Oct 5, 2010
General God, Captain Jesus, and Sergeant Spirit: Christianity and Military Metaphors
I have three younger step-sisters. I attended Jr. High and High School during their early years and suffered through their fixations on Barney, Thomas, and the Land Before Time, praying that my friends would never stop by while their shows were playing.
One children’s tape introduced me, much against my will, to military metaphors in Christianity. “I’m in the Lord’s army!” the kids chanted as they marched behind a bee-bopping creature with a large orange head. It was enough to give Liberal activists nightmares and to make pacifists weep. You can add mortified teenagers to that list.
I have since run into a lot of military references in Christianity. We fight, we battle, we take our orders from God, etc. There are Christian organizations that rely heavily upon military metaphors and chains of command.
Just the other day I rewrote something in order to remove a military metaphor, and that got me thinking…
Should Christians use military metaphors?
Now, I know that some of you will say, “But Paul talked about being a good soldier and obeying his commanding officer. Jesus respected the faith of the Centurion who thought in military terms. Of course we should use them!”
That’s correct to a certain degree. There is a precedent. However, are there times when we should not use them? And are we in a context in which we should even use them less often?
Are We Misunderstood?
I have attended book events by journalists and religion scholars who believe in and fear the rise of religious fundamentalists in America who want to literally make America a Christian nation (they’re also known as Dominionists). They especially fear the armed segments of this group.
These right wing religious extremists exist, even if they are a minority that in no way represents the mainstream of Christianity, and so we need to make sure we aren’t misrepresenting ourselves. At least, I hope that most Christians aren’t interested in taking over America as a Christian nation.
Religion and Violence
Whether our audience is conservative or liberal, American or foreign, religion and violence is ever before us in the news headlines. In casting ourselves as “soldiers” for God, are we misrepresenting what Christianity is all about when our culture is already on the alert for the mixing of religion and the military?
Are We Fighting the Right Enemy?
When we do use military metaphors for Christianity, we may cast ourselves as God’s insiders, his special force that is fighting against the darkness. However, who is the enemy exactly? Sadly, we sometimes cast those outside the Christian faith as our enemies. And even when we speak of spiritual powers, we may alienate non-Christians by claiming they’re under the sway of these dark forces.
Yes, we are in a spiritual battle against evil in this world. However, we are sinners in need or a Savior much like everyone else. Those separated from Jesus need our help, not our animosity. It’s not us vs. them. It’s all of us against the evil in this world that wants to destroy every single one of us. When we leave behind the us vs. them mindset, we can say, “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
Who Gets to Use the Weapons?
Where there are military metaphors, the Sword of the Spirit is sure to follow. While we may speak of wielding the Bible like a weapon, we forget that it is the sword of the Spirit—as in, it belongs to the Spirit. The Bible is a sword and we can use it to hack one another to bits. However, when we let the Holy Spirit use it, it will demolish spiritual strongholds in our own lives and in the lives of others.
Are There Other Metaphors?
While there still are times when we can use military metaphors, such as describing spiritual warfare, there may be some better options to use in describing the Christian life and our relationship with God. Keep in mind that Jesus spoke of himself as the Good Shepherd, as our friend. God is our Father. Military metaphors can obscure these deeper pictures that most accurately describe God’s relationship to us.
When we follow Jesus and obey him, we do so out of a desire to return the love he has poured out on us. We are loved. Yes, God will lead us and expect us to follow, but we are not worthless scum bags
“I have attended book events by journalists and religion scholars who believe in and fear the rise of religious fundamentalists in America who want to literally make America a Christian nation”
I can’t speak of the “religion scholars” you’re referring to here but I spent two decades in broadcasting and most journalists I know who would make “Christian nation” references were doing it from a place of their own personal biases against Christianity. So I think that could be a factor here. Did those people you were talking to have something against Christianity (i.e. it’s not their faith, etc.)
“And even when we speak of spiritual powers, we may alienate non-Christians by claiming they’re under the sway of these dark forces.”
Well…if we’re being truthful they are. It doesn’t mean we’re at war against them but we can’t pretend that somehow they’re not advancing the agenda of the prince of this world. We shouldn’t water down the truth of the Gospel just to make sure we don’t possibly offend anyone.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by edcyzewski, edcyzewski and Everyday Liturgy, Justin Boggs. Justin Boggs said: RT @edcyzewski: Should we use military metaphors with Christianity? http://bit.ly/at5zlz. [...]
Hi Jason,
The journalist and religion scholar I’m thinking of, from what I can tell, took some of the vague “Christian nation” language in the mainstream and connected it with the actions and ideology on the fringe (such as Dominionism) and took it to mean that most Christians want to take over America or whatever.
As far as offending people goes… I wish that you would have given me the benefit of a doubt here and asked me to clarify my point before accusing me of watering down the Gospel. Accusations like that make these conversations tough because now you’re throwing down the gauntlet on me and I’m on the defensive. If you’re concerned, just ask me. I’m cool if we disagree, but I’d like a chance at clarifying before we agree to disagree.
I’m not afraid of offending people. However, I’m not interested in needlessly offending people and inserting yet another potential barrier between them and the Gospel by saying they are pawns of the devil.
It’s probably more accurate to say they have been blinded or enslaved, but really, even if we know that to be true, I don’t see that helping us as we share the Gospel. Are there spiritual forces at work? Yes. Should we hammer people with that when we share the Gospel? I don’t think so.
I don’t see Jesus using that approach in his teaching with the general public. The recorded sermons we have in Acts also don’t speak of the audience being enslaved to darkness. Paul speaks of this fact to fellow Christians, but I think that our listeners will just write us off as crazy if we tell them about spiritual warfare and such. It’s not really an effective outreach tool–that’s my point.
To Jason’s point it does seem that pretty legit Biblical language is twisted by people who are not steeped in Christian culture. Some may twist it intentionally while others may simply not think in those terms.
Taking the listener into consideration, however, is never “watering down” the Biblical witness. The goal is communication.
The post WWII generations lived with the reality of warfare and thought in those terms–even cartoons like “Tom & Jerry” used military images in a startling manner! Since the end of Vietnam, however, the military image has faded with over-use, and perhaps because our generation doubts the “rightness” of open conflict.
The scripture overflows with vivid language and metaphor–I applaud Ed for trying to discover the most effective way of communicating timeless truth.
Thanks for your observation Ray and for trying to tease out the nuances and complexities here.
Jason, I hope I didn’t sound too harsh in my reply!
Ed – I’m a firm believer that there is a time and place for everything. Because Christians have a history of committing violent acts and fighting wars in the name of God I think we live in a time when it would be wise for us to make a concerted effort to lay off the military metaphors. IMO the most it does these days is fire up some Christians but it doesn’t do much to attract outsiders. I personally think that Paul used the language because it worked well in his culture. If he was here today he might choose another metaphor.