A poem makes its rounds every year claiming that the American Soldier is why the United States is great. It relegates the pastor to this role, “The soldier, not the minister, has given freedom of religion.” But there is a major fallacy with this: many nations have soldiers without freedom. Often soldiers, unchecked, can lead to exponentially less freedom (Uganda in the 1970s comes instantly to mind, but unfortunately is not an isolated case).
The poem also attempts to relegate ministers only to the realm of religion. But, if you’ve spent any time at all in the Bible, you know that it speaks definitively on every topic it touches. Granted, it doesn’t speak on every topic directly, but a direct application can be applied to every topic from the Bible. I defy you to find a single matter of life and godliness that can't be answered by the Bible.
It’s popular to hear chaplains directed to “stay in their
lane”, to speak only about matters directly related to the chapel, and to leave
everything else to others. In essence, the chaplain is told to retreat from spiritual
battlefields which they are supposedly unqualified to speak.
I hope I have impressed on you this far in this devotional that
I have high expectations for the chaplain because God has high expectations for
the chaplain. When they tell you stay in your lane, perhaps its time to state
that the world is your lane!
The world
is now my parish. ~ George Whitefield
Music, do you say, belongs to the
devil? Does it? Well, if it did I would plunder him for it, for he has no right
to a single note of the whole seven. Every note, and every strain, and every
harmony is divine, and belongs to us. ~ William Booth
Key Verse: His divine power has granted to us all
things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who
called us to his own glory and excellence… ~ 2 Peter 1:3
More:
1. Building from the chapter on training our replacements, there
is a very real temptation to build a “cult of personality” where we become the
most important personality in our disciples’ lives. Beloved chaplain, this
ought not to be. Luke 6:40 tells us that a disciple cannot exceed his teacher, therefore
we must stay in our lane of being a disciple who makes disciples, always
pointing at the true master and teacher: Jesus Christ. Have you or someone you
know ever fallen into a cult of personality? Would you recommend it, or flee
from it?
2. Ambassadors represent their kings and their governments. An
ambassador who usurps this authority, fails to deliver the whole message, or acts
as the king or government and makes decisions antithetical to their wishes is
likely to be fired, if not executed as a traitor. According to Deuteronomy 13:5
the punishment in God’s kingdom for falsely representing his decrees and will
is death. How should you, as a good ambassador for Christ, stay in your lane?
3. Where do you draw the boundaries of your lane? Can you speak
definitively on finances even though the chapel is not your branch’s comptroller?
Can you speak on mental health from a biblical worldview? Should you speak on
just war despite you not being a lawyer? Should you fly airplanes or drive
tanks or lead SEAL teams? There are boundaries and lanes you must stay in,
where does God want you to serve? Could a Christian have different boundaries
and lanes than a chaplain?
4. Further Resources:
Ham, Ken. "Genesis: The Foundation of Christianity." Answers in Genesis. December 29, 2016. https://answersingenesis.org/blogs/ken-ham/2016/12/29/genesis-foundation-of-christianity
Struecker, Jeff and Dean Merrill. The Road to Unafraid: How the Army's Top Ranger Faced Fear and Found Courage through "Black Hawk Down" and Beyond. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2006.
Shearer, Canyon R. "Promising Freedom." Trust
and Obey. July 3, 2011. https://trustobey.blogspot.com/2011/07/promising-freedom.html
Kidd, Thomas S. George Whitefield: America’s Spiritual
Founding Father. New Haven CT: Yale University Press, 2016.
Sempangi, Kefa. A Distant Grief: The Real Story Behind the Martyrdom of Christians in Uganda. Wipf and Stock, 2006.
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