In two millennia of Christian history, there is a lot of time for developing disparate teachings on any number of questions. One of these is the role of soldiers and war. The earliest generations of the church practiced non-retaliation, such that active soldiers could not become initiated Christians. As Christendom flourished, melding state and church power together, thinkers like Augustine crafted new theology around ‘just war’ and the possibility of righteous violence. The modern day ‘Christian realism’ theology is an outgrowth of that. The pacifism of traditions like the Mennonites draw largely from early church thought like that of Cyprian.
The 20th century in America was marked by a uniform patriotism that has fallen into disrepair over the last sixty years. Starting with the Vietnam War, there has been an organized group of people who actively hate the US Armed Forces, to the degree that folks would meet servicemen as they left from or returned to the US at the airport to heckle, spit on, and harass them. This was a stain on our nation’s history.
I was in high school when 9/11 happened. My parents, worried that the draft would again be instituted, got the paperwork for me to file as a conscientious objector. I don’t remember if I filled it out. My sympathies were decidedly anti-war, anti-military, anti-American empire. It is only relatively recently in my life that I have taken the time and energy to understand the neoconservative and neoliberal understandings of the role of war. While I do not personally subscribe or agree with them, I can now see that many of the folks advocating for military intervention have had longterm hearts of peace.
Yet I didn’t sit down to write this piece as a sort of blessing of war, military intervention, or violence. Rather, I wanted to explain how and why it is that I think it is a helpful and good thing to acknowledge the service of veterans in our midst. I offer this as a person who has previously felt it completely inappropriate for churches to acknowledge at all those who have served. I have moved, not to the opposite extreme of holding up all veterans as models of Christian service and heroism, but to a place in the middle, in which I can acknowledge the service and sacrifice of many as a sign of what is expected of all believers. And I suppose my sympathies have grown more towards classical Christian understandings of the role of the state. I also increasingly appreciate modern Christian realism raising important questions about how much nonviolent means can affect atheist or muslim states and institutions. I don’t think it is a sin to ask questions about what works or what makes a difference. I think self-sacrificial service makes a difference.
For those who do not know, the scriptures actually allow for states to use coercive power, even designating them as agents of God’s sovereign justice:
Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
- Romans 13:1-7
One of the early Church fathers was a man named Justin Martyr. He was in active military service when Christ called him. He was a soldier of Christ for the rest of his life. There is something to be said for the military discipline he had being applied then to the cause of Christ. Many of the most devoted believers throughout the years have been those who previously knew what devoted service looked like in the military.
One of the more liberal people in my church, now a good friend and member of my men’s discipleship group, served in the US Army for a time. He is a public school teacher, so we end up talking a lot about his experience with youth. He is concerned. Last week he said, “They are just too soft, too coddled.” I don’t disagree. I’m not sure he would hold such an opinion if he hadn’t experienced the hardship of military training, and the resulting resilience that comes from enduring hardship. But because of his personal knowledge of such resilience, he is frustrated with the struggles particular to a coddled couple of generations. I share his frustration. Why? Consider the meme:
Here is the hard edge to this article: I believe the vast majority of churches in America today have been fatally marked by the softness of consumer civilian life. The bulk of ‘disciples’ in most churches lack the devotion, determination, and grit required to serve Christ and his church on a level that at all resembles the early church or the persecuted church today. Our churches are filled with people whose primary orientation is what ‘fills their cup’ or ‘meets their needs.’
How does one train believers to identify, not as civilians, but as warriors? Well, I think those who have personal knowledge and experience with military training and service can be of great benefit.
Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.
- 2 Timothy 2:1-5
Something my tradition (the Methodist one) used to be strong about was the importance of individual and collective discipline. In case it bears repeating, the root for the words ‘discipline’ and ‘disciple’ are the same. The undergirding notion for believers is that we cannot properly follow in the way of the cross without being disciplined. A unique contribution of the Methodist tradition is the belief that the Holy Spirit actually operates more powerfully and effectively in the lives of those who have disciplined themselves into being instruments of Christ. An undisciplined life will only ever be marked with fits and starts, punctuated by chaos and spiritual failure.
Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
- 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Modern American believers like to imagine that we can be equipped for the trials of the future without practicing the self-denial and self-control that is demanded by scripture in our daily lives. This is a lie from the evil one. Regular disciplines of scripture, prayer, fasting, and abstinence have always been the way of life for all who claim the name of Christ until very recently. What is often preached and practiced from American pulpits is a soft counterfeit of what is supposed to be a robust, masculine faith. The effete, coddled people who claim to be Christians will fall away in the time of trial, as is already being seen as popular culture grows more hostile against the faith.
I wish there were a way to compel people to get strong when they would rather stay weak. I struggle enough on my own not to grow fat and lazy in my faith. That is why it is so important for us all to have the church, and for the church to be more militant in its identity and conduct. We do not need more consumers paying to be entertained in a weekly concert. We need warriors, sacrificing daily, collaborating daily, denying themselves daily for the sake of the gospel. The church should not be a beggarly and impotent presence in people’s lives, happy for the morsels left over after other worldly demands. Rather, the church is the BODY OF CHRIST in the world, the community where we encounter Christ in his fulness on this side of heaven, the mission base in which we receive marching orders and are mobilized to push back the gates of hell.
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
- Matthew 16:18-19
These word of Jesus have always seemed quite militant to me. Do they not strike that same chord in your mind? Or how about these words, again from Jesus?:
And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?
- Luke 9:23-25
Despite the fact that I like a great many people who identify as civilians, the reality is that spiritual warfare is the way of life to which all of us are called. I simply have no patience for people who want to play church yet are unwilling to strive for the devotion and discipline that is required by every line of our scriptures and every true saint in history. We should be less tolerant, not just of tourists and spectators in our sanctuaries, but of our own fleshly natures that strive for creature comforts and false security. Our only treasure, our only hope, is in Christ Jesus. The same Jesus who calls us to faithful service, marked by discipline, self-denial, and repentance.
Not all veterans exemplify the virtues lauded in this article. There are many who grow soft and selfish after service. There are many who fail to acknowledge the honor due Christ.
Also, it is wrong to fail to acknowledge that many veterans suffer greatly from their time of service. Many have permanent physical wounds and conditions that will mark them for the rest of their lives. Many carry wounds in their minds and spirits that are not so easily seen by others, but are real nonetheless.
The church is called to minister to all of these, making the appeal to serve Christ to those who think their time of serving others is complete. Authentically being the beloved community of hope and healing for those who carry wounds they believe to be beyond repair. If we do not believe that the church can restore and repair, what exactly do we think we are doing together?
If you are a veteran and are reading this article, I would like to thank you for your service. I would also like to urge you to remember that spirit of discipline and service that you learned in your time of service and direct that with every ounce of your being to glorify Christ in your personal life. Finally, I would beg of you to train others in the church to know and practice such virtue alongside you.
I wanted to end this piece by turning to perhaps the most explicit and helpful scripture about our call to military service to our God and King. May it be a blessing to you as you enact it in your life:
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.
- Ephesians 6:10-18
Hi Jeffrey. I am able to resonate fully with your views expressed here in you article. Although I was not a veteran, I was of military draft age in 1970 during the Vietnam war. I was fortunate to have a high enough number to avoid the draft, however, I would have served if drafted. I soon joined the Houston Police Department at age 19. I married my high school sweetheart and I knew that I wasn’t college bound, so I needed a more secure job than I was currently employed in, and The Houston Police Department was “looking for 2000 new officers “ (their recruitment campaign) Personally, I don’t see a lot of difference between what is expected from either law enforcement officers and military personnel. Both serve their country in roles that could require the use of deadly force, the only difference being domestic or foreign fields. As to the roles of these civil servants as Christians: Would you rather have non-Christians serving in these roles? My problem with most of the wars that America has been involved in, post-Korean, is with our government’s decision to participate in them, not with the folks who put their lives on the line to fight them. I feel like the lobbying of the so-called “Military Industrial Complex” is responsible for most of these. War benefits them greatly. And yes, in my opinion, most American Christians do not take their roles as soldiers in this on going battle between the Children of Light against the forces of evil serious enough.
An excellent posting Pastor Jeffery ... as always!