Christians in the army

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Berlinda

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Is it ok to serve in the army and eventually kill others during a war in the name of your nation? Are we heroes if we die a death like that in the name of a country while our enemy is killed and possibly sent to hell? I'm confused
 
Berlinda said:
Is it ok to serve in the army and eventually kill others during a war in the name of your nation?
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Not to seem cynical, but have you read the Old Testament? War galore up in there. War of any kind is inevitable in a cosmic sense. It's a byproduct of freedom - whether the pursuit of it or the maintaining of it.

It's not "ok" to kill anyone, but a military seems a necessary evil.
 
for the world, yes. but for Christians who are supposed to turn the other cheek? isnt it a freedom pertaining to a the secular realm. yes, good things may come out of it, but should we as Christians take part in it? whats our enemy in that, flesh and blood?
 
Berlinda said:
.... I'm confused
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yahshua hamashiach (jesus messiah king savior) is the good shepherd watching over his sheep to give them peace. he tells his sheep plainly in HIS WORD "be harmless as doves" as well as the very obvious "love your enemy". HIS WORD is trustworthy. HE is FAITHFUL. TRUST HIM.

everything from men and flesh and the enemy will 'confuse'.....

chose TODAY who you will obey. jesus, or men.
 
Berlinda said:
for the world, yes. but for Christians who are supposed to turn the other cheek? isnt it a freedom pertaining to a the secular realm. yes, good things may come out of it, but should we as Christians take part in it? whats our enemy in that, flesh and blood?
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It sounds like you are both wise enough, and spiritual enough to make this decision for yourself. After all God isn't going to look at you by OUR thoughts.

Read the book for yourself, pray, and then make a decision you can both live and die with.
 
i wanted to know what others thought because to me that cant be justified, Jesus is very clear and love wouldnt guide anyone to serve the world int he name of a nation. Yes, we are to be as innocent as doves, and shrewd as snakes not to allow our minds to be influenced by patriotic speech or people who havea history in the army and take pride in it
 
Berlinda said:
i wanted to know what others thought because to me that cant be justified, Jesus is very clear and love wouldnt guide anyone to serve the world int he name of a nation. Yes, we are to be as innocent as doves, and shrewd as snakes not to allow our minds to be influenced by patriotic speech or people who havea history in the army and take pride in it
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See? You made a decision. And it was YOUR decision. And that is the way it should be.

Do you realize that your decision will probably be honored by God as just as right as some Zealot who feels we should be slicing up people in God's name? (Because both come from a sincere heart.)
 
Berlinda said:
Is it ok to serve in the army and eventually kill others during a war in the name of your nation? Are we heroes if we die a death like that in the name of a country while our enemy is killed and possibly sent to hell? I'm confused
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If it were not for men severing in the military and killing wicked evil men, we would not be having this conversation.
We would be living in fear under men like Nero, Hitler, ISIS.
You may not serve, but be thankful for those who died and who had to kill evil men.
Killing is not a pleasant thing, but sometimes it is the only choice we have if we are to have the freedom to worship and serve our Savior.
 
Berlinda said:
for the world, yes. but for Christians who are supposed to turn the other cheek? isnt it a freedom pertaining to a the secular realm. yes, good things may come out of it, but should we as Christians take part in it? whats our enemy in that, flesh and blood?
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I'm interested in understanding how you define the expression "turn the other cheek." How many cheeks do you have? Do you exercise this practice in the face of rape? Genocide? You can only turn so far until this becomes a get-out-of-jail-free card for the unjust.
 
if killing in the name of my nation is allowed by Jesus then i'll want to do other minor things in His name as well, or not... because that's the flesh
 
Siberian_Khatru said:
I'm interested in understanding how you define the expression "turn the other cheek." How many cheeks do you have? Do you exercise this practice in the face of rape? Genocide? You can only turn so far until this becomes a get-out-of-jail-free card for the unjust.
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Berlinda said:
if killing in the name of my nation is allowed by Jesus then i'll want to do other minor things in His name as well, or not... because that's the flesh
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I notice in your response you didn't answer his question. How about giving a direct answer, rather than deflecting the question with ridiculous commentaries that are not relevant, nor biblically supported?
 
Berlinda said:
for the world, yes. but for Christians who are supposed to turn the other cheek? isnt it a freedom pertaining to a the secular realm. yes, good things may come out of it, but should we as Christians take part in it? whats our enemy in that, flesh and blood?
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All i see is you repeating the same statement over and over while ignoring valid points brought up to you.
According to your logic, this is the 'righteous' way we should live in the world.

