He was obviously in the military though he was not wearing a uniform. The young man in front of me in the security line at the airport was carrying a military backpack with US stamped on it. He also had the standard issue military haircut and stood very erect, as if at attention, when facing the airport security agents.

I was returning from a recent missions trip to a communist country. I had spent time with fellow Christians who have criminal records. One lady told me of her imprisonment for ten months, convicted of the crime of “propagating a foreign religion:” that commu-speak for sharing her faith in Christ.

As the young soldier and I sat side by side in the airport replacing our shoes, I looked over at him and confirmed that he was active duty military. “Yes sir” was his crisp reply. I briefly told him I was returning from a communist country where people have very little personal freedom. I looked him in the eye and simply thanked him for his service. “Thank you sir, thank you” was his reply.

Few Americans today seem to understand the biblical underpinnings of military service. Some naively quote the sixth commandment “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13), as if it universally applies to soldiers defending their country. Even a cursory reading of scripture will reveal that many of God’s heroes were soldiers and, under certain circumstances, God not only condoned the killing of the enemy but even ordered it.

The great theologian Thomas Aquinas in his classic Summa Theologica put the discussion of just war in the chapter on charity. According to Aquinas, the willingness to sacrifice on the behalf of others is why serving in the military is considered a high calling.

Christian reformer John Calvin called the soldier an “agent of God’s love” because “restraining evil out of love for neighbor is an imitation of God’s restraining evil out of love for His creatures.”

I am sickened by some of the recent treatment of our military personnel and leaders by politicians and the mainstream media. Navy SEAL Lt. Michael P. Murphy was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by the President of the United States. In a White House ceremony, the medal was presented to his parents. The Medal of Honor is the highest award given to soldiers and it was the first such award handed out during the Iraq/Afghanistan War. The New York Times buried the story on page 863. That’s the same newspaper that ran numerous front page stories about the Abu Ghraib Prison scandal.
It was also the New York Times that chose to run an ad (at a discounted rate) calling our leading military general “General Betray Us.” This type of treatment toward those who defend our freedoms is shameful.
Risking and sacrificing your life to defend the freedom of others is the highest form of love. Jesus said it this way; “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).”