I grew up in the church but I did not grow up around guns. My exposure to firearms came from the 2-3 skeet shooting trips I took with my grandpa and the 200-300 hours of Call of Duty I played as a teenager.

Funny enough, I got my first handgun the morning of my wedding: a Sig Sauer P365X chambered in 9mm.

During the months leading up to my wedding, the prospect of becoming a husband — a father further down the road — completely rewired my mind. It was one thing to carry a pocket knife for cutting apples during my lunch break at work as a single guy.

But now?

Now I was starting a family. A family I was responsible to lead, provide for, and protect. The more the weight of that responsibility became felt and understood, the more the 3-inch pocket knife looked and felt like a glorified bubble blower.

Working Out the Ethics

Before I bought my Sig, I did a lot of thinking and reading. How does Jesus, the gospel, and the Scriptures affect my decision to carry or not to carry?

While the full scope of the question of ethics will be dealt with in two forthcoming articles, I will simply give my conclusion from the Scripture as follows.

• All of mankind is made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27),
• Because men and women are made in the image of God, human life should be protected up to the point of using lethal force to defend innocent life from the threat of murder (Exodus 22:2; cf. Genesis 9:6)
• Third, nevertheless, each Christian must obey their conscience on the subject of whether or not to employ lethal force in the defense of human life (1 Corinthians 8:9ff).

Moreover, for those Christians whose consciences permit them to use lethal force in the defense of innocent human life, I would strongly encourage that the Christian ethic should lead us to do more than carry a firearm on our waistline. For the Scriptures teach that we are to protect and preserve human life. Therefore, if we are willing to carry a firearm, we should be equally willing to carry basic, essential medical supplies on our person.

• A tourniquet, or tourniquets, and the knowledge of how to apply them.
• Hemostatic gauze or other clotting materials.
• The training, certification and ability to perform CPR and use an AED.

The likelihood of you being in a shootout with a school shooter, terrorist, mass murderer, or home invader is, theoretically, 1 in 10 million. The odds of you coming across a child suffocating or at risk of drowning, an elderly man having a heart attack, or an individual hemorrhaging blood from a car accident is far, far greater.

Christians are called to protect human life — the image of God. If our consciences permit us, let’s be willing to carry the tools necessary to stop an active killer as well as the tools needed to aid victims of an active killer or, more likely, the victims of a car crash on the interstate.

So, Finally, What Do I Concealed Carry as a Christian

I carry:

• A Sig Sauer P365X chambered in 9mm. Always with two, sometimes with three magazines.
• A T.REX ARMS Sidecar 2.0 IWB appendix holster.
• Sig 9mm V-Crown 124 grain JHP
• POM pepper spray for the possibility of non-lethal but dangerous situations (e.g. an individual assaults me or my wife).
• A simple pocket knife for utility, not self-defense.
• A Carhartt satchel (not a purse) that contains 3 tourniquets, hemostatic gauze, 3 chest seals, a CPR mask, medical scissors, and medical gloves.
• A satellite phone with nuclear codes.

That last one was just a little fun one for those of you that read this far.

At the end of the day, as a Christian man, I want to go out of my way to protect human life. Whether it’s stopping to give aid to a bicyclist who got hit by an Amazon van; pulling over to plead with a man to not jump off of an overpass and take his life; or, if the bitter day were to come to me, to be willing to run towards the sound of gunfire.

All men, women, and children are made in the image of God and are therefore worth protecting. All Christians should be willing to render aid to safeguard life as we are taught by our Lord in the Parable of the Good Samaritan. As for those whose consciences permit them to, we should be willing, like Stephen Willeford was, to run towards the sound of gunfire; to take up arms to defend the lives of innocent men, and especially the lives of innocent women and children.

Thoughts, questions, or criticisms? Leave a comment below!