Ecclesiates 3:8, New International Version

A time to love and a time to hate.A time for war and a time for peace.

War or Peace? Having lived 90% of my life in Texas, where friendly people tote around guns and wave confederate flags (don’t take offense, that was sarcasm), I've naturally adapted to a local viewpoint on guns and war. This "local viewpoint" is simply that guns are okay to have, just be careful, and the United States being in war is patriotic and something to be proud about. *Remember, this is just my perspective, I feel like it might ruffle a few feathers so I want to clarify that it's not a blanket statement of what all Texans believe.*

In my travels to other states and countries I've been surprised by how many times I've been questioned on my views of guns, war, and the death penalty once people discovered that I was from Texas. I never felt like I had an answer completely my own, it also seemed like I repeated things I'd heard from someone else. When I recently read The Irresistible Revolution, I was challenged to finally affirm my thoughts and beliefs on these topics.

Because I claim Christ as my God, I declare that I believe the Bible to be Truth, God's infallible word. The stories and history of our world that are recorded in the Bible are full of war, murder, bloodshed, and death. No matter what you believe, we can't escape the fate given to all humans - pain and death. But in the midst of living out our time on earth - should I participate in active pursuits of death and pain? I don't think I should.

The argument I have isn't solid, it is in progress. Sometimes I feel like verses I pick and choose can contradict each other if I don't properly research the context and history. For me personally, I choose to look at "Do not murder" from Exodus 20:13 and especially Matthew 5:38-48 where Jesus commands us to "turn the other cheek" and "love your enemies." Ultimately, my decision on the matters of war, guns, and the death penalty is that, as a Christian (which trumps my citizenship), I am called to Love. Love God, Love others. I can't own a weapon that causes harm. I can't support the government deciding what crimes warrant death and using power to take life away. I want to take steps to see war cease and more "battles" be fought through discussion and documents - not by sending citizens to kill other citizens.

Maybe I'm being naive. You can argue that God is a "warrior" and so we should be too. In fact, the bible states in Exodus 15:3 "The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name." But what about Romans 15:33 that says "Now the God of peace be with you all."?

Let's ask a simple question -- is it not reasonable to say that God can be both a "warrior" and a God of peace, as the circumstances require? In that same way, I might find that in some time in my life, or any one else's life, there will be a need to be a soldier during war, and a Customer Relations Writer during times of peace.

All in all, what I'm trying to communicate is that I think this is an ongoing struggle and development of my beliefs. I trust that while I might go back and forth between sides of this argument, I take comfort that God is allowed to react to what we do as He sees fit and He is never contradicted -- those verses describe Him as being of war and peace but not at the same time or while performing the same action.

Ecclesiastes 3:17 “I thought in my heart, "God will bring to judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time for every deed.”