Being A Christian In The Military
by Jon F. Dewey
The opinions expressed in this booklet are exclusively those of the
author, and in no way represents those of the Department of Defense, the
Department of the Army, any major Army command, or any other government
agency. The author is solely responsible for its contents.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JON F. DEWEY
BEING A CHRISTIAN IN THE MILITARY
Working in the military environment is unlike any you will have seen in
the civilian community. Being in the military is not exactly a job: it
really is a vocation. As with most vocations, like law enforcement,
medicine, fire fighting, or religion, the military has its own values,
ethics, and standards of practice. To prosper in this environment, many of
these values and standards must be assimilated. The problem for the
Christian, however, is that many accepted norms in the military society
are opposed to the basic values and standards we accept from the Bible.
These norms I speak of do not come from military regulations. Although
military regulations do uphold high standards for the conduct of its
members, as in any form of society the informal, off-duty conduct and
standards of the service members are not always in accordance with the
rules.
This actually poses a problem to you only because as a known Christian,
you will be held under intense scrutiny by the unbelievers around you.
Although they will profess no beliefs themselves, they have enough innate
understanding of how someone who professes religion should act to view
you, and judge you, by those standards. The standard, oddly enough, that
they will judge you by is this: that you do not act like they do. The
unbelievers will expect you to be "better" than they are. Why? Because
when you express to them that you are a Christian, and have a relationship
with Jesus Christ, then they expect that you should act like someone who
has the power of God in your life. They expect to see "Christ in you, the
hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). They expect to see this because they
know that in their own lives they don't have it.
Your behavior, of course, is not dictated by others around you, but by
the desire to serve Christ faithfully. In the military environment,
however, I have seen time and again a believer stumble and fall because of
peer and other pressures. Although this is a personal matter between that
person and God, it also becomes a much greater incident in the closed
community of the military service. A backslidden Christian in the military
community does damage to the cause of Christ, destroying the believer's
testimony, ruining his effectiveness to witness about Jesus, and causing
souls to be lost. I know this to be true, because I have been that type of
believer.
So how must you be? Actually, the guidelines for living a successful
Christian life in the military are not much different than those for
living a successful Christian life as a civilian. The greatest difference
is that as a service member, you cannot choose the environment that you
are living in. So you must be especially aware of the dangers that you
would not normally see as a civilian, but lurking out there, waiting to
catch you unaware.
There are three general guidelines for having a Christian walk in the
military. Though these are general principles, they have been borne out of
many years of observation and practical experience.
The first general guideline for your Christian walk in the military is
that you must be hard working. You must be diligent in your labor, not
being a "slacker" in any way. At first this seems to be simple and common
sense, but as a supervisor I am constantly amazed by the number of
soldiers I have had working for me that just do not understand that in the
military a person must work. They are more than happy to get a paycheck at
the end of each month, but are not willing to do what is required to earn
it. Christians are not exempt from this, either. I've seen subordinates
that I knew professed to be Christians, and were still lazy. This cannot
be you, if you expect to have an effective Christian testimony.
My general rule of thumb that motivates me to do a superior performance
of duty is Colossians 3:22-24:
"Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh;
not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing
God:
And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the
inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ."
Although my interpretation of this passage stretches the literal
meaning, this is basically the attitude we should have, in any occupation.
We serve not men, but Christ. We work hard, and do quality work, not
because of earthly gain, or desire to please our employer (though both of
these may occur if we are working hard and doing quality work). We work
hard and well because we will receive our reward from the Lord. He is our
ultimate supervisor, overseeing our every move. It is Him we must please.
If we work to please Him, pleasing everyone else, and leaving a proper
witness, will naturally fall into place.
The second general guideline for your Christian walk in the military is
to remember that the "eyes of the world" are upon you. By this I mean that
the eyes of the unbelievers around you will be watching how you act, and
how you react to every situation. Your duty performance will be analyzed,
and the non-believers will expect your duty performance to exceed theirs.
At first glance this will seem highly unfair, but you must remember that
spiritual warfare doesn't cease because you have joined the military, nor
does Satan's hold on non-believers. You will be expected to live up to
higher standards than everyone else, and no one will think that it is
wrong to do so.
Keeping this in mind, you must be careful to do the following:
a. Be physically fit. While it is not necessary to be a "Mr. America,"
you must meet or exceed the minimum standards set by your service. You
must pass every physical fitness test you take, as well as perform to
standard during physical fitness sessions. And you must definitely not be
overweight.
b. You must master the demands of your military occupational specialty.
In Army lingo, this is called being "technically and tactically
proficient." No matter how strong you witness for Christ, your weakness in
job proficiency will speak louder than any words.
c. You must be maximumly self-motivated. No one should have to tell you
what you need to do when you know already how to do it. The appearance of
your living quarters and uniforms should always be squared away. You
should always be punctual, and make forgetting important events a rare
occasion.
d. You must never be a "grumbler." People who grumble, moan and groan
when given a task are always an irritant, and if the person is a Christian
is even more so. Sour spirits will turn people from Christ. So don't do
it! Even if you don't like doing a particular task, remember, you are
doing it for Christ. Rejoice that you are able to do that service for Him.
