One thing I am not shy about mentioning is that I believe all Christians in the military today must leave the military as conscientious objectors. Yes, that does imply joining the military is not much of an option for starters.
But I wanted to make a very simple comparison between the two sides in this: being a member of the Church and being a member of the military. This is nothing new or novel. Just a simple observation I was thinking about. You can be none, one, or both of those. There is a problem with being both. Anyone in that position would be torn between two masters.
A typical statement given from a Christian runs along the lines of “We are supposed to obey the laws of the country as long as they do not conflict with God’s laws or God’s Word.” Fine. Sure, I have some minor issues with that statement (e.g. the emphasis is placed on obedience to the kingdom of man and not the Kingdom of God, who decides when there’s a conflict, etc.), but that’s for another discussion. Right now that’s not a major concern. If we take the sentiments at face value, then any Christian in the military has a major, massive problem on their hands. Right now.
From the recent events where the US military burned a large number of Bibles in Afghanistan, we saw quite openly and without equivocation that if a Christian is in the military they are absolutely not allowed to evangelize. For as long as they are in active duty with their fellow troops, engaged in a military operation, they must not engage in their duty and call as disciples of Christ to spread the Gospel or they will face punishment by the military. There is an obvious conflict between the laws of the country and the direct commands of Christ here.
If I were in the military, stationed in Iraq, and commissioned to go through a town to find people and sniff out the enemy, and let’s say a very likely situation occurred where I came upon a Muslim mother with a couple of kids in a half war-torn house, I would not be allowed to take even a second to share with them the hope of the Good News or mention Isa. But, by that point, would it even make a difference? In that mother’s mind, the people that killed her husband, destroyed the house, and made the neighborhood unsafe for her children were the Christians (the US). But, that’s for another discussion.
Point is, did you catch the dilemma, the conflict between serving God or country there? There is another crystal clear example to look at.
We are all aware that if you were in the military and sent to Iraq or Afghanistan, then you were already trained to kill. When engaged in combat, you must be willing to kill the enemy before they either kill you, your fellow troop mates, the people you were tasked with protecting, etc. While that not only does not help with the evangelism problem (hard to evangelize to dead people, unless you happen to be of the Mormon persuasion), Jesus was very adamant about how to deal with our enemies:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be like your Father in heaven.” (Matt v.43-45 NET)
How often do we need to say it: bombing and killing people is not loving them? That’s not love. That’s wrong. It’s rude. It’s evil.
So what now? I’ve just covered two clear conflicts for a Christian in the military. Obedience to both God and country is not possible. So a choice must be made. My hope is that disciples of Jesus will always choose to follow their master. Isn’t that what being a disciple means? My hope is that Christians will leave the military, come home safe, then turn right around, join up with a group like Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), head back to Iraq, Afghanistan, or wherever they were stationed, and use their knowledge and familiarity of the land and peoples to bring hope, love, peace, comfort, food, clothes, gardening and construction skills, soccer balls, shoes, hugs, etc. to those people.
What are your thoughts? Am I wrong? Let’s discuss it.
