Serving God in the jungles of war
Is it possible to bear a Christian witness while engaged in a terrible and violent activity like war? With thousands of soldiers on the frontlines in Iraq and elsewhere, this isn’t just an academic question. In an article at the Officer’s Christian Fellowship, Tom Hemingway asks some extremely tough questions:
How well do you reflect the Gospel in the pain-filled eyes of a frightened seven-year-old girl whose grandparents you just helped kill?
This is not merely a rhetorical question. I had to rip the answer from myself one day in 1965 as I stared into those terrible eyes at a devastated village in Viet Nam.
Moral dilemmas are by no means the private territory of men at war. However, wars do provide acute crises in moral and ethical decision-making.
Hemingway talks about his experiences as a Marine in the Vietnam War, and how a Christian who’s been called to serve in the military should understand war, grief, and God’s love for all people. He challenges soldiers who are Christians to think differently and Biblically about the tasks they are called to do. If you or somebody you know is facing these tough questions in the Middle East or elsewhere, Hemingway’s essay provides plenty of fodder for reflection and discussion.