The third general guideline for your Christian walk in the military is
to remember that you are "in the world, but not of the world." This should
be the guideline for your behavior: you cannot do what everyone else does.
As a Christian, you will be setting an example with your life to point
others to Christ. To use a cliche, you may be the only Bible the
unbelievers around you will ever read.
With this in mind, you must:
a. Never drink, or avoid seriously, alcoholic beverages of any kind. I
say this not to inspire you to a new form of legalism. Alcohol abuse is a
trap that is very hard to break out of once you get into it, especially
overseas. This area will also totally destroy any Christian testimony you
might have with non-Christian service members.
b. Avoid smoking cigarettes, or using tobacco products. Cigarettes are
the main offender here, though "chew" has gained popularity. The reasoning
is the same as for alcohol use. Non-believers expect you to be different
than they are, and they do this stuff.
c. Never use illegal drugs of any kind. This should go without saying,
but is still a possibility.
d. Don't frequent places where alcohol and/or drugs are present. Don't
tempt yourself with their availability, and association with such places
will only tarnish your reputation. And if you think that a reputation
doesn't mean that much, remember Proverbs 22:1: "A good name is rather
to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and
gold."
e. Never read any type of pornography. What you read is what you
become, and filling your mind with pornography is sowing the seeds for
later disaster in your life. Besides the internal aspects of
reading/seeing/having pornography, being seen with it in your possession
once again will damage your Christian reputation and witness.
f. Never use or avoid the use of profanity. This is especially hard in
the military environment, because almost everyone uses it. Profanity is
the common language of martial people (at least it seems that way). But
you avoid its use, because you are an ambassador for Christ, and it is not
His language. "Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt,
that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6)
g. Never engage in any illegal/illicit/immoral acts or actions. Reading
this in the relative comfort and safety of the United States, this
statement will seem rather bizarre. In a foreign country, where
prostitution is winked at by the local authorities, or where
black-marketing is an attractive way to make quick and easy money, this
can be a very difficult temptation to deal with. Once again, your
reputation, and the reputation of the Lord, is at stake. You do not want
to damage either.
Do these suggestions sound too difficult? In reality, they aren't. A
soldier/sailor/airman/Marine will be more favorable to receive your
testimony for Christ if you are able to meet his military standard, and be
able to meet your Christian ones, too.
Now that I've mentioned some "don'ts," let's look at a few "do's."
Do attend all chapel services and activities available to you. I cannot
emphasize enough the importance of supporting your local chapel. The
chapel is there for you. Use its resources. When overseas, the chapel may
be the only place where you can worship and meet other believers who speak
your language.
A word of warning - while attending chapel, watch yourself for
sectarian attitudes. Most chapel services are called "general Protestant."
They are designed to cater to all denominations. This meets the needs of
many people at one time. Unfortunately, this means that the service will
probably not be what you are used to. There always seems to be some who
complain that the chapel isn't "alive" enough, or that it is too lively
for their tastes. It isn't possible to please everyone.
Beware of those who look down on the chapels, and are critical of those
who attend. You will hear that the attendees are either dead Christians or
not Christians at all. This is a dangerous attitude to take. It is not
your job to judge others. Be more concerned about your motivation to
attend, not theirs.
Like most things in life, you will get from the chapel services what
you put into them. If you faithfully attend, volunteer to be an usher or
sing in the choir, you will get much more from the service than if you
only come and sit in the back.
I cannot emphasize involvement enough. Do get involved! Ask the
chaplain how you can help. You probably won't be leading the service, but
you can help pass out bulletins, or count the offering after the service.
The chaplains (and assistants) would love to have your help. Ask them what
you can do.
Do seek out Christian fellowship. Find out who the believers are in
your area. Associate with them, and make them your friends. My greatest
time of spiritual growth was during my first tour in Germany. There were
four of us who had fellowship together, and spurred each other on to
greater dedication and growth. Without their support, I don't think I
would have stayed strong in my faith. Make Christian friends - it's
vitally important.
There are several organizations that offer places for Christian
servicemen to go and have fellowship when on a foreign service tour.
Overseas Christian Servicemen's Centers (OCSC) have houses in almost every
country there is an American serving in. (Author's note: OCSC is now
called Cadence International. The name has changed but the basic mission
hasn't.) The Church of God has Christian Servicemen's Centers around the
world. I've been to centers run by both organizations. They are
professionally run, and have a staff to help meet your spiritual needs.
Like the chapels, they are another resource to help you in your spiritual
growth. Sometimes these Servicemen's Centers are located outside of bases
in the continental United States, too.
I've laid out quite a bit of material. If you can keep these ideas in
mind, the world of military service will be a lot less stressful on your
faith. You are to be commended on the great step you have taken - that of
serving your country. Your time in service can be a great time for growth
in Christ as you serve your fellow citizen. May God richly bless you as
you step out to be in service both to His kingdom, and this great nation.
This pamphlet may be freely copied providing the copyright
information is included. Unless otherwise suggested by context, wherever
the masculine gender is used, the feminine may be substituted. I fully
acknowledge the great contribution of female servicemembers to the armed
forces.
Printed hard-copies of this pamphlet can be obtained from the
author.
Send your requests to e-mail: [email protected].
