Should Christians Be Cops and Soldiers?
00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)
00:00:02.580 | - Happy Friday, everyone.
00:00:06.740 | We are continuing our discussion on God,
00:00:09.040 | guns, and biblical manhood
00:00:10.760 | that we started back in episode 306
00:00:12.540 | and picked up last time in episode 317.
00:00:15.280 | There's more to say about guns and biblical manhood,
00:00:17.560 | especially for those in law enforcement and the military.
00:00:21.040 | Pastor John, pick up your train of thought
00:00:22.760 | from yesterday's episode.
00:00:25.040 | - Last time, Tony, I raised the question,
00:00:27.960 | is the possibility of someone going to hell,
00:00:31.760 | if you kill him, a sufficient warrant for not killing him?
00:00:36.360 | And I answered no.
00:00:38.600 | This question today is,
00:00:41.560 | is the New Testament commandment,
00:00:46.360 | not to return evil for evil,
00:00:48.680 | a sufficient warrant for a Christian
00:00:51.880 | not to be a soldier or a policeman?
00:00:54.500 | And the reason that seems so relevant
00:00:57.720 | and several of our policeman friends asked it,
00:01:01.880 | is that the New Testament is filled
00:01:04.800 | with statements to this effect.
00:01:06.480 | This is Romans 12, 14.
00:01:09.040 | "Bless those who persecute you.
00:01:11.200 | "Never avenge yourselves.
00:01:13.400 | "Leave it to the wrath of God,
00:01:15.200 | "for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine.
00:01:17.340 | "'I will repay,' says the Lord.
00:01:19.560 | "On the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him.
00:01:23.460 | "If he's thirsty, give him something to drink,
00:01:26.520 | "for by so doing, you'll heap burning coals on his head.
00:01:29.960 | "Don't be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."
00:01:34.140 | Now, the question is, when a policeman reads that
00:01:38.320 | or a soldier reads that, should they say,
00:01:41.800 | "Well, I guess I've got the wrong job
00:01:45.380 | "because I'm not waiting for God to take vengeance.
00:01:50.160 | "I'm involved in it right now.
00:01:53.840 | "I am returning evil for evil, harm for harm.
00:01:57.400 | "I am not turning the other cheek with my billy club.
00:02:01.040 | "I don't give to him who asks
00:02:03.560 | "to let him go on beating that woman.
00:02:05.800 | "I hit him and stop him."
00:02:09.120 | And so my answer to the question,
00:02:12.600 | "Do those texts prevent a person
00:02:14.840 | "from being a policeman or a soldier?"
00:02:16.480 | is no.
00:02:17.720 | In fact, I would go further and say,
00:02:20.980 | God has arranged that the spheres that make society work,
00:02:25.980 | all of them have God-ordained situations in them
00:02:31.720 | that demand that we not turn the other cheek.
00:02:35.060 | The spheres I have in mind are the state,
00:02:39.400 | the family, business and commerce, the church.
00:02:44.400 | God has built in to each of these spheres
00:02:48.520 | the necessary principle of justice,
00:02:52.300 | not just the principle of mercy,
00:02:54.800 | where you treat people better than they deserve.
00:02:57.640 | In other words, treating a person as he deserves,
00:03:01.760 | as well as sometimes treating him better than he deserves,
00:03:05.260 | is essential for the loving, just working of these spheres.
00:03:10.260 | Let me just give you four biblical examples.
00:03:13.160 | The state, Romans 13, four,
00:03:16.200 | "He is the servant of God, an avenger,
00:03:19.960 | "who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer."
00:03:23.760 | So he's talking about soldiers and policemen there
00:03:26.760 | who carry the sword.
00:03:29.280 | They don't turn the other cheek.
00:03:31.460 | They do strike in order to defend the fatherland
00:03:36.460 | or to defend the innocent citizen
00:03:39.280 | who's a victim of a crime.
00:03:42.720 | So state.
00:03:43.540 | Number two, commerce, business.
00:03:46.360 | Paul said, 2 Thessalonians 3:10,
00:03:48.500 | "If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat."
00:03:53.500 | That's not mercy, that is justice.
00:03:56.900 | The employer does not turn the other cheek.
00:04:00.380 | If a man doesn't come to work day after day and says,
00:04:03.620 | "I just don't feel like it," he gets fired.
00:04:06.700 | He gets paid less.
00:04:07.980 | You can't run a business without the principle of merit,
00:04:13.020 | without the principle of a day's work for a day's wage.
