Monday Read: Veterans and the Cost of Freedom

Today many nations remember veterans who've served and sacrificed for their countries. While we honor their service, Christians must grapple with complex questions about faith and military service, about following Jesus who said "turn the other cheek" while living in nations that wage war, about being citizens of heaven while serving earthly governments.

Throughout history, Christians have held different views on warfare. Early church fathers like Tertullian and Origen taught pacifism, arguing that Christians shouldn't kill even in war. Augustine later developed "just war theory," suggesting that some wars could be morally justified to prevent greater evil. Bonhoeffer wrestled with whether Christians could participate in plots to assassinate Hitler. Conscientious objectors refused military service entirely, while chaplains served alongside soldiers.

The tension exists because we're following a King who conquered through death rather than dealing it, who absorbed violence rather than inflicting it, who commanded love for enemies. Yet Paul acknowledged that governments "bear the sword" as God's servants to execute wrath on wrongdoers (Romans 13:4). Somehow we must hold both truths - Christ's call to peace and the reality of living in a fallen world where evil sometimes must be resisted with force.

Many veterans return carrying invisible wounds - moral injury from things they've seen and done, trauma from losses they've experienced, guilt from surviving when friends didn't. The church should be the safest place for warriors to process these burdens, to find healing for conscience and comfort for grief. We honor veterans not by romanticizing war but by acknowledging its cost and helping bear its lasting weight.

Jesus never condemned the Roman centurion's profession, yet he also never endorsed violence. He healed the soldier's servant while calling his followers to peace. This paradox reflects the "already but not yet" reality of God's kingdom - we live toward the future peace of Isaiah's vision where swords become plowshares, while navigating present realities of a violent world.

Today, whether you've served in military or not, whether you're pacifist or just-war advocate, pause to recognize the cost of freedom - both earthly freedom secured by veterans' sacrifice and spiritual freedom purchased by Christ's blood. Both required someone to pay a price we didn't pay. Let gratitude for earthly freedom deepen your appreciation for eternal freedom, and let recognition of one sacrifice amplify your worship of the other.