An Open Letter to Christians Regarding “Defending Yourself”
Dear Christians,
It’s no longer news that the world is in chaos. It has always been but it gets worse by the day. Lately, some parts of Nigeria have been in news for murder (because there’s no better way to put it) as a result of well… both secret and open attacks. Crops are being destroyed, houses burnt, lives wasted, people are being displaced from their communities, reprisals… it seems like an endless cycle.
But worse than this is how those at the top (so-called political and religious leaders) are fuelling the hate by preaching retaliation to those aggrieved. They are encouraging us to buy weapons and defend our land. They are calling us cowards for refusing to fight back. If this isn’t a call for war, I don’t know what is.
It’s like a dare. The kind that Satan did when he tempted Jesus: If you are the Son of God… do this… (Matthew 4:3-6). But the difference between Jesus and us (Christians) is the fact that He knew who He was and didn’t have to prove it to the Devil.
When Jesus tells us not to retaliate but instead to forgive, when he tells us to love and pray for our enemies and persecutors, it’s not an act of cowardice but that of bravery and love.
Jesus knows that hate can never destroy hate, it only aggravates it. Love, however, destroys hatred and that is the greater picture.
Now, the devil knows this and doesn’t want that to happen. What does he do? He instigates hate using prominent leaders that the people will listen to and it becomes a never-ending cycle of war and terror.
In addition to that, Satan knows that once we operate outside the will of God, we are on our own thus giving him (the devil) full advantage to drag many to hell. If you’ve read this far, I want you to ask yourself this question:
- If I preach hate and act like my enemy, am I any better? Matthew 5:43-4
- What does Christ say concerning earthly treasures? Matthew 6:19-24
- If I choose to disobey Christ, will I spend eternity with him? Rev 21:8
Before I end this letter, I want to quickly point your attention to understanding dispensations.
I’ve noticed that oftentimes, some Christians and their leaders jump to the old testament to give reasons to support their arguments for retaliation amongst other things and that’s because they lack understanding.
The old testament gives us an insight into where we are coming from whereas, the new testament reveals what is expected of us now. The same way history tells you of your past and the present is literally your present. We are expected to learn from history not recreate it.
There are some things you did in your past that you can’t do now no matter how hard you try. For instance, you can never be a baby or even be treated as such in the literal sense of it. When you were a baby, your mum breastfed you. Do you expect that to be done to you as an adult? My guess is as good as yours.
But imagine being hungry as an adult and arguing that you need to be breastfed by your mum because she did that when you were a baby. Do you realize how dumb that sounds? That can’t happen because you are in a new phase in your life and they are things that are expected of you at this time. Quite frankly, trying to live your past isn’t one of them.
It’s the same in Christianity. So rather than going backward and selecting things that do not apply to you neither are they expected of you as it concerns your place in Christ, look to Jesus who you claim you follow and do what he has asked you to do. It’s literally that simple!
Jesus never defended himself with the user of weapons. He never retaliated neither did his disciples nor the Church in their time. Not a single one fought for anything with anything other than their voices.
What was their offense? The truth. The gospel. For that alone, they were persecuted (in some cases, even killed) yet, not once is it recorded that they retaliated or defended themselves. A very good example apart from Jesus is Stephen. He was being stoned to death for simply speaking against evil– for speaking the truth. See Acts 7
As he was being stoned, what were his last words? “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And he died. That’s a human being like you and me — a true Christian.
Did the Church at that time protest? Nope. Did they fight back? Nope. Did they buy weapons to defend themselves? Not at all.
Instead, they ran away and continued preaching because they understood the Christianity they had accepted. And guess what? Despite the persecution, the Church still grew.
So all this talk of “if we don’t retaliate or defend ourselves, they’ll finish us”, is absolute fallacy. No human is capable of wiping out mankind. Some have tried but did they succeed? Feel free to use Africa as a case study.
As Christians, the weapons we fight with aren’t weapons of this world (2 Corinthians 10:4) . Neither is our war against flesh and blood. We battle against spiritual forces in high places. See Ephesians 6:11-18.
