Today, Grace Baptist honored those in the congregation who had served in the armed forces. Honestly, it made me uncomfortable. Part of it is that I am close to a pacifist and I don't particularly like war or anything that comes close to honoring it. However, this was different - not praising war, but saluting people. I may not understand the reason why anyone would want to join the armed forces, but that is because I am a selfish, stubborn kid who has no interest in going to bootcamp. The scarfice of others who defend my country is precious to me and recognizing it in all communities is important. Hence Memorial Day.
But I think the church has a responsibility to accompany praise of soldiers with a prayer for peace. As precious as the service of troops is for the country, I would prefer they weren't needed. The suffering of was has no place in the world and it is a primary responsibility of the church to encourage peace.
This idea was completely absent from Grace Baptist's service. Other than that, I appreciated the sermon and the way it memorialized veterans. However, at the end, what if it had had a prayer for peace? What if in churches we could find a balance between supporting sacrifice and encouraging peace?
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