"militant" in this context doesn't necessarily refer to "military" in the sense of soldiers with guns.
Unfortunately the churches of Christendom missed that memo.
They will encourage their members to literally take up military weapons by turning patriotism into a duty "for God and country". Jesus gave us no sanction to be militant.
Having the courage of our convictions is not being militant IMV. It is simply defending the truth as we see it.
For example, during election time, party members will be in the streets distributing pamflets and trying to convince people to vote for them. These party members are called "militants".
How is distributing pamphlets considered "militant"? It's called campaigning as far as I can see.
Those who call themselves Christians who do this are going against the teachings of Christ. He told us to be "no part of the world" because it is ruled from behind the scenes by the devil.
Any vote for a political party assumes responsibility for what that party does once in office. If they commit bloodshed, particularly the murder of innocents, then their is shared bloodguilt. (Isaiah 1:15)
Without really knowing what you are referring to...
This sounds a lot like muslim defenses concerning the word "jihad".
Just an observation.
Are you serious? Jihad involves physical warfare and bloodshed supposedly fought for God.
In the Revelation, the final showdown between God and the devil does not involve Christians at all. It is Christ and his powerful angelic army who will crush all of God's enemies. No puny human weapon will have any effect.
God does not require us to be militant....he requires us to be steadfast but passive in the face of our opposers. We will not fight them. We will defend ourselves with words but not with violence. This is what a true martyr is.....not one going down with all guns blazing, but like Jesus, remaining quietly faithful to death if that is what we must face.