For the last three Memorial Days, Kevin DeYoung has posted this, and for the last three Memorial Days I have reposted it.
"Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, was instituted to honor Union soldiers who died in the Civil War. After World War I, the purpose of the day was expanded to include all men and women who died in U.S. military service. Today, Memorial Day is mainly thought of as the unofficial start of summer-a long weekend with a car race, playoff basketball, and brats and burgers on the grill.
It is always tricky to know how the church should or shouldn’t celebrate patriotic holidays. Certainly, some churches blend church and state in such a way that the kingdom of God morphs into a doctrinally-thin, spiritually nebulous civil religion. But even with this dangers, there are a number of good reasons why Christians should give thanks for Memorial Day.
1. Being a soldier is not a sub-Christian activity. In Luke 3, John the Baptist warns the people to bear fruit in keeping with repentance. The crowds respond favorably to his message and ask him, “What then shall we do?” John tells the rich man to share his tunics, the tax collectors to collect only what belongs to them, and the soldiers to stop their extortion. If ever there was a time to tell the soldiers that true repentance meant resigning from the army, surely this was the time. And yet, John does not tell them that they must give up soldier-work to bear fruit, only that they need to be honest soldiers. The Centurion is even held up by Jesus as the best example of faith he’s seen in Israel (Luke 7:9). Military service, when executed with integrity and in the Spirit of God, is a suitable vocation for the people of God.
2. The life of a soldier can demonstrate the highest Christian virtues. While it’s true that our movies sometimes go too far in glamorizing war, this is only the case because there have been many heroics acts in the history of war suitable for our admiration. Soldiers in battle are called on to show courage, daring, service, shrewdness, endurance, hard work, faith, and obedience. These virtues fall into the “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just” category that deserve our praise (Philippians 4:8).
3. Military service is one of the most common metaphors in the New Testament to describe the Christian life. We are to fight the good fight, put on the armor of God, and serve as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. When we remember the sacrifice, single-minded dedication, and discipline involved in the life of a soldier, we are calling to mind what we are supposed to be like as Christians in service to Christ.
4. Love of country can be a good thing. As Christians we have dual citizenship. Our first and ultimate allegiance must always be to Christ whose heavenly dwelling is our eternal home. But we are also citizens of an earthly country. We will stand before God not as individuals wiped clean of all earthly nationality, but as people with distinct languages, cultural affinities, and homelands. It is not wrong to love our distinct language, culture, or nationality. Whenever I’m at a ball game I still get choked up during the singing of the National Anthem. I think this is good. Love for God does not mean we love nothing else on earth, but rather that we learn to love the things on earth in the right way and with the right proportions and priorities. Love of country is a good thing, and it is right to honor those who defend the principles that make our country good.
5. This may be controversial to some, but I believe the facts of history will demonstrate that on the whole, the United States military has been a force for good in the world. Obviously, as a military power, we have blundered at times, both individually and corporately. But on the whole, the men and women of our armed services have fought and are fighting for causes that promote freedom, defend the rights of human beings, and reject tyranny. War is still hell and a tragic result of the fall. Praise God for his promise to one day end all human conflict. But in a world where people are evil by nature and leaders are not always reasonable and countries do not always have good intentions, war is sometimes the way to peace-at least the best peace we can hope for between peoples and nations this side of heaven.
So thank God for a day to remember God’s common grace to America and his special grace in enlisting us, poor weak soldiers that we are, in service to Christ our Captain and conquering King."
And finally, a favorite quote of mine from Thomas Sowell on patriotism:
“Despite a tendency in some intellectual
circles to see the nation as just a subordinate part of the world at large—some
acting, or even describing themselves as citizens of the world—patriotism is,
in one sense, little more than a recognition of the basic fact that one’s own
material well-being, personal freedom, and sheer physical survival depend on
the particular institutions, traditions, and policies of the particular nation
in which one lives. There is no comparable world government, and without the
concrete institutions of government, there is nothing to be a citizen of or to
have enforceable rights, however lofty or poetic it may sound to be a citizen
of the world. When one’s fate is clearly recognized as depending on the
surrounding national framework—the institutions, traditions, and norms of one’s
country—then the preservation of that framework cannot be a matter of
indifference while each individual pursues purely individual interests. Patriotism
is recognition of a shared fate, and the shared responsibilities that come with
it. …Conditions may become so repugnant in one country that it makes sense to
move to another country. But there is no such thing as moving to “the world.”
One may of course live in a country parasitically, accepting all the benefits
for which others have sacrificed—both in the past and in the present—while
rejecting any notion of being obliged to do the same. But once that attitude
becomes general, the country becomes defenseless against forces of either
internal disintegration or external aggression. In short, patriotism and
national honor cannot be reduced to simply psychological quirks, to which
intellectuals can consider themselves superior, without risking dire consequences,
of which France in 1940 was a classic example. It was considered chic in some
circles in France of the 1930s to say “Rather Hitler than Blum.” But that was
before they experienced living under Hitler or dying after dehumanization in
Hitler’s concentration camps.”
-Thomas Sowell, Intellectuals and Society
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| Kevin DeYoung |
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| Thomas Sowell |
I have a few questions.
ReplyDelete1. Should Christians join the military if the majority of the wars go against The Christian Just War Doctrine?
