My Son, Hear the Instruction of Thy Father
The Long War
On July 10, 2007, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, General James T. Conway, gave a speech at the Marines’ Memorial Association and World Affairs Council in San Francisco, California. In General Conway’s opening remarks, he made the following statement: “Many in our country routinely characterize what is taking place in the Gulf as the ‘War with Iraq.’ I would ask you to think of it differently. I believe we are seeing the first real battles against the field forces of terrorism, both in Afghanistan and Iraq, in what will be a generational struggle. Instead of the ‘War with Iraq,’ it is more correctly said, the ‘Battle in Iraq’ or the ‘Battle in Afghanistan.’” General Conway went on to title this struggle with terrorism as “the first battles of the Long War.”
A title such as “The Long War” certainly has an ominous connotation. Perhaps it even evokes a reality that many of us who joined the military post-September 11, 2001, never imagined. Many of us joined with patriotic fervor, determined as our forefathers of yesteryear were, that we “won’t come back till it’s over, over there.” Now, seven years and thousands of lives later, there are many who are questioning the resolve of our nation as a whole and of our military specifically. Will we have the stamina to fight and conclude this “Long War” no matter how much time is necessary? Can we go the distance to eradicate Islamic fascists and their diabolic deeds? We can as long as we continue to send young men and women who understand the cause—men and women who will commit themselves not for sake of education or adventure but because they love their nation and are willing, if necessary, to bleed for their liberties.
In my estimation there is one specific demographic group that stands out among all groups who are supplying their boys and girls to this war on terrorism. This group would be the right-wing conservative Evangelicals. On any given Sunday you can visit these churches where you will find prayer bulletins publishing the names of those deployed. Messages are preached and music is played that celebrate love of both God and country.
Conservative churches seem to be sending their sons and daughters into the military at an impressive rate. Without question, their patriotism and devotion should be commended. However, the reality is that most Christians who enlist in the military face an alarming culture shock. They intended to serve both God and country, but all too soon they are serving only country. In short, the military lifestyle has revealed that it is no friend to the Christian, and many Christians turn their back on their heritage and upbringing. Often Fundamental pastors are embarrassed by the fact that their sons no longer maintain a Christlike lifestyle. The children of godly church members bring a reproach upon their parents because they turn from the sound teaching of their youth. This “Long War” is affecting the next generation of Christians in a greater way than we might be willing to acknowledge.
So, what is to be done? Do we discourage our teenagers from serving their country? I would not advocate that as a solution. But if we continue the trend of promoting the military to our youth, we would do well to do a better job of preparing them for the lifestyle they are about to encounter. We must warn them of the wickedness that is prevalent in a culture that trains hard, fights hard, and most certainly plays hard.
The Yellow Footprints
Someone once said that the “yellow footprints” are among the most vivid memories that a Marine has of boot camp. The “yellow footprints” consist of four rows of fifteen sets of yellow footprints painted with heels together at a forty-five-degree angle. These footprints are located just outside the Receiving Barracks Company, and they are the first thing a Recruit sees when he or she steps off the bus at the Recruit Depot. The Marines use these footprints as a training tool to introduce the recruits to the position of attention. These standardized templates are literally the first exercise in the Recruit’s thirteen-week indoctrination process that is Marine Corps recruit training. Soon the footprints are removed and a Marine is able to stand at attention as if it is part of his nature.
It is imperative that we give due diligence to providing a spiritual set of yellow footprints to the Christian youth who are joining the military in droves. We must be able to give “to the young man knowledge and discretion” (Prov. 1:4). If a young person can receive this spiritual template he will be enabled to maintain his Christian testimony when he is embedded in a society that is not congruent with his Christian heritage. Parents, pastors, youth leaders, and schoolteachers must play a proactive role in preparing a young person for the military culture. The following five principles from Proverbs 1 should be discussed with every man or woman before he or she physically stands on his or her respective military branch’s “yellow footprints.”
