Stand Your Ground

The fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman took place on the night of February 26, 2012, in Sanford, Florida. Six weeks later, amid widespread, intense, and contradictory media coverage, a special prosecutor appointed by Governor Rick Scott charged Zimmerman with murder.  Zimmerman's trial began on June 10, 2013, in Sanford. On July 13, 2013, a jury acquitted him of second-degree murder and manslaughter charges.

Much controversy followed that verdict, most of it centering upon the "Stand Your Ground" law in Florida and its purported implications regarding race relations and the 2nd amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  However, less frequently considered by Christians are the THEOLOGICAL implications of the so-called “right to self-defense” 

There is a story of a Quaker who became exasperated with his cow.  The cow swatted him in the face with her tail, and he restrained his anger.  She kicked over the milk bucket, and he held his temper. But then the cow kicked him in the shins, and that was the last straw.  Grabbing the cow by the horns, he looked her square in the face and said, “Thou knowest that I am a Quaker and a pacifist and I cannot hurt thee, but what thou doth not know is that tomorrow I’m going to sell thee to a BAPTIST!”

As this little story illustrates, there are some church denominations that teach their members to eschew all violence, even for the purpose of self-defense.  Other denominations, not so much.  Why the difference?  Is a Christian allowed to defend himself when attacked or does Jesus expect him to take a beating?  Should a Christian procure a firearm to protect her home? Should a Christian acquire a concealed carry permit and "pack heat" everywhere he goes?  Should a Christian lobby for more stringent gun control or should she join the National Rifle Association? What does the Bible say? 

I. THERE IS A BIBLICAL FOUNDATION FOR SELF-DEFENSE

A brief survey of the Old and New Testaments reveals scripture suggesting that believers have a right to defend their lives and families from violent, criminal attacks.

Exodus 22:2 "If the thief is caught while breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there will be no bloodguiltiness on his account.”

Esther 8:11 "The king granted the Jews who were in every city the right to assemble and to defend their lives."

Nehemiah 4:14, 17 "(14) 'Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses.' (17) Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens took their load with one hand doing the work and the other holding a weapon.”

Malachi 2:16 "'The man who hates and divorces his wife,' says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'does violence to the ONE HE SHOULD PROTECT,' says the Lord Almighty”.

Luke 22:35-36 "And Jesus said to them, 'When I sent you out without money belt and bag and sandals, you did not lack anything, did you?' They said, 'No, nothing.' And He said to them, 'But now, whoever has a money belt is to take it along, likewise also a bag, and whoever has no sword is to sell his coat and buy one.'"

John 10:18 "No one has taken my life away from me, but I lay it down on my own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father."

II. THERE IS A BIBLICAL FOUNDATION FOR NON-VIOLENT RESTRAINT

There is a Biblical foundation for self-defense in the face of a homicidal attack. However, in confrontations wherein life and limb are not endangered, the Christian posture is to be one of non-violent restraint.  

Matthew 5:39 "Do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also."

Lamentations 3:30 “Let them turn the other cheek to those who strike them, and accept the insults of their enemies”

In Jesus' culture, to be struck on the right cheek was to be given a hostile, backhanded insult.  This interpretation of “turn the other cheek” is supported by the biblical example of Hebrew parallelism in the Lamentations passage cited above.

This is a pivotal interpretive issue.  The circumstance that Jesus was teaching to was not a violent, life-threatening attack but a personal, humiliating insult.  The teaching is that when a Christ-follower is insulted,, he is to exercise self-restraint and refrain from retaliation out of love.  We are not to overreact when insulted or retaliate in kind. There is no place for an attitude of "I'll get you back" or "Wait 'til I get my hands on you." When someone takes advantage of us, insults us, talks behind our back, excludes us, or cuts us off in traffic, we are to “turn the other cheek” and not retaliate even though this may offend us (Mt.5:39), cost us (Mt.5:40), inconvenience us (Mt.5:41), or exhaust us (Mt.5:42).

The practical result of applying such a policy of non-violent restraint in our conduct toward others is, in a word, peace.  Most who take this higher road will be far less likely in their everyday life to experience the unnecessary grief and drama of violent conflict.  But we may be required to sacrifice our pride.  Allow me to submit just one true-life example to illustrate. This example is taken from self-defense instructor Tim Larkin's book, "How To Survive The Most Critical Five Seconds of Your Life."

“In Dallas we have a famous little nightspot called the Gypsy Tea Room.  You can see acts like Ben Harper, Edie Brickell, Old 97's, etc. 

Recently, a father of two teenage girls decided to take his daughters to an end-of-summer show before they left for college.  Before the show was over, he ended up having a severed spinal cord injury and can feel nothing from the neck down.  Why?  Needless social violence. 

He engaged a 'skinhead' in a verbal altercation because the skinhead commented on one of his daughters.  This led to male posturing, yelling, and violence. This all occurred right in front of his two daughters.

I would not have engaged the skinhead in any verbal altercation. If the skinhead tried to start a verbal altercation, I would have gotten my girls and myself out of the club immediately. 

More than likely, simply leaving the club would have saved this man a lifetime of paralysis and spared his daughters from witnessing a horrific act."

What is Tim Larkin's philosophy of dealing with personal insults? "Personally, I've found I'm much more likely to capitulate and disengage by leaving the area, without a word, when confronted by someone with an obvious chip on their shoulder who has chosen me as the knock-off guy.  Everybody wins - I sleep well and he doesn't get a broken leg just because he was having a bad day. I find that I am possessed of a saint-like patience these days - somewhere, somehow, I developed the habit of giving pretty much everyone the benefit of the doubt.  I do not begrudge those who are curt and prickly their public anger and annoyance.  I just figure there are extenuating circumstances I'm not aware of, and I have no desire to be the next point on the down-trending curve of their bad day.  I do my best to treat everyone with patience and respect."

Jesus' admonition to "turn the other cheek" does not preclude self-defense, but that doesn't mean that Christians should go to the opposite extreme of looking for trouble.  It is inappropriate for Christians to swagger around alert for opportunities to “open a can of Old Testament wrath" on anyone who looks at us sideways.  Turning the other cheek is the most powerful path to the avoidance of violent conflict ever verbalized.  And it's notable that many modern-day experts in self-defense and reality-based combat have come to the same conclusions. 

Proverbs 19:11: “A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense.” 

Here are ten reasons to practice restraint when insulted:

1) Jesus commanded restraint.

2) Jesus practiced restraint and calls us to his example.

3) Restraint leaves room for God’s vengeance and justice while retaliation makes you the judge, jury, and executioner.

4) Restraint defuses; retaliation escalates and complicates.

5) Restraint joins us to Christ in the fellowship of his suffering and leads to further sanctification. Retaliation retards spiritual growth. 

6) Restraint is an act of faith; retaliation is an act of doubt.

7) Restraint is an act of love; retaliation is an act of hate.

8) Restraint is an act of humility; retaliation is an act of pride.

9) Restraint is the moral high ground; retaliation joins the offender in the gutter.

10) Restraint makes future evangelism possible; retaliation closes the door to the gospel.