The church in the military as a social institution
I remember my first week in basic training, it was August 1988, the week went as one may have predicted for basic training. There were uniform issues, the haircuts, and let’s not forget the traditional trashcan being thrown down the middle of the aisle as an alarm clock at 4:30 in the morning. One thing that I will always remember is that Sunday mornings were supposed to be time off. We had two choices: go to church or stay in the barracks and clean. 90% of us went to church, and that is where we learned what is called a Sailors prayer, also known as our Lord of the sea prayer.
They cried to the Lord in their distress, from their straits to rescue them.
He hushed the storm to a gentle breeze,
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Beginning in Genesis 14 when Abraham’s nephew was kidnapped by the King of Elam, Abraham gathered 318 trained men to defeat the Elamites. Even this far back in the Old Testament we are shown that the military engages in rescuing and protecting those that can’t protect themselves. This is just one example of a just war within the Bible. The Bible has numerous references to war; Exodus has the word “war” five times, Numbers, twenty-one, Deuteronomy, ten, Joshua, seventeen times, Judges, ten, 1 Samuel, eight and 2 Samuel, nine times. Even the book of Psalms, which was written by David a man of war, has it mentioned eight times. This brings to mind a story in Matthew of the Roman Centurions. These each were an officer in charge of one hundred men and Matthew 8:5-13 speaks of the great faith of the Centurion. In verses 8 and 9, “The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I, myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me, I tell this one ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” In response to this, Jesus was astonished at the great faith he had and healed his servant. You can see by this showing of faith and healing that Jesus believed in the duties of the