So you think being Godly means standing by and letting murder, rape, violence, genocide, etc... because we as Christians are supposed to 'turn the other cheek'? So, you believe the 'Godly' way of doing things was to leave Hitler be and let him continue committing genocide of millions while taking over the world?

I would love to see some legitimate, in context, scripture that supports the idea that Christians have zero right to defend themselves, the country they live in, the people the love... or that they are not to defend others. Please, show me that in the bible.

And this time try actually answering the question, not just throwing out angry comments meant to deflect what's being asked of you so that you don't have to put your words into a context that doesn't make them look right.
 
there are other people who do the "dirty" job, and they are free to do so. i dont think the Spirit would ever lead someone to fight an enemy of flesh and blood. i dont have scripture to support it, but i dont think its necessary, as killing isnt consistent with love. Peter could have stopped Jesus from going to the cross to die for the very people who killed Him, but instead He said "get behind me Satan, you are a stumbling block to me, you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns". what if Jesus had become weak and listened to Peter's good intentions in order to save Himself. we are not to go about trying to defend each and every person we love from others who are harmful to them, God's Spirit suffices and not only does He defend us (without us having to defend ourselves or others) but He also makes us love the very people who harm or once harmed us. that's grace.
 
Berlinda said:
Peter could have stopped Jesus from going to the cross to die for the very people who killed Him, but instead He said "get behind me Satan, you are a stumbling block to me, you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns". what if Jesus had become weak and listened to Peter's good intentions in order to save Himself.
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This is a preeetttty far fetched hypothetical.

Berlinda, if you feel convicted to turn the other cheek throughout your life, I'm not going to argue that with you. You brought up the question of Christians in the army and of war, and you have my two cents.
 
I agree with you Berlinda. It is no good to fight in the worldly armies, at least not in the time era that we find ourselves in.

It reminds me of my friend's grandpa. He has passed now, but he was a soldier during WW2, even saw the body strewn beaches of Normandy the day after D-Day. Was torpedoed twice by nazis, and his brothers served in the army of the infamous Patton. He very much wanted to fight in WW2 and he said he would do it again without hesitation. Back in the heyday of the Iraq War my friend asked him an interesting question of; if he were a young man like unto us, if he would fight in these wars? He told my friend, his grandson, no. His reasoning was that all the wars today are full of lies.

He was quite right.

Biblically, you do actually have much scripture to back up not fighting carnally any of these wars. From the Gospel examples of Jesus rebuking Peter for slicing the ear of the guard, to Jesus rebuking John for asking if he should call down fire like Elijah, to my favorite verse in Ephesians. Make no mistake though, we are fighting a war, but it is not a war against flesh and blood, and it cannot be fought by worldly material means.
 
All of you folks who will not protect yourself when confronted by evil and wicked men who will rape and kill you, your wife, mother, your daughter, or neighbor, please do not call 911 and expect someone else to come to your aid.
It would not be very Christian to force others to SIN by protecting you.
I supose it would be a sin to put those who do such evil in jail too.
 
Berlinda said:
for the world, yes. but for Christians who are supposed to turn the other cheek? isnt it a freedom pertaining to a the secular realm. yes, good things may come out of it, but should we as Christians take part in it? whats our enemy in that, flesh and blood?
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Turning the other cheek, imo, is on religious persecution. If someone does something against you personally because you are a Christian then we are to turn the other cheek.

But if we are walking down the street at night with our family and someone is there to rob us or maybe kill us would God want us to just stand by and allow it to happen? No, not at all. Defend yourself and your family.

As far as the military goes, well there are a ton of jobs in the military that doesn't have anything to do with combat. If a Christian feels they have a desire to serve his/her country but doesn't want to be put in that position of killing someone then I would say take a desk job or some other job that won't put them in the front lines.

And if that Christian really wanted to ensure they wouldn't even remotely have a chance of firing a rifle at someone then don't join the military or join the Navy and get put on a ship and work as a cook or something.
 
Ugly said:
I notice in your response you didn't answer his question. How about giving a direct answer, rather than deflecting the question with ridiculous commentaries that are not relevant, nor biblically supported?
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Hey Ugly, you have a beautiful daughter in that photo with you.:cool:
 
Berlinda said:
what was the question
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why are people so willing to disobey God and disobey HIS WORD,

and so willing to obey man and get what man has to offer temporarily , instead of what

GOD has to offer both now and eternally ?

one reason , of course, is they don't know anyone in person, they may never have seen anyone

who is serving God. they have no idea what it is like to be true.
 
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