Another day, another atheist lecturing people about God?
Neil, I'm so glad you asked. I'm glad you're "thinking a lot" about the "morals of Jesus of Nazareth." I hope that's genuine and you aren't just trying to mock Jesus or his Second-Amendment-loving followers.
Either way, let's chat.
Jesus isn't a pacifist. Our God is slow to anger (Psalm 86:15). He is patient and kind to lead us to repentance (Romans 2:4, 2 Peter 3:9). God was patient in the days of Noah, giving mankind a chance to repent even as the ark was being built (1 Peter 3:20). He demonstrated the extent of His love for us by dying for us while we were still His enemies (Romans 5:8). He commands us to follow His example of sacrifice, mercy, and love (John 13:34-35, Matthew 5:43-48). Instead of war, God's strategy of conquest is to use weakness, foolishness, and suffering in order to conquer and redeem the world (John 15, 2 Corinthians 12:9, 1 Corinthians 1:22-28, Hebrews 11-12).
As Christians, we are to endure wrongs and oppressions against us. We are to forgive those who want to kill us. We are to demonstrate God's radical patience and kindness.
'While they were stoning Stephen, he called out, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!" He knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them!" And after saying this, he fell asleep.' - Acts 7:59-60
But Neil (can I call you Neil?), don't mistake God's patience for pacifism.
'...a destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon. Her warriors will be captured, their bows shattered, for the LORD is a God of retribution; he will certainly repay.' - Jeremiah 51:56
Jesus did not come to bring about peace on earth. He specifically came to bring division.
'I came to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already set ablaze! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how it consumes me until it is finished! Do you think that I came here to bring peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.' - Luke 12:49-51
Jesus quoted Micah 7:6 to indicate how His claim to be God would divide every household on earth.
Yet when the Jewish people tried to make him their king by force (John 6:15), Jesus withdrew from them. His mission was not conquest in the way that humans understand it. He had come to undergo a "baptism" by offering himself up as a spotless sacrifice in order to defeat Satan, sin, and death itself.
This is why His followers do not consider their fellow men and women to be their enemies. Because they aren't. Christians are on a rescue mission.
'For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.' - Ephesians 6:12
But make no mistake: The rescue mission will come to an end one day.
This vast universe, with the finely-tuned physics that you study, Neil (and yet deny that is has a brilliant engineer behind its machinations), is in the midst of a war. Humans are not merely meat computers. The spiritual is as real as the forces of mass, gravity, and rotation that pull us around the Sun.
One day, everyone will have chosen a side in the spiritual war that rages all around us. At that time, here is how Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead:
The LORD is a warrior and He has a special place in His heart for warriors. King David knew this well.
'Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.' - Psalm 144:1
The God who fashioned the cosmos is long-suffering, faithful, and abounding in love. He stooped down into our existence, on a small garden planet orbiting a yellow star on the inner edge of the Orion Arm of the Milky Way galaxy, in order to redeem us from our own rebellion, which brought the curse of death into our world. He is also a warrior.
If all that seems fanatical, feel free to read the great scientists who became more and more convinced of the glory of God when they saw the complexity of our universe - not only in the makings of the vast cosmic wonders, but the design of life on our small planet.
A few quotes:
Isaac Newton: "This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being."
Kepler: "Those [laws] which govern the motions of the planets are not arbitrary, but have been laid down by the great Geometer, God Himself."
Copernicus: "So vast, without any question, is the divine handiwork of the most excellent Almighty."
And King David again:
'When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?' - Psalm 8:3-4
The God who made trillions of nuclear fireballs in the vastness of space, or the strength of a lion, or the cunning camouflage of an octopus is not a tame God. Do not mistake mercy for weakness.
So yes, when it comes to matters of honorable war, the training of warriors, and the defense of one's home and family (all biblical teachings), I think Jesus would very much like modern rifle platforms.
And I'm sure he knows the AR-15 is the best. 😉
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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Not the Bee or any of its affiliates.
