A Christian asked Should military Chaplains be prevented from ending their prayers in the name of Jesus?

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Should military Chaplains be prevented from ending their prayers in the name of Jesus?

This question was asked by a Christian and provoked the following responses from two Christians.

Prayers in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Some years ago there were young men in the church of Christ Albert Street Wigan UK who wanted to use the church building for practising boxing. The elders considered it and came back with the answer. You may as long as you begin by asking the the Lord to bless each blow that you give your opponent, in the name of Jesus. The young men decided not to have boxing.

Can God's children offer this prayer?

Dear Lord, bless each bullet, each bomb, each missile I fire that it will effectively take out the target.

In the name of Jesus

Amen

Predicting the nature of the Lord's church Isaiah said:

Isaiah 2:2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Micah said:

Micah 4:1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.
2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Supposing Singapore and Malaysia, or India and Pakistan, or USA and the UK engaged each other in war, and conscription was enforced. What would we advise our young men? It would not be the first time members of the Lord's church killed members of the Lord's church.

Recently there was a gathering of church of Christ members in Malaysia. To discuss the implementation of conscription. The question asked was. What would be the worst scenario. It was suggested that a Christians might be killing Christians. One lone foreigner stood up and said it would be Christians killing non-Christians and sending them into an eternity of Hell.

Our mission is the gospel of peace and eternal salvation

Allan Ashurst, Stretford, UK

A CHRISTIAN VIEW OF CARNAL WARFARE

1 John 4:7-17

7. Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loves is born of God, and knows God.
8. He that loveth not knows not God; for God is love.
9. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
10. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
12. No man has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwells in us, and his love is perfected in us.
13. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.
14. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.
15. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him, and he in God.
16. And we have known and believed the love that God has to us. God is love; and he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him.
17. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgement: because as he is, so are we in this world. (KJV)

Although there has been a recent increase in patriotic zeal, with victories in Grenada and the Persian Gulf by the United States armed forces, the Christian must keep in perspective his or her responsibilities to God. We realize that we are bound by the holy writ to "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men" (I Peter 2:13_15) and to be "subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates" (Titus 3:1).

But, these things are binding only when they do not conflict with the will of God. When there is a conflict between the laws of man and the will of God, then "We ought to obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29). In this regard, then, we must understand that a Christian cannot occupy a role in any of the armed forces or in any other occupation that might jeopardize his or her commitment to God.

It must be pointed out that in the Old Testament it was different. Heb. 10:1 says that the old law was but a "shadow of good things to come." This corresponds to the fact that under the new law we are the actual entity of the shadow.

There are many scriptures that attest to this fact but we will examine only three of these.

The Kingdom of Christ

When a person obeys the Gospel, he or she relinquishes their fleshly citizenship for a spiritual citizenship. We in effect leave one kingdom for another - "Giving thanks unto the Father, which has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:" (Col. 1:12-13). We are commanded to be under subjection to those that rule the fleshly kingdom (See Romans 13:1-7) in which we must also live but, what many do not see is that these people were placed in these positions for the benefit of God's children. "For he is the minister of God to thee for good" (Romans 13:4a). The reason God allows us to live in a wonderful country such as this is so that we will not have to compromise our faith. The need for policemen, soldiers and the like is provided for us by our loving Father. Our Lord plainly taught that a Christian cannot be involved with these things: "My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered unto the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence" (John 18:36).

II The Christian's Warfare

The early Christians that died in the Roman Coliseum gladly gave their lives for their faith rather than to raise a weapon of defence. The documentation of husbands and wives subjected to the horror of watching their young torn apart by wild beasts is very thorough (Read from "Foxe's Book of Martyrs," page 6, 1st para., 1st sent.) And yet through it all they clearly understood that they did not wrestle "against flesh and blood" (Eph. 6:12) but, "against spiritual wickedness in high places." The Apostle Paul addressed this very thing: "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds)" (II Cor. 10:3-4). The warfare that Christians are involved with is full-time and as such does not allow us the freedom to fight any other way. As Christians we are commanded to "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15). If we were engaged in carnal warfare we would not and could not teach `every creature' the Gospel. Can we imagine extolling the virtues of Christianity to someone as we put a bullet into them. The idea of such is beyond ridiculous. We must centre our attention on the war at hand, fighting the greatest enemy of man, Satan.

Another point that must be mentioned is found in Luke chapter 22:

Luke 22:36-38

36 Then said he unto them, But now, he that has a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that has no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.
37 For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end.
38 And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. And he said unto them, It is enough. (KJV)

A curious incident indeed, for in verse 49 we read:

Luke 22:49-50

49 When they which were about him saw what would follow, they said unto him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword?
50 And one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear. (KJV)

Was it the intent of our Lord for them to fight with swords? No. Matthew 26:47-56 records the reason of our Lord's statement in Luke 22:36-38. He was showing them that his kingdom was spiritual not carnal (John 18:36). Our Lord set the precedence for us.

III The Christian's Responsibilities:

When we obey the Gospel we put on our Lord Jesus Christ (See Romans 6:1-6 and Romans 8:9 & 10) and therefore we become like him. Rather than coming to this world to destroy man he came to save him. This is one of our greatest responsibilities; one we must fulfil. Our Lord proclaimed to the multitude: "But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smites thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that takes away thy cloak forbid not to take thy coat also" (Luke 6:27-29); "But love ye your enemies, and do good,"(Luke 6:35) and "Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful" (Luke 7:36). How can we expect to show mercy to our enemies if we are killing them?

Our Lord's condemnation of violence must be fulfilled in our lives. We are to be like him. The Apostle Paul also wrote: "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:19-21). Notice that Paul did not write to overcome evil with the sword or rifle or cannon or any other instrument of war; but with good.

As a Christian we are commanded to not forsake "the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching" (Hebrews 10:25). A soldier or police officer is expected to be on 24 hour call and often he or she will put in 7 day work weeks. This would severely jeopardize their attempts to obey any commands for the attendance of worship services.

Consideration must also be made concerning the possibility of being sent to some place that does not have a faithful congregation.

Conclusion:

It would be best that we never place ourselves in such a position as to jeopardize our service to God. Serving in the military or on a police force does just that (of course there are other occupations which might likewise cause the same thing). The environment that many are placed in has a tendency to destroy morals rather than to build them. The Apostle Paul wrote, "Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners" (I Corinthians 15:33).

The term "conscientious objector" carries negative connotations in that many assume this to mean "coward." But its meaning is far from that. It takes much more courage to stand up to one's belief than to just go along. The conscientious objector refuses to serve in the military on the basis of his or her belief in the sanctity of life and/or their devotion to the precepts and principles laid down in God's Holy Word.

In matters of this gravity we must "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:5). If we do this then we can be assured of our salvation.

Dana R. Chandler ,Wedowee, USA

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