1. “My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck” (Prov. 1:8, 9). The Christian young person who comes from a good home, conservative church, or Christian school has enjoyed a bit of shelter from the magnitude of the world’s filth. That person can use this protection as a benefit or as a catalyst for rebellion. As already stated, the military is a world to itself. From the moment a recruit arrives at boot camp, the sheltered life he or she enjoyed is ripped away. The glaring vices that are prevalent in the military confront him in a glaring and often stinging fashion. However, instead of resisting the trappings of a heathen society, many young Christians leave their homes and churches and dive headlong into the vices that the military encourages. They view their newfound freedom as an opportunity to “sow their wild oats.” To many the military is a welcome distraction from their home, church, or school and the “legalistic” rules those institutions promulgated; and, once separated, they speed with reckless abandon down a destructive path. The young men and women must be asked: Will you abandon the foundations of your youth; or, rather, will you protect the Christian character and innocence you were privileged to develop? The Christian service member would be wise to allow the rules he received as a child to develop his principles as a young man or woman. Of course, every young adult is free to tailor these principles to adequately suit his maturity and growth, but it is unwise to altogether forsake “the instruction of thy father” and the “law of thy mother.”
2. “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. … My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood” (Prov. 1:10, 15, 16). Profanity, sex, pornography, alcohol, and tobacco are trademarks of the military culture. Each service member must choose whether to adopt this culture as his own or to shun those things which would ruin a Christian’s testimony. First Thessalonians 5:22 is imperative: “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” Every person who enlists stands before a commissioned officer and makes the following statement:
I, [state your name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God. (Title 10, US Code; Act of 5 May 1960 replacing the wording first adopted in 1789, with amendment effective 5 October 1962.)
This oath is a binding contract between the service member and his or her government. By bearing “true faith and allegiance” to the US Constitution, a person is agreeing to abstain from even the appearance of treason, insubordination, or conspiracy. How different is it for a Christian who has already sworn allegiance to Christ to make a similar stand for righteous living?
However, too often, young Christian men and women leave home and, when confronted with the vices of this world, begin to walk in step with the very things that compromise holy living. In the military community alcohol and tobacco use are social staples; profanity is part of communication bravado; premarital sex is a celebrated ritual; and pornography, though professionally condemned, is privately condoned. Are Christian youth ready for this culture? Or, like so many before them, will they leave home never glancing back at the wholesome upbringing of their youth? To their shame, many Christian young men and women in the military forget that even the world considers drinking, smoking, and swearing as taboo behavior for Christians. But when Christians do not see these vices with the same perspective, the result is Christians who sacrifice their testimony for the purpose of being accepted by the world. Christians must commit early to staying pure in a filthy world and not being enticed by sinners. They must be prepared to “Flee … youthful lusts: but follow righteousness” (2 Tim. 2:22).
3. “If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit. … They lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives” (Prov. 1:11, 12, 18). If one is perceived to be emotionally or physically weak, that weakness will be exploited. Therefore, the Christian individual who is entering the military must determine what strength means. Furthermore, his spiritual condition plays a defining role in the “strength” of an individual.
Too often it seems that the Christians are the ones who cannot survive the rigors of military life. It does not take long for Christians to become engulfed in the chaos of the wicked culture around them, and quickly thereafter many lose their Christian identity altogether. Others simply cannot cope emotionally or physically with the demanding lifestyle distinctive to military life. Many Christian service members have quit, seeking administrative discharge from the military, because they feel they cannot “adapt.” Upon their return home, they are lauded as heroes and as those who chose “rather to suffer affliction … than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season” (Heb. 11:25). The reality is that he was weak spiritually, emotionally, and physically. That is, he could not handle military life and instead used a false piety to excuse himself from a daunting challenge.