00:04:18.020 | Thirdly, family.
00:04:19.860 | Fathers, bring up your children
00:04:22.060 | in the discipline of the Lord.
00:04:25.900 | Parents who only turn the other cheek
00:04:28.460 | and do not return spanking for insolence,
00:04:31.500 | breed brats, not pacifists.
00:04:35.100 | And the Bible is so clear.
00:04:36.820 | Parents have the right to operate on the principle of justice
00:04:41.980 | as well as mercy.
00:04:44.260 | You have to spank your children, discipline your children.
00:04:47.220 | Number four, the church.
00:04:48.840 | Church discipline.
00:04:51.140 | 1 Corinthians 5:5,
00:04:52.840 | "You are to deliver the man over to Satan
00:04:55.860 | for the destruction of the flesh
00:04:57.620 | so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord."
00:05:01.020 | In all of these, we're hoping for the good of people.
00:05:04.740 | But in the short run, we are not giving to him who asks,
00:05:08.500 | we're not turning the other cheek,
00:05:10.380 | we are returning some measure of harm
00:05:14.100 | because of behaviors that were harmful or wrong.
00:05:18.180 | So the point is this,
00:05:19.380 | each of these teachings of the New Testament
00:05:22.380 | show that a just and loving society
00:05:25.380 | inside and outside the church
00:05:27.540 | requires more than not returning evil for evil.
00:05:31.500 | It also requires, in the spheres where God assigns it,
00:05:35.580 | a principle of justice that returns what a person deserves.
00:05:39.520 | So my answer to the question is no.
00:05:42.260 | Is the New Testament commandment
00:05:44.740 | not to return evil for evil
00:05:47.020 | a sufficient warrant for Christian
00:05:48.980 | not being a policeman or a soldier?
00:05:51.100 | No.
00:05:52.560 | Both of these,
00:05:54.940 | that is, treating a person according to justice
00:05:56.900 | and treating him according to mercy,
00:05:58.620 | are essential in bearing witness to our God.
00:06:02.900 | Just like I said last time,
00:06:04.700 | in our personal Christian readiness to suffer
00:06:08.660 | and be cheated without vengeance,
00:06:11.620 | we display something utterly crucial about God.
00:06:14.700 | He's our all-satisfying treasure,
00:06:17.180 | and he will reward us fully in the end,
00:06:20.420 | and he will settle all accounts at the end of time.
00:06:23.380 | And secondly, when we function as a policeman or a soldier
00:06:27.700 | or a parent or an employer or a church elder,
00:06:31.020 | we also apply the principle of justice
00:06:35.180 | and display something else about God,
00:06:37.900 | namely, he has ordained that even in this world,
00:06:40.740 | even in the church,
00:06:43.020 | there be a limit to evil and a display of justice.
00:06:48.020 | So there's just no doubt.
00:06:50.500 | I mean, I realize as people are listening to this,
00:06:52.900 | they're saying, "Whoa,
00:06:54.380 | those two principles are gonna collide."
00:06:57.340 | (laughs)
00:06:58.460 | They are going to collide in my life.
00:07:01.020 | And my answer is absolutely they're gonna collide.
00:07:05.380 | This way of living creates tensions.
00:07:07.940 | They bump into each other,
00:07:10.420 | and that's just the way it has to be,
00:07:12.720 | it seems to me, in a partially redeemed world.
00:07:16.700 | - Thank you, Pastor John.
00:07:17.540 | I appreciate your thoughts.
00:07:18.580 | And this is the third podcast that we've done on guns.
00:07:21.060 | See episode number 306 and 317 for more.
00:07:25.100 | Please continue sending in your questions to us about guns
00:07:27.860 | or questions about any topic.
00:07:29.220 | You can email those to us at askpastorjohn@desiringgod.org.
00:07:33.640 | Well, Monday, we're gonna switch gears a bit
00:07:35.460 | and talk about New Calvinism,
00:07:36.940 | something you've been talking a lot about recently,
00:07:38.700 | Pastor John, and specifically,
00:07:40.700 | what's new about New Calvinism?
00:07:43.400 | That's coming up on Monday.
00:07:44.660 | Until then, I'm your host, Tony Reinke,
00:07:46.100 | wishing you a wonderful and worship-filled weekend.
00:07:48.860 | (upbeat music)
00:07:51.440 | (upbeat music)
00:07:54.020 | [BLANK_AUDIO]