StudyGrowKnow

What’s a Christian to Do?

March 18, 2026 at 2:11 PM Leave a comment

Anyone who has been paying attention knows that things throughout society are seriously declining. We’ve got gangs of youths roaming the streets assaulting lone innocent victims simply because they can. This has been happening throughout Europe and the UK for some time and it is now occurring in the USA.

There is this sense of entitlement that motivates these attacks. People are being pushed onto train tracks as they await the arrival of their train just so they can get to work. Others are accosted as they walk along the sidewalks minding their own business. Still others are assaulted in the hallways of schools or in the bathrooms. Everything is recorded to gain more “clicks” and “likes” while innocent people suffer through these physical altercations and emotional degradations.

As I watch these videos (not for fun, but for educational purposes), it seems that there are two things that come to mind. First, the average person is usually completely taken by surprise when these attacks happen. They are simply going along, minding their own business when they are set upon by a group of youths who simply want to harm them. Second, because they are taken by complete surprise, they are like deer in the headlights of a vehicle. They simply don’t react and end up doing whatever they can to cover their heads and other body parts in an effort to minimize damage.

The people doing the attacking seem to find evil delight in meting out their punishment. It appears fun to them. They smile and even laugh as they pound or kick the innocent victim into unconsciousness. They don’t even stop then, continuing to kick the unconscious person in the head. I suppose it could be worse. The downed person has absolutely no ability to help themselves and instead of trying to help them, most people just stand around recording the incident on their phones.

I watched a clip from one basketball game between high schools and one of the students didn’t like the fact that a student from the other team gained an advantage. The one student then picked up the rival and slammed him to the floor, causing damage to the one student’s neck and head. A follow up post noted that the student who perpetrated the incident wasn’t even charged with assault. The charges were in fact dropped. This simply serves to embolden those people and I see this time and time again. Migrants in Europe are arrested for raping some young girl. They are arrested and the charges are either dropped, or they are given only a fine and/or community service.

In a recent situation, a man on the subway train punched an elderly man so hard, the man died. The perpetrator was arrested and released to appear April 1. Color me surprised if he actually shows up. He literally killed a man without provocation, yet is treated as though he was simply jaywalking.

There are many, many examples of this type of “diversity” problem throughout global society. I could site many other situations that have sparked outrage among people, yet the problem continues, with the benefit of the doubt given to migrants and others because of one thing or another.

Paul’s words in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 are coming to fruition.

1 But understand this: In the last days terrible times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, without love of good, 4 traitorous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these! (Berean Standard Bible)

12 These men are like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be captured and destroyed. They blaspheme in matters they do not understand, and like such creatures, they too will be destroyed. 13 The harm they will suffer is the wages of their wickedness. (2 Peter 2:12; Berean Standard Bible)

While Paul is speaking concerning the state of society as the end approaches and what people will actually be like, Peter is immediately referring to false prophets and the world is full of them today.

What I’m seeing in global society today is perfectly captured by Paul’s words when he attests that in the latter days, people “…will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive…” If we consider it, there are many examples of people who are motivated by a sincere love of themselves. They think they are owed something so for them, stealing food from grocery stores or restaurants, taking whatever they want that does not belong to them, beating people up for the sake of beating them up and all the rest that goes along with this mindset proves they are catering solely to themselves because they think so highly of themselves.

The entitlement is real and I’m seeing it more and more, not simply with low class cultures within specific races, but also within Islam. In fact, after this article, I’d like to spend some time on Islam, its origins, its purposes, its teachings and what all of that means for us today.

Because of what’s happening throughout society, I think it’s very important the average person and especially Christians realize the need for self-defense. Now, I’m not going to tell you how you should defend yourself or even if you should. It’s up to you, but one thing I will say right from the start is that I do not believe that Christians have no right to protect ourselves, our families and our belongings.

There are some passages in the Bible that appear to preach a pacifistic attitude or approach to the world and how the people in the world treat us. One that everyone likes to go to is the turn the other cheek passage that Jesus speaks of in Matthew 5:38-39 where He says this:

You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.

Right there, it seems as if He is saying that if someone starts pounding on you, do not pound them back. The problem is that the context is lacking because we are so far removed from Jesus’ culture of that day. I offer an explanation of His actual meaning in this article I wrote in January of 2013 (The Christian and Lethal Force in Self-Defense. [1] That’s one possibility. The other possible meaning is that during Jesus’ day, a slap across the cheek was not a criminal slap. In fact, it might have included those situations where it was not even an actual physical slap. It could have involved being insulted in some form verbally, but not physically harmed. [2] Paul mirrors this sentiment in 1 Corinthians 6:7 when he expresses concern that Christians are taking other Christians to court, rather than simply be wronged.

