastor was shot and killed in his church in Maryville, Illinois. It happened right during the Sunday service. It is a bit shocking to hear this kind of news and I do feel so sorry for that family to have to go through that tragedy. It does make me think about my safety. News stories like this tend to produce copycats, crazies who are so desperate that they will do anything to get on the news. I really do not fear dying, and actually that would not be a bad way to go, martyred for Christ, but I would prefer to live rather than let some sicko gun me down. So here is my thought. I know that sometimes we do crazy things at our church, but one crazy thing we will NEVER do at our church is to pretend someone is coming in to shoot me or anyone in the church. If anything like that ever happens I would urge everyone to react quickly to take the assassin down. I know there are people who carry weapons in our church and I am comfortable with that. My prayer is that we will never have to deal with this kind of issue but if we do, let us do it with confidence and without any hesitancy.

I realize that some Christians are not comfortable with the whole idea of self-defense. I can assure you that defending yourself and those who are defenseless is truly taught in God’s Word. The topic of self defense is often a very emotional issue, especially among Christians. Many feel that a Christian should always turn the other cheek. While we know that Jesus did teach about turning the other cheek, the Scriptures also have much more to say about this topic of self defense. This is an area where we need to be sensitive not only to the Scriptures for guidance but especially be aware of the particular leading of the Holy Spirit and the voice of our inner man.

Jesus said in Matt. 5:38-39, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.” What did Jesus mean by this? The first thing to do if you want to under¬stand what a person meant is to see how he acted. Did Jesus literally turn the other cheek to His enemies? Did Jesus ever resist evil men? In Luke 4:29, when Jesus preached the gospel for the first time in His home town the people got so angry they tried to kill Him. They grabbed Him and dragged Him to the top of a hill and were about to kill Him. Now I ask you, at that moment, were they His enemies? Were they “evil people?” Was this not a perfect opportunity for Jesus, “not to resist, and to turn other cheek?” Yes, but did He? No. What did He do? He escaped. He probably did something supernatural as He walked away through the crowd. This shows that Jesus did not mean for this teaching of “turning other cheek” to always be taken literally in every case, since He did not turn the other cheek in this situation! There are times to flee!

In John 18:12, we read where Jesus was being accused before the High Priest and the Sanhedrin Counsel. Were they His enemy? Was this not evil? After He was arrested, He was taken before the high priest and questioned. Jesus appealed to the Jewish law that forbade “self incrimination.” He said, “I spoke openly, get witnesses to speak.” Then He was slapped on the face. This would be the ultimate test, to turn the other cheek. Did Jesus turn the other cheek? No, He rebuked the high priest. “If I spoke evil tell me, if I didn't you have no right to hit me. It's against the law.” I believe He spoke this with great emotion, loudly. This also shows that there is a time to defend oneself by appealing to a higher authority. It could be an adult, the police, or the law. You can at least defend yourself verbally! Paul also defended himself in the same manner many times by appealing to a higher authority, see Acts 22:1

In Matt. 21:12, we read about when Jesus cleansed the Temple of the money changers. He actually did this twice! Were the money changers evil? What did Jesus do? In John 2:13, we are told that He made a whip and whipped them, kicked over the tables and drove out the animals. This is interesting because this surely was not Jesus’ first time in Temple. He had been there many times before and yet did nothing, but on two occasions He was moved in His spirit and drove them out physically. Do you think He repented of this afterwards? This shows us a key in applying the teaching of turning the other cheek. In order to apply it properly, one must be in constant touch, with the Holy Spirit. There is a time to resist evil and lash out against it and a time to not resist it. We are surely to forego personal vengeance and retaliation motivated by animosity, hurt, pride, and resentment. Yet we are clearly allowed to resist evil where questions of justice, righteousness and truth are involved, and to protect the oppressed, as well as, to prevent continued action of evil.

In Matt. 26:53, we see Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Here we see Jesus literally fulfilling his own words of “turning the other cheek,” and not resisting evil. The crowd came to arrest Him. We need to notice a very important attitude that He had when He did this. He said, “I could call for a legion of angels if I want to,” but He chose not to. The fact that Jesus had the power to resist and win but chose not to use it makes this a gospel act, a Christian trait. He was not afraid or intimated. He could have called for the angels and wiped out the crowd. But He chose not to, for the sake of the kingdom of God. We learn from this that “turning the other cheek” because you are afraid of fighting or afraid of losing, is cowardliness and not in any way Christian. If we are to turn the other cheek, we must do it from the standpoint of being stronger and choosing not to use our strength. In the book of Revelations 21:8, there is a list of the kind of people who will be cast into the lake of fire. The list includes murders, the sexually immoral, liars, unbelievers, idolaters, etc. At the beginning of this list, it says ‘cowards’ will also be cast into the lake of fire. The old KJ says the fearful. God does not respect cowardliness. Turning the other cheek because we are afraid of losing does not please God.

It might be wise to teach our children some form of self-defense so that they know they can win and then have the choice of turning the other cheek. I have taught all four of my sons and my two daughters how to use a gun, and how to defend themselves. I told them that if they were ever in danger to use their skills to defend themselves.

So what does “an eye for an eye” really mean?

Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, but I say unto you do not resist evil, turn the other cheek,” in Matt 5:38. He was quoting from the OT Law. The Law taught the limit of justice was an eye for an eye. You could not go beyond that. Many interpreted that to mean you should always get a person back, or get even. It was by no means evil or sin to demand justice in the O.T. or to defend yourself, nor is it today. Jesus was teaching that if it would accomplish some good it is better to forgo “an eye for an eye,” but He surely was not saying that it was wrong to defend yourself. That would make the teachings of the OT wrong. You can demand justice and defend yourself and it is not a sin. If loving a person means never to punish then it would be wrong for a parent to spank their child. Love can be expressed in discipline as well as mercy. If being merciful to a person is not producing any good and you are still being harassed you can demand justice, not out of vengeance or hatred but in accordance to the laws of justice.

David in the Psalm 144:1 and 149:6-9 said, “Praise be to the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.” “May the praise of God be in their mouth and a double edge sword in their hands to inflict ... punishment on the people ... This is the glory of all his saints.” Requiring justice was taught in the O.T. and so was loving your enemies in Exodus 23:4-5. In II Kings 6:14-23 we read the story of the prophet who captured an entire Syrian army and was told to feed them and send them back to their homes. He was told to do them no harm. When demanding justice, we need to be able to do it with a right heart toward God. It is not something that should be repented of, but rather we should thank God for the strength to do so. Remember, God will demand justice on the last day. He will not be turning the other cheek. I Tim 5:8, which reads, “If anyone does not provide for his own, especially those of his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. This providing would seem to include the protection of our family as an obligation not a choice.

Four Biblical Steps of Self Defense
1) Flee persecution when possible.
2) Appeal to a higher authority.
3) Turn the other cheek, but do it in strength, not as a coward.
4) Resist evil with limits: To uphold justice, stop spread of evil, protect the weak

Romans 12:18 “If it be possible, as much as lies within you, live peaceably with all men.”