2. Are the oaths of enlistment lawful oaths? (Num. 30:2)
Jonny,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your response.
1. A Christian would certainly need to have pause about joining the military if he believed that his country was prone to fighting wars he believed to be unjust. I would offer a few nuances, however:
(a) We would need to realize that two Christians can agree on the principles of just war, and still disagree about how to apply those principles to a given war. Just war principles are needed, and can clarify a lot of choices. But we are naive if we think that having objective principles will remove all human judgment from our choices. In short, even while holding firm convictions, we must also practice charity to our brothers who differ with our applications. (This holds true in many areas. :-) )
(b) Disagreement about past wars, or even present wars, would not necessarily remove our obligation to join in a just war. For example, just because an American Christian in 1941 might have thought the Spanish American War unjust, doesn't mean that he should have refused to defend the United States against the Japanese. Similarly, if the Chinese or the Iranians landed on our shores tomorrow, or (as would seem more likely) if the government had solid intelligence that they were planning to shoot a missile at us tomorrow, disagreement with the Iraq War would not seem a sufficient justification for refusing to enlist or answer a draft. No country is perfect, and no nation is infallible in its judgments about war. If the only country we will fight for is a country with a spotless record, a country that meets our utopian criteria, we are really functional pacifists.
(c) In situations where we cannot conscientiously support our military's actions, we can still maintain a grateful attitude toward our country and its soldiers. As with civil government and the police, the mere existence of our military benefits us whether we agree with all of its actions or not. The fact that we don't approve of all our military does should not make us so blind as to deny that we ourselves benefit from the security it provides or so ungrateful as to refuse to be thankful for the fringe benefits we receive from it. When Paul told the Roman Christians to give "honor to whom honor is due" (Rom. 13:7) or Timothy to urge people to give thanks for kings and those in authority (1 Tim. 2:1-2), he was not operating with a qualifying standard that would have rendered these commands entirely hypothetical. As Thomas Schreiner obsevered in his Romans commentary, "Virtually every person could exempt themselves from the exhortations found here (Rom. 13:1-7) by pointing out the injustices present in all governments."
2. I'm not sure about this. Could you elaborate more? How does Numbers 30:2 apply to this case? What is it about the enlistment oath that you think might make it unlawful? What would it have to be like for you to think it lawful?
Justin, I appreciate your blog and enjoy reading it. Thank you for the posts.
ReplyDeleteI agree, there is always room for interpretation. Although, if you look at some of the very basic points of The Christian Just War Theory there tends to be a general interpretation. One of the point is to not enter a war with out proper deceleration. In Americas case there have been some wars that have been illigal, according to the constitution. Meaning that the congress never declared war. My point is that if America is a country which tends to declare unjust wars a Christian should be very careful when enlisting into the military. I do agree that past wars should not influence whether or not we fight or support a current war that would be considered just.
Numbers 30:2 states that a man should be bound to his oath and should not break it. The oaths which military personal swear do not make room for conscience or Christian principal. You become subject to any command give by the president or a commanding officer. This becomes a problem when the majority of those in charge are not Christians.
Thank you for the response. :)
Jonny,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your thoughtful and measured response. I am always happy to hear your thoughts.
You said, "My point is that if America is a country which tends to declare unjust wars a Christian should be very careful when enlisting into the military." I believe I can agree with this statement.
On the issue of proper declaration, I must admit that I have not given this area of just war a lot of thought. I need to study into the reasons beneath this criteria, as well as the reasons why many of our recent wars have been undeclared.
I think I understand your point about oaths now. This is another area I need to do more thinking on. One thought comes to mind, however. I tend to think of exceptions as being built into oaths. All allegiance and submission to fallen human beings must always be subordinate to our allegiance and submission to God. Only God can have our unqualified obedience. So maybe I'm taking oaths too lightly, but I don't think any oath would ever justify disobeying God. For example, I think Jephthah should have broken his oath rather than sacrificing his daughter (whether he actually did or not is a separate question). I think Herod should have broken his oath rather than behead John the Baptist. And I think those soldiers should have broken their oaths rather than massacre innocent civilians at My Lai. I guess I just tend to think of allegiance to the U.S. military as being implicitly qualified by obedience to God, including oaths. The men who refused to obey at My Lai were initially condemned, but later praised. Any Christian soldier needs to be willing to make such a decision.
I agree that there is a tension in putting oneself under oath to obey fallen people, but this is a tension we deal with to some degree in all submission to human beings.
Christians have also had to wrestle with this issue before. In the early church, some Christians refused to join the Roman army because of the idolatrous religion often bound up with it. Nevertheless, J. Daryl Charles notes, "Evidence is fairly strong that from A.D. 173 onward there were significant numbers of Christians in the army, and 'the number of these Christians began to grow, despite occasional efforts to to purge Christians from the army, through the second and third centuries into the age of Constantine.'" (J. Daryl Charles, "War, Peace, and Christianity: Questions and Answers from a Just -War Perspective")
In short, it seems that the attitude of these early Christians was one that wanted to render to Caesar everything that was Caesar's (including a willingness to die serving the Empire), while rendering to God what was God's (worship and ultimate allegiance). Though they could not give to Caesar what was God's, they wanted to go as far as they could in proving that Christians were good citizens, and thus put to silence the ignorance of foolish people (1 Pet. 2:15). I think that should be our default setting as well.