Service to God
I N T H E M I L I TA R Y By John C. Wohlrabe, Jr., Captain, Chaplain Corps, United States Navy
ince the terrible events of September 11th, our country is again at war. Is such killing and destruction justified? Can a Christian serve in the military and still be a Christian?
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An 18-year-old United States Marine who is a Christian has been inserted with his battalion into Afghanistan, near Kondahar, and soon he may be tasked with investigating the caves in that area looking for al-Qaida terrorists. He may have to shoot and kill the enemy if they resist. He recalls the Fifth Commandment. He remembers “We should fear and love God so that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and support him in every physical need” (Luther’s Small Catechism). Can he carry out his duties with a good conscience? At the same time, a 20-year-old female sailor, a Christian woman who has been trained as a Fire Control Technician in the United States Navy, is serving aboard a guided missile cruiser in the Arabian Gulf. She has been ordered to fire a tomahawk missile into Afghanistan. Even though she cannot see the result of her action because the missile will land hundreds of miles from the ship, she knows that this weapon has the capability of killing or wounding many people when it strikes. Can she, in good conscience, prepare the missile for launch and push the button that fires it? Similar questions could be raised by a Christian in the United States Army, Air Force or Coast Guard. In December 1526, Martin Luther addressed this very issue in a treatise that he wrote entitled,“Whether Soldiers, Too, Can Be Saved.” Based on the clear teachings of Holy Scripture, Luther noted that there are two kingdoms which God has established in this world. Lutheran theologians call them the Kingdom of the Right and the Kingdom of the Left.The Kingdom of the Right is also known as the Kingdom of Grace or the Holy Christian Church. Here God works through the ministry of His Word and Sacraments to call people to faith and give them salvation through Jesus Christ, our Lord.The Kingdom of the Left, an extension of God’s Kingdom of Power, is what we refer to as the State or God-ordained civil government (see Romans 13:1ff; 1 Peter 2:13ff).To the government, God has given the sword or the power over life and death to protect the good, punish evil, and maintain peace. Luther put it this way,“For He [God] has set up two kinds of government among men. One is spiritual, through the Word and without the sword, through which men might become devout and righteous, so that along with this righteousness they might receive eternal life.This right-
