In Defense of Throwing Punches

Security camera footage captured a man ferociously beating a woman- and then quickly receiving a solid right from an onlooker who led an entire swarm of bystanders in driving the man out of the building.

As the prevalence- or at least the awareness- of violence in modern Western society grows, it is becoming more and more urgent that American Christian men rediscover the masculine penchant for delivering a beat-down. Sadly, decades of ecclesiastical effeminacy have left many modern Christian men feeling guilty about their urge to throw punches in the face of evil. "That's not what Jesus would do!" "You should turn the other cheek!" "You might get taken to court!"

Brothers, this is my invitation to you. Let's look at the Scriptures. Count the cost. Do the math in advance.

And be ready to deliver holy poundings.

The stream of stories is so constant that they begin to blur into a sickening unison. Since the stabbing of Iryna Zarutska, report after disturbing report surfaces telling the same story. Afghan "asylum seekers" in UK rape 15-year-old girl. Chicago man randomly punches women in the street. Elderly dutch man attacked by immigrants while walking his dog. Woman set on fire on Chicago train.

There are two common denominators in so many of these cases which are perhaps even more chilling than the crimes themselves. The first is the abject failure of the civil magistrate to do its God-given duty of sword-bearing (Rom. 13); this is beyond the purview of this post, but I hope to address it soon. The second, and our topic here, is the complacency of bystanders.

The Batman Caveat

At the outset, we need to distinguish between vigilanteism and righteous violence. God has instituted the civil government as the appropriate authority for meting out punitive justice- He has not left this up to private individuals to take care of as they see fit.

"...for [the civil magistrate] is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil." - Rom. 13:4

Of course, no government does this perfectly, and the civil authorities in Western nations are doing a particularly bad job of it right now, but this does not excuse lawlessness on the part of Christians. As alluded to above, I hope to address our duties toward an AWOL authority in a later post; for now, suffice it to say that in this post I am talking about an immediate and measured response to a presenting act of evil, not a retroactive and punitive response to a past offense.

I should also note that nothing in this article should be taken to justify disproportionate violence. If a man steals a stick of gum, it would not be appropriate to beat him within an inch of his life.

But if he slaps a child, stabs a stranger, sucker-punches someone on the street, or tries to drag a woman into a back alley, he needs to limp his way to jail.

Turn the Other Cheek

Christians have a fundamental and clear duty to be peacemakers and to respond to personal offences with grace and forgiveness.

"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." - Matt. 5:39

"If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men." - Rom. 12:18

We should always desire peace. We should be masters of de-escalation, of gentle answers which "turn away wrath" (Pr. 15:1), of humble refusal to start a brawl over injured pride. We should not be bitter or vengeful, but rather forgiving and gracious (Rom. 12:19).

The problem is that this is, in many cases, the full extent of Christian discipleship on the issue of the use of force... and it is not at all the sum total of the teaching of

Scripture. This excessive emphasis on "peacemaking" and suffering willingly for the glory of Christ was perhaps exposed in sharpest relief when John Piper- a man for whom I have immense respect- published an article that answered the question "can I shoot my wife's assailant?" with a very lengthy and thoughtful discussion that included many reasons why it might be more Christian to let the rapist have his way.

Which is, with all due respect to Pastor Piper, insane.

This kind of hyper-analysis has no justification in Scripture, and it is so focused on "loving" the criminal that it completely sidesteps our duty to love the victim.

Holy Haymakers

This is a woman being attacked by a knife-wielding robber... and a man walking by, casually observing the incident.

There are indeed times when our combative instincts need to be supressed for the glory of Christ. But there are also times where said instincts must be acknowledged, not only as lawful, but as a positive good. Scripture assumes unblinkingly that good men will get in the way of bad ones:

"Since the man raped her out in the country, it must be assumed that she screamed, but there was no one to rescue her." - Deut. 22:27

We can note that there is no lengthy analysis; the assumption is clear. If someone needs help, good men will come running- and they presumably won't come running in order to gently suggest that the rapist reconsider his life choices. This assumption is witnessed elsewhere in Scripture:

"When I saw their fear, I stood and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people: “Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”" - Neh. 4:14

A few key assumptions here: first, the duty of defense is the duty of the men. No one here is exhorted to fight for their husbands. Second, simply, that defensive violence is completely appropriate.

Now, with this as a foundational assumption, let's acknowledge what Scripture says about the kind of man who shirks this duty:

"Like a trampled spring and a polluted well is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked." - Pr. 25:26

The pietistic impulse of American Christianity likes to render this into a simply spiritual observation, but it is not. A good man who allows a wicked man to violate the innocent unopposed is not a good man, and that includes a man who will not bloody his knuckles on bad guys.

"If you show yourself lacking courage on the day of distress, your strength is meager." - Pr. 24:10

In other words, your mettle is tested when there are dragons to be slain. Real men greet those moments decisively. Of course, this requires courage:

"The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, but the righteous are bold as a lion." - Pr. 28:1

And Scripture warns the consequences of allowing evil to go unchecked:

"Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil." - Ecc. 8:11

This is primarily the duty of the civil magistrate, of course (note the phraseology of a "sentence" being "executed"), but the implication is straightforward that a society that doesn't get in the way of wickedness will get more of it.

This is exactly what we have seen, and we can expect that the violence will only increase until repentance and reformation happen.

It's high time the Christian men of America made it scary to be a criminal again.

