Peace at Church?
Posted on September 2, 2010 at 2.16 pm
I like the church I attend. It seems to be doctrinally sound, committed to in-depth exegetical teaching, and populated with friendly people truly interested in serving the Lord and making me feel welcome.
But, as with many American churches, there’s always the occasional hint of — well, “idolatry” seems too strong a word in this case, though I’ve certainly seen my fair share of exactly that — thoughtlessness toward the military. I don’t mean thoughtlessness as the opposite of thoughtfulness/kindness, but rather thoughtlessness in the sense of a simple lack of thought.
As in many churches, support for the military is taken as a given. Many services include prayer for the troops and their safety. Though I have some issues with this practice*, I understand the honest concern church-goers may have for their loved ones fighting abroad. But, as Laurence Vance writes,
I still see on church signs and church websites the “support our troops,” “pray for our troops,” and “God bless our troops” mantras. It doesn’t matter where U.S. troops go, how many go, how long they stay, or what they do when they are there – support for the military is a fundamental of the faith, right up there with the Virgin Birth and the Deity of Christ.
And that concerns me. After all, is not Christ the “Prince of Peace”? Furthermore, as Norman Horn of Libertarian Christians writes in the excellent piece which sparked this post,
[I]f you consider [the Iraqi and Afghan civilians] as we do, that they are innocent victims and have been wronged by their own leaders, by extremists, and by our own military, then may we pray to God as Jesus taught his disciples: to be “delivered from evil.” If we can pray this for ourselves, surely we can do so for others.
But second, if you still consider these people our enemies, then may we do as Jesus said in Matthew 5: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.” May this be the beginning of understanding what Jesus said moments before, “Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”
As much as I often admire Vance’s boldness in opposing aggressive war, my dismay over the love of war I see in the American church doesn’t lead me to full agreement with his suggestions for how to “demilitarize” one’s own church home. Though I’d like to see a good deal of this happen at my church, imagining that it would actually occur in the near future is impossible. But I’m not interested in abandoning an otherwise good church over one problem which, compared to its manifestation in some churches I’ve visited, is really very minor here.
And that’s where Horn’s ideas come in. He begins:
People regularly email me with questions about how to communicate with other Christians about liberty and peace. The greatest conundrum the Christian libertarian has, it seems, is persuading other Christians to stop supporting the immoral wars that governments perpetrate across the globe. It is particularly difficult in the United States, where “supporting the troops” is essentially part of the new orthodoxy in most evangelical Protestant churches. You can publicly criticize a minister that he preaches too long and someone will support you, but say one word criticizing the military (or even the police) and you become anathema.
This is all true. But in most cases, it’s not because of any ill intent on the part of American churches. On the contrary, they’ve simply forgotten that “war really is hell, and neglect the suffering war causes.” Our modern wars are distant, endless, and have minimal effect on our personal lives. News reports rattle off enormous estimates of military and civilian casualties without a second thought — and Christians are not exactly given a special ability to understand these numbers as the lives lost and devastated which they represent.
…or are we? Is that not a very basic manifestation of Christ’s love for “the world” (including those with whom the American government is not happy) which we are to imitate? Are we not called to help the hurting and actively pursue peace? If anyone can comprehend the damage done by war and seek its remedy, shouldn’t it be Christians? And finally, oughtn’t this be reflected in our public prayer?
Horn continues:
In the past, even the Southern Baptists took the Word of God seriously and prayed for those affected by war. But when was the last time you heard a church pray for anyone in the Middle East, for instance, other than soldiers? When was the last time you heard a church pray for an end to war?
Recently, I was moved to step out and try something I have never heard of done before: ask the leaders of my congregation to take the lead in praying for those suffering in war.
He attended a meeting of church leadership, a letter signed by himself and several other members of his church in hand, and made his case for prayer for peace and the suffering of all those involved in America’s wars. The full letter is available on his site for anyone to use, but here is one paragraph I found particularly important:
Changing our practice to include praying for the oppressed is not a political statement. In fact, this is not a political issue in the least; on the contrary it is a moral and theological issue. If we are to pray “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” then we should take seriously that Jesus came and died to proclaim peace on earth and to liberate the oppressed. We may expect that “wars and rumors of wars” will always exist, but this does not require a condoning or defeatist attitude of such events. Rather, this understanding should make us more sensitive and more compassionate toward those who suffer.
