Coming up on June 11th I am doing an “Ask the Pastor” message for our worship service. I had one week in between the sermon series I am doing and then being gone at our annual conference and so I wanted to address questions that people had about the faith. Today, in my blog, however, I will address a topic for Christians that I do not believe gets talked about enough. My take on the topic I will be addressing today is one that can definitely put me in a situation like this…

I share my thoughts on this today not because I am purposefully trying to be provocative but because I think it is a glaring weakness that does some pretty extensive damage to our faith and our witness to others. This topic was on my mind because of Memorial Day yesterday and I came across this question on a Facebook group this morning that I am a part of, the question was…

“What are your general thoughts when churches pray on Memorial Day Sunday that “just as we remember those who have fought and died for our freedoms, so we remember Jesus who died for us?”

New Evangelicals Group

I have heard similar refrains for a long time and quite honestly when I see them they leave me feeling like this…

You may be wondering why do I feel like that? The unawareness of why such an action might make me as a pastor and a Christian feel this way points to the problem. In our worship service on Sunday, I made a brief mention of it being Memorial Day on Monday and asked the congregation to keep in prayers those who have lost a loved one in battle. Other than that mention at the beginning of the service I focused on it being Pentecost Sunday.

American exceptionalism, Christian Nationalism, and The American Way combined with the Ways of Christ have become such a huge issue/problem for the Western Church. As Bob Dylan said we have become “Tangled Up in Blue”.

So, here is my theological take which will not earn me many friends…

I do not believe Christians should serve in the military

I can sense the pitchforks coming for me, the anger through the screen, the common comments of how I am “Unamerican”, “This country is a Christian Nation”, “Jesus told Peter to go get a sword”, “What if someone broke into your home”, “It is easy for you to say that since you have the freedom to worship because of other’s sacrifices”, and many, many more.

So, let me encourage us to take a moment to breathe, step back for a moment, and take a deeper look at this…

I want to share with you some of my reasoning from the scriptures and also from early Christian tradition.

First the Scripture…

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. This is my command: Love each other.
John 15:12-14, 17

Now at times, I have seen these verses used specifically “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” be used around military recognition days. Let me unequivocally say this verse is not taking about taking up arms, going into battle, and fighting for national causes. This verse is coming from Jesus as he is about to go to the cross. Jesus laid down his life, he did not fight back, he did not curse those who crucified him, he did not call down the angels of heaven to fight on his behalf, he laid down his life so that ALL people come could to salvation even his enemies. This verse is about laying down your life in love, not through using violence.

With Jesus being the Messiah there were lots of expectations that he would use his power to upset Roman rule and use military power to put his people back on top! Yet, when we look at Jesus’ life and teaching this is not what he does. What did he do and teach instead? Jesus taught his followers to choose the path of nonviolence and enemy-love. “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also” (Luke 6:27-29).

We find the early church continuing Jesus non-violent resistance and the ways of the kingdom of God by saying… Special thanks to Theology in the Raw for this list of verses here is a link…https://theologyintheraw.com/nonviolence-in-brief/#:~:text=Third%2C%20Jesus%20taught%20his%20followers,6%3A27%2D29).

• “Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse” Romans 12:12-14
• “Do not repay anyone evil for evil” 1 Peter 3:9-14
• “If your enemies are hungry, feed them, if they are thirst, give them something to drink” Romans 12:20
• “Overcome evil with good” Romans 12:17-21
• “Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten” 1 Peter 2:21-23
• There are many others and other good points to consider at the link above

These teaching come from the life and teachings of Jesus. Remember if we claim to be Christians, if we claim to follow Christ, then it is Christ who we look towards for how we live.

Secondly, what did some of the early church leaders teach about the way of Christ and violence?

“I do not wish to be a rule. I do not strive for wealth. I refuse offices connected with military command”- Tatian of Assyria (120 AD-180 AD)

“Christians are an army without weapons, without war, without bloodshed, without anger, without defilement”- Clement of Alexandria (150 AD-214 AD)

“We do not wage war against our enemies”- Justin the Martyr (100 AD-165AD)

“But now inquiry is being made concerning these issues. First, can any believer enlist in the military? Second, can any soldier, even though of the rank and file or lesser grades who neither engages in pagan sacrifices nor capital punishment, be admitted into the church? No on both counts.”- Tertullian (160AD-220 AD)

“Those soldiers were filled with wonder and admiration at the grandeur of the man’s piety and generosity and were struck with amazement. They felt the force of this example of pity. As a result, many of them were added to the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ and threw off the belt of military service”- Archelaus (320 AD)

“One soul cannot serve two masters- God and Caesar…but how will a Christian engage in war (indeed, how will a Christian even engage in military service during peacetime) without the sword, which the Lord has taken away?”- Tertullian (160 AD- 220 AD)

“Christians, instead of arming themselves with swords, extend their hands in prayer”- Athanasius of Alexandria (293 AD- 373 AD)

“I serve Jesus Christ the eternal King. I will no longer serve your emperors…It is not right for a Christian to serve the armies of this world.”- Mercellus the Centurion (spoken as he left the army of Emperor Diocletian in 298 AD)

“A military constable must be forbidden to kill, neither may he swear, if he is not willing to follow these instructions, he must be rejected. A proconsul or magistrate who wears the purple and governs by the sword shall give it up or be rejected. Anyone taking or already baptized who wants to become a solider shall be sent away, for he has despised God.”- Hippolytus (170 AD- 236 AD)

“You cannot demand military service of Christians any more than you can of priests. We do not go forth as soldiers with the emperor even if he demands this.”- Origen (185 AD-254 AD)

“We would rather shed our own blood than stain our hands and our conscience with that of another.”- Arnobius (305 AD)

There are many more quotes that you can find from the early church mothers and fathers of the Christian faith on this topic that show the path of Jesus is the path of non-violence. I want to offer a special thanks to “Rival Nations” for putting many of these important quotes in one location. To learn more about them you can go to their website at https://www.rivalnations.org/

So, while I am sure to find many Christians who would disagree with me on this topic I believe in using the theological process of scripture, tradition, reason, and experience, point to the ways of Jesus (therefore the way for followers of Jesus) to the path of non-violence and choosing the path of love instead. Whether we are reading the words of Jesus, or scriptures of the church, or even the early mothers and fathers of the faith it seems it is incompatible with the ways of Christ for Christians to serve in the military.