It’s not as if Jesus never used military metaphors. The problem is how we read our militarism back into His comments. Perhaps you may have heard a very popular worship song from the 1980s, “Blow the Trumpet in Zion.” It quotes from Joel 2. I’ve mentioned “Joel’s Army” in the past. It’s actually a prophecy of destruction on Jerusalem; this “army that carries out His Word” is there to punish His people for their sins. Yet the words are yanked out of context and Israeli officials are quick to accept the money that comes from an extravaganza like this:
Stirring music and imagery, no? I want no part of that. These people do not know my Savior. They do seem rather familiar with standard American political orthodoxy and culture. It’s the sort of evangelism that sounds just like this:
The dog-pack instinct is most intense in the elite outfits, SEALs and Force Recon and Special Forces, with tightly-bonded small groups—the focus of males—working together. Powerful free-floating hostility characterizes the, and patriotism gives them a cover story for doing what they would want to do anyway.
Loyalty to a small band of warriors is easily transferred to an abstraction such as country or religious faith. Witness the fervor of Muslims today, or the enthusiasm for Christianity of illiterate Crusaders in the eleventh century who knew little of Christianity and certainly didn’t follow its moral precepts. Being swept up in a Cause gives an appearance of meaning to a life otherwise devoid of such. The flags, the hurrahs, the rhythmic thump-thump-thump of hundred of boots, the solidarity—these reinforce the pack instinct, and recruiters and politicians know it.
What ever happened to setting the captives free? Whatever happened to “peace on earth” in Our Savior’s birth? Yes, it was a peace in the heart, not of the flesh, but a peaceful heart is repulsed at warfare. Jesus Himself said it so clearly: “What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is Spirit” (John 3). His Father said, “My ways are not your ways” (Isaiah 55:7-9). The ways of human politics cannot accomplish the work of God, which is why Jesus was a draft dodger — He literally dodged folks who were trying to draft Him as king. His kingdom was not of this world.