I’m new at my church, and only just beginning to get involved in ministry there. But once I’ve become a little more established in the church community, I will similarly request to attend a meeting of church leadership to present this idea. With all the hard work and planning already done for me, it would be irresponsible if I didn’t.
*If I accept that our current wars are unconstitutional, unnecessary, and immoral — which I do — then I must also accept that our military is killing people whom it should not be killing, many of them innocents. There are, of course, many arguments which can be made about where the responsibility for this killing should be placed, but to remove all responsibility from individual soldiers seems obviously wrong.
From this I’d conclude that praying for the safety of the members of our military fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan is praying for the safety of people unjustly killing other people, i.e. praying that they will safely be able to continue to kill. It’s not quite analogous, but would you pray for the safety of a serial killer? What if he thought he was doing good by killing? What if he was your son or brother?
This is a tricky issue, to say the least. I’m inclined to say that it’s better to pray that those involved in unjust military actions would come to understand the implications of their roles and change their employment than it is to pray for their safety. (Praying for their salvation would obviously be good as well.) But I haven’t completely worked this out in my mind and don’t at this point stand firmly behind that claim — certainly not firmly enough to leave a church over prayers for the safety of the troops. After all, even the most extreme take on their responsibility still leaves us required to love and pray for our enemies.
Interesting points. There has been quite a bit of tension in my mind lately on the issue, as well.
As an active member of a Baptist church in the South, I’m familiar with the habitual prayer for the troops that you mention. Also, such prayers are almost always accompanied by references to the troops defending our freedom and securing the freedom of others. I’ve never really heard anyone, or at least can’t remember anyone, pray for the victims of the wars other than our troops, however.
I should mention, though, that although the majority of my church clearly leans conservative/Republican, we still do pray for the current president and those that surround him. Perhaps that is our way of praying for our enemies? =)
Yeah, that’s about how it is at my church and other churches I’ve attended. It’s a pretty firmly ingrained mindset, but I think it could probably be very gently and slowly changed.
I don’t necessarily think its a problem with all churches, I think its the problem of politicking from the pulpit. In my view its the same problem as radical liberation theology, congregations should not push certain political views. If our church leaders proselytize and deliver the word clearly to parishioners, we as Christians should make the best choices.
I still however, don’t think that you shouldn’t pray for the safety of our troops (or any troops for that matter), if that means I support the troops then so be it. Furthermore, what we need pray for is the ending of wars, and pray for ending of the hate that led us to this awful mess. I don’t pray that the killers of the innocent to die, I pray that everyone finds God and repents. Only in the end will God judge.
“…Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you…Give to everyone who asks you…”
Does giving to someone not mean supporting them in some way or another?
One more thing Bonnie, I love your articles and thoughts on everything (and also the fact the your a Christian) and please don’t take this as me attacking you. Doesn’t it seem a tad bit hypocritical to support your church and its congregation because they are good people, theologically sound, and welcoming people when they are ultimately supporting something (the troops who are fighting the war) you are completely against. But you can’t prey for the soldiers, who for the most part, are good people and many being Christians, who are supporting something you are against. Shouldn’t you divorce yourself from both?
Please, please don’t take this the wrong way…
Daniel, thanks for reading — and for your good opinion!
In response to your first comment, I certainly agree with your statement about praying for the end of the wars. As for praying for the troops, I did note at the end that it remains a subject about which I’m conflicted. The main controversy in my mind is not so much if we should pray for them but how we should pray for them. And I concluded that even taking the dimmest view of them and their actions still requires us “to love and pray for our enemies.”
To address your second comment, I think the difference here is the point of disagreement I have with the two groups. One can only find minimal fault with someone for praying the wrong way — if indeed it is the wrong way. But joining the military to fight in an unjustified war of aggression and killing innocent civilians…that’s a rather more significant point of disagreement than misguided prayer.
On a final note, I’d say it’s quite inaccurate to imply that the fact that I don’t support the wars and don’t want our military to continue their current actions means I don’t support the troops. On the contrary, I very much support the troops. I support them so much that I want them to come home where they’ll be safe and they can actually follow the Constitution they swore to protect. And I’d say it’s pretty clear many of them want exactly the same thing, based on their overwhelming support of Ron Paul (and to a lesser extent, Obama, who was also portraying himself as an antiwar candidate, albeit inaccurately) during the 2008 election.