The point Jesus seems to be making is that this type of insult (whether physical, verbal or something else), did not mean we should go all out and return in the same vein. We should consider, discern and use wisdom in responding to those things in a way that brings glory to God.

I don’t believe that Jesus was referring to the physical need for self-defense in that instance. In today’s world, I am seeing a growing category of people who simply go out of their way to attack someone who is doing absolutely nothing to them. Sucker punching someone from behind is a way for some people to get “clicks” and “likes” on their social media page, proving again, that it’s all about them because they think so highly of themselves.

From my vantage point, it certainly seems that unchecked violence is on the rise. It also seems that there is far less consideration or thinking prior to lashing out at someone. Impulse control is severely low or non-existent. In Europe, there are increasing examples of women being harassed when alone or even physically assaulted by people they do not know and hadn’t even spoken with. These attacks seem to come out of nowhere.

I saw one video where a woman in England was seated on the public train. An obvious migrant stood over her deliberately harassing her verbally. Then, feeling empowered, the same female migrant began to record on her phone and started touching the woman. The seated woman quickly got to her feet and slapped the migrant, which clearly astonished her. She wasn’t expecting that type of reaction. The English woman also clearly stated forcefully, “Do not touch me!” then slapped her again. The bravado instantly faded from the migrant woman and she could not get off the train fast enough.

This is, unfortunately, what exists in society today and Christians need to be prepared mentally and emotionally. In my opinion, the best approach is to always be aware of your surroundings. This one factor will help you avoid becoming prey to someone who thinks they have the upper hand simply because of not being aware of their presence. If you are aware of your surroundings, you are then able to determine the best course of action if something doesn’t feel right and less likely to become the victim. If you’re not aware, you’ll likely become a victim.

The other option after this is to have already decided how you will handle those who invade your space, insult you to your face and even physically assault you. If you believe that Christians are to be pacifistic punching bags, that’s your choice. I cannot help you. I would urge you to search the Scriptures (starting with the articles linked below). Certainly, Jesus does not want His people to go on a rampage nor does He want us to always be ready to punch back. However, I believe He does expect us to use wisdom and discernment though in each situation.

If someone breaks into your home at night while you are sleeping, in most areas of the USA if you were to use lethal force, you would likely not be charged with a crime. We have two good sized dogs that would alert us to any problem long before a person got into our home. However, should they get in, I am prepared to deal with it.

Out in public, care must be used in response to any threat. We cannot simply use lethal force in every situation. The problem though is not knowing the other person’s motivation. What are they doing? What are they trying to accomplish?

I’m on our church’s security team. We carry lethal weapons. We are the eyes of our congregation and we watch people and the parking lot. If we see something strange, our first instinct is not to respond with blazing guns. That’s really the last thing we want to do. Our first instinct is to determine if there is a problem. Once that is determined, we can then address it. But with the increase in Muslims claiming that they are to kill the Jew and the Christian because this is what is mandated by Allah and due to the several terrorist attacks at churches and synagogues over the past few weeks, we understand that with Easter coming, situations could easily occur. Because we understand that those folks take their beliefs seriously, it is not out of the realm of possibility to believe that something could occur this Easter.

Regardless of what you might believe about a Christian and self-defense, I still insist that being aware of your surroundings is the first and best alternative to being oblivious to what is going on around you. I contend that if a person is fully aware of what is going on around them, the chances of them being the victim are slimmer. Too many people walk through life clueless. They are lost in thought, lost on their phones or simply unaware of what might be transpiring around them. People who are aware do not often become victims. If you do not believe Christians have the right to defend themselves, then at least be willing to be thoroughly focused on what is going on around you. This alone is likely to make you much less of a victim.

I believe there are times when Christians can use some type of force (even lethal), when it comes down to it. I would never not defend my wife if she was being accosted and depending on the situation, I would use less or more force to address the threat. There are also times to walk/run away as well. Only being situationally aware allows a person to use discernment and wisdom and don’t forget, too many attacks occur without provocation and happen very quickly.

We are not to hate people. We are not to look at them with a skewed view. If things, however, do not feel or look right, there may well be a reason for that. Doing what you can to move away from that type of situation may be the best choice. However, if you cannot move away, you will need to have a plan for what you will do if you become the hunted.

[1] https://studygrowknowblog.com/2013/01/11/the-christian-and-lethal-force-in-self-defense/

[2] https://www.gotquestions.org/self-defense.html

Entry filed under: Atheism and religion, christianity, Demonic, eternity, Global Elite, Islam, Modern Gnosticism, Religious - Christian - End Times, Religious - Christian - Prophecy, salvation, Sharia Law.