It is bothersome that those who claim that the joy of the Lord is their strength are the ones who are first to the Chaplain’s office, the medical officer, or their command leadership, begging to be separated because they cannot, for one more second, tolerate the grueling life that is the military. Worse yet are those who are dishonorably discharged because they failed to maintain a standard of conduct that could be exemplary to their unregenerate contemporaries. Christians should endeavor to lead in their physical fitness training, weapons qualifications, and professional military education. Christian service members should be the ones who say, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). But the reality is that too many young Christians reject their role of being salt and light and instead enter the military only to fall victim to those who are lying “in wait for blood.” Many Christians show themselves to be ready and vulnerable targets because they have failed to “wait upon the Lord” who can “renew their strength” (Isa. 40:31). We desperately need Christian service members who are strong enough to repel those who “lurk privily for the innocent.”
4. “Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof” (Prov. 1:23– 25). In the multitude of counselors there is wisdom. Even before a military member leaves home, he or she should be creating a network of accountability. Christian family members, church members, youth pastors, and teachers are ready and willing to be accountability partners to their military brothers and sisters in Christ. Christians must be bold in their stand for Christ and let those back home keep them accountable in their Christian walk. It must not be forgotten that the service member represents those back home as well as Christ and yourself to the military.
The first priority of any military member upon arriving at a new duty station should be to find a Bible-believing, conservative church. Even before leaving, the service member should talk to his pastor about finding a church. The opportunity to attend church and thus escape from the perils of the world that he is forced to tolerate each day is a priceless commodity. In addition, outside the gates of most every major military installation are quality Christian servicemen centers. Especially to a single military member, these servicemen’s centers are an invaluable resource of ministry. By staying active in local church ministry, one can maintain the connection between a godly upbringing and the newfound responsibility away from home. As Christians serve their country, they must not forget that their primary calling is to serve God. Too many Christians have “set at nought” the counsel they received as a child, and the consequences of refusing the wholesome words of their Christian heritage are steep. If a Christian service member will build a network of influence before he enlists, when he is in need of encouragement and godly counsel he will not be found wanting. Being both a Christian and a service member is the true measure of strength.
5. “For … they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord. … But whoso hearkeneth unto me [wisdom] shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil” (Prov. 1:29, 33). It must never be forgotten that one’s parents and church family are not proud because one wears a uniform but because one is a separated Christian. Media mogul Ted Turner once said that “Christianity is a religion for losers.” In fact, the majority of the world would agree that Christianity is for the weak, some even calling it a crutch for the feebleminded. However, the reality is that it takes a strong, principled man or woman of conviction to stand for what is right in a world that balks and even despises those of faith. No, Christianity is not for the weak; it is for the strong. Anyone can go with the crowd, do what they do, say the things they say. But it takes a man among boys to be a Christian in the military. Christian service members must be willing and ready to stand up and be counted with the righteous.
The Bible promises a blessing to those who “choose the fear of the Lord.” Furthermore, a Christian service member should anticipate little to no Christian support from fellow service members. Many will testify with Paul, “All men forsook me. … Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me” (2 Tim. 4:16, 17). Too often Christian service members utilize the military as an avenue to escape the Christian faith. Many rebel outright against the principles in which they were raised. Though some turn their back permanently, others separate only for a time and find themselves eventually wandering back to the faith. Those who do return often do so after they have done great detriment to their testimony and the cause of Christ. They bring with them many hard lessons—their lives scarred by consequences of being where a Christian never should have been. It is true that Christian service members must wear the uniform with distinction. But just as important is remembering that when in civilian clothes on liberty or leave they must also demonstrate a continued godly walk, a Christian testimony, and a Spirit-filled character. Consider what John said in 3 John 4: “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” Serving one’s country is good and will certainly make many parents proud. But to serve God, to walk in truth, is of greater nobility!
The End State
These five principles are fundamental for all teenagers to understand before they raise their right hand to defend the freedoms we all know and love. Pastors, youth pastors, Sunday school teachers, Christian school teachers, and parents are encouraged to discuss these with their children. Then, maybe, we might turn the tide of service members who are turning their backs on their Christian heritage. We must enable them to “hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering” (Heb. 10:23).
CDR Tavis J. Long is a Chaplain in the United States Navy. (Commander, Naval Air Forces Atlantic, NSA Hampton Roads)
(Originally published in FrontLine • January/February 2009. Click here to subscribe to the magazine.)