That being said, I want you to ponder on what you’ve read and decide whose voice you’d rather listen to: Jesus or your leaders?
At the end of the day, the choice is completely yours.
Share your thoughts!
Related posts: Modern Christianity: A Deadly Epidemic, Christianity and the Age of Deception
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We are to defend our selves as Jesus said in Luke 22:36 To protect our family and even our neighbors, as the times are dangerous. That’s why Jesus said to buy a sword if you don’t have a weapon, the sword was the best close combad weapon at that time, just like a handgun is today. So carry on 🙂
That scripture is often taken out of context. Jesus wasn’t supporting defence/ violence, he was simply telling his disciples that he’d no longer be with them. Hence, they should take everything they need. Vs 36.
He gave the reason in the next verse (vs 37) citing Isaiah 53:12b, reminding them of the kind of death he would die. The disciples showed him 2 swords and he replied, “that’s enough”. He actually said so because they weren’t getting the point.
If you go down to verse 49-51, you’d realize he didn’t approve of its usage. Matt 26:51-52 makes that even clearer. There, it points that all who live by the sword die by the sword. A reminder that violence isn’t the answer and there is a consequence for murdering.
Verse 53 even points that God was capable enough to handle the situation if he (Jesus) needed that but then the Scripture had to be fulfilled.
Jesus’ response here shows he’d rather let God defend him than let man do it. This should serve as a lesson to us as Christians.
[Sidebar: Now, you may wonder why they had swords in the first place. They were always traveling. Probably had to pass through bushes, they’d have needed to clear their paths or even kill wild animals but not human beings. So it makes sense to have had swords.]
The truth is since that incidence, we never found any disciple use any physical weapon to defend themselves. They understood their warfare was spiritual. Things only manifest physically after they have taken place spiritually. And our sword is the word of God.
You don’t have to agree with me but keep reading the Bible and ask the Holy Spirit for understanding. We are all learning.
Thanks for stopping by, Robert. I appreciate the feedback.
it’s great that you are sharing your belief and thoughts. It’s very curious for me to read about it as I am not Christian
This is a super powerful post; passionately written. Thank you for bringing important issues and ideologies to light!
I’m so sorry to hear about what’s happening in Nigeria and having corruption at the leadership level really adds fuel to the fire. Hopefully, it gets resolved soon.
I feel this is quite a passionate post. I have always believed religion and birth places simply divide people. And then there are few among us who exactly know how to play with these. It is sometimes sad to see how humans play with beliefs.
So sorry to hear about Nigeria’s current situation. Appreciate this letter. Thank you for reminding us and I hope people get to decide to do the right thing.
I wasn’t aware that this was happening in Nigeria. I agree with you that retaliation is not the answer.
I wasn’t aware of any unrest in Nigeria. I agree with Pooja in that religion and ownership of land seem to be at the root cause of many disputes over the centuries.
Thanks for bringing light to this, was not aware of the situation in Nigeria . It is really sad to hear about it. Hope peace prevails for all.
What a passionate article. Thank you for sharing your perspective on this difficult issue.
This was really interesting to read! Thank you for sharing this open letter!
With all due respect, it’s hard for me to share any opinion without having the facts. Being a Christian means if bad people want to harm me I just let it be without defending myself…?
It means that as a believer, your life is hidden with Christ in God and no one can overpower you except God permits.
And if we are told that our battles aren’t physical and our sword is the word of God, what do we do?
Let me give an example. Remember, Acts 8:3? Paul (then Saul) destroyed the Church. He went from house to house dragging Christians and taking them to jail. Some may have been tortured or even killed. Yet, he went unharmed. Does that sound familiar?
For him to have gone unharmed, it means no act of defence took place. Are we saying that no believer had sharp objects or physical weapons to defend themselves with?
Mind you, this was someone who went to peoples homes uninvited with the intent to capture them because they weren’t serving God the way he thought they ought to. Surely, this rings a bell. But how did it turn out in the end?
My answer is simple, do it God’s way and get God’s result. Or do it your own way and see how it goes. Either way, you are free to choose.
Thank you, Henri. I appreciate the feedback.