The Obstacles: Cluelessness and Cowardice

Security camera footage shows a woman (right) falling unconscious into a crosswalk after receiving a brutal right hook from a passing stranger.

There are two primary obstacles standing between Christian men and the bad guys that they should be pounding.

The first is cluelessness, by which I mean any number of things that render a man unprepared to get involved in a real-life situation.

It can be lack of discipleship, where Christian men have been castrated by an effeminate understanding of "Gospel-centered" Christianity that is so busy straining at gnostic gnats that it swallows cowardly camels.

It can be lack of preparation, where men do not have the training- physically, psychologically, or both- to be prepared to pick a holy fight. So, when the moment comes, they simply stare at it like a deer caught in the headlights of heroism and unable to act on the opportunity.

It can be selfish apathy or other characterological defects, where males would rather be safe than be men- or where they are so tuned into their screen that they don't see what is going on in the real world.

The second, obviously, is cowardice. This one is pretty straightforward- a man who knows what he should do, but he is too scared to do it. He would rather live than be able to live with himself.

The Risks: Legal and Lethal

Any discussion of this topic is mere braggadocio if it does not include counting the cost. There are two primary risks faced by any man brave enough to get involved in defending the innocent.

The first is straightforward: you may die. You may be stabbed, shot, beaten, curb-stomped, or knocked out with a single punch. The other guy might be faster, stronger, more skilled, or more cunning. (Though I will say that from what I have seen- and Prov. 28:1 would agree- most of these criminals are cowards who flee at the first sighting of a fair fight.)

The second is, in a way, more painful: you may go to prison. In a society that regularly punishes good and praises evil, it is quite possible that you might save the innocent from the wicked and be prosecuted for it.

In both cases, there are ways to prepare; martial arts and weapons training are readily available, and legal advice (and entire organizations) exist to help protect the good guys from lawfare.

But the final answer to both considerations comes down to one word: courage.

How many "prudent considerations" would have stopped Jesus from His violent episode in the temple, had He only been a little bit wiser? The moneychangers were not hurting anyone. Surely, Jesus could have picketed, or lobbied, or preached. Was violence necessary? Look at the harm He did to His reputation! And what if He had been prosecuted for assault, or if the moneychangers had fought back?

"And He made a whip of cords, and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables;" - John 2:15

Christ shows us that some things are serious enough to transcend the need for calm calculation. (To be fair, Jesus planned this at least long enough to make His own whip.)

There are times where the only correct response is decisive, forceful, manly action.

God is sovereign over all eventualities. Daniel Penny, for example, faced prosecution for intervening in a violent situation- and he was acquitted. Many a hero has done the right thing and walked away unscathed. In the words of Stonewall Jackson, because of the sovereignty of our God, we are "as safe in battle as in bed."

But sometimes our sovereign God delivers, not through victory, but through His Hand in trial. We might wind up in the hospital or the penitentiary.

We must do the math in advance, count the cost, recognize the danger- and act like men anyway.

I'd rather stand before Jesus, or sleep well in jail, than look in the mirror and see a coward.

The Path Forward

After attacking their child's face with a knife, this woman ambled nonchalantly across the street, keeping the father at bay with a simple wave of the knife.

Ladies, quit with the feminism stuff. You cannot say that men do not have any special privileges or authority, but they do have a duty to protect women. It's illogical, unbiblical, and nonsensical. You can't demand total equality and also complain when men don't give up their seats on the bus or step between you and the knife-wielding maniac.

Stop going places alone. Please. Especially the obvious places, like inner-city public transportation. You are a vulnerable target. I don't care how much training you have. Discretion is the better part of valor.

And please, do train. Train situational awareness. Learn self-defense. Carry a weapon. But remember that these things are only worth anything if you have trained them into oblivion. Otherwise, they are just false security encouraging you into foolish risk- and many of them can be used against you.

You must recognize that you are weaker. If you are well trained, you may be able to fight off an attacker, praise God! But if that makes you flippant about your safety, then, respectfully, you are a fool.

Men, quit blaming feminism for your own cowardice. If we really do believe that God gave men authority then it is high time we stopped following in the footsteps of our great-granddaddy and blaming the woman. We must be men because that is what God calls us to be, regardless of the behavior of others.

"I might get sued!" Christians have gone through worse for doing the right thing.

"They are feminists who don't deserve it!" I'm sure glad Jesus- the ultimate man- didn't wait for us to deserve it before He saved us.

Once you've gotten the excuses out of the way, it's time to get ready. This means situational awareness, physical fitness, martial training, weapons readiness, the works. You don't have to be Jason Bourne. Just have a basic toolbox. Do some pushups. Be able to throw a solid punch.

And commit in advance to take the plunge- not to be one of the bystanders watching dumbfounded.

And to be clear, I am not talking about carefully taking the plunge. I'm not talking about kindly asking the guy to back off. I'm talking about decking him royally and sitting on him until the cops arrive. It's high time that Christian men learned to fight like men. No more soft and effeminate Christianity. No more blameshifting and excuses. No more analysis paralysis. No more foreigners brazenly raping and murdering our women in public. No more criminals getting away with assault in front of a crowd of onlookers.

These monsters should be thoroughly pounded and then thoroughly prosecuted.

The edgebois want us to think that "masculinity" equates to crass language and boasting and returning insult for insult. This is a lie.

But it does involve being able to dish out a beat-down in defense of the innocent.

Rise up, O men of God.

“Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.” - Neh. 4:14