PRAISE THE LORD AND PASS THE ORDNANCE!

“Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.” Martin Luther King Jr.

I don’t expect non-Christians to think or act like Christians. But I’m starting to lose hope for more Christians to think and act like Christ. In too many instances it seems we’re being more and more squeezed into this world’s way of thinking, instead of being transformed by the renewing of our minds through the washing of water by the Word. I refer in particular to the violent spirit many in the Church have been infected with from the crudest voices in our country’s leadership. It hasn’t happened all at once, but it has gained speed as we plunge downhill with the wind at our back to an increasingly shameful void.

I’m talking about those who celebrate vengeful violence and the cavalier way so-called “patriots” thirst more for the blood of men than hunger and thirst for the righteousness of God. The poets and prophets indicted their people who forgot that “the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty man” and that “the bloodthirsty and deceitful will not live out half their days.”

It’s no small thing that Pete Hegseth insists on being called the “Secretary of War.” His vicious prayer at his Pentagon prayer meeting in front of lawmakers and defense contractors has been all over the news. It was in my opinion as despicable a display of far-right religion––or if you prefer, Christian Nationalism––as I’ve witnessed. Somebody called it the most violent prayer meeting since Pope Urban II sent the first crusaders to liberate the holy land from their enemies, rallying them with the battle cry “Deus vult!” (God wills it!)

Speaking of, did you know that cry is tattooed on Hegseth’s right bicep? That, in addition to the Jerusalem cross which dates back to the Crusades! His arm also features a cross with a sword including the reference “Matthew 10:34,” which says, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” On the other arm he has a snake broken into eight parts, which is an American revolution symbol of the sentiment, “Join or die!”  You can also see his American flag juxtaposed with a picture of a semi-automatic rifle. No wonder he wants to be known as the Secretary of War!

His mad libs mashup of political violence using Bible verses lifted from their context to justify his request for whatever-it-takes victory over our enemies made his so-called prayer all the more unbiblical in my humble opinion. He crammed together verses from Psalms, Jeremiah, Isaiah, one from Job, and another from Proverbs. I can tell you from experience that citing more verses doesn’t necessarily make a prayer or a sermon biblical, any more than mashing together random and unrelated passages out of context from a medical manual makes for an accurate diagnosis of one’s disease.

If that’s not enough, he had the audacity to conclude his homily to God and the audience with the words, “In Jesus’ name”! I understand praying “in Jesus’ name” means your request is in keeping with the Person, character, and will of Jesus. Those three words at the end of one’s prayer are not a magical incantation over just about anything the praying person wants. (See James 4:3) It’s saying “I’ve consulted with Jesus, and he’s with me on this!” I don’t think Jesus was in agreement or had anything to do with Hegseth’s prayer that day. That’s just my opinion.

I winced when in his crusader prayer he requested the Almighty to deliver “overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy,” to “break the teeth of the ungodly,” and that “wicked souls be delivered to the eternal damnation prepared for them.” I’ve attended and led hundreds of prayer meetings in my time, and if someone prayed this out loud in my hearing, not only would they not get an “Amen” from me, but I would stop them and correct them on the spot. Yes, I have done that a time or two.

“No mercy for the undeserving”? As I understand it, the essence of “mercy” is that no one deserves it (Titus 3:5; Luke 18:13)! That’s the point of mercy. So to pray for no mercy for anyone is to place oneself in the category of the deserving while invoking God’s judgement on one’s enemies. I can’t see Jesus or his apostles (after the Spirit came and they matured enough to write their epistles) praying this way.

I’m especially disturbedby Hegseth’s prayer for the “eternal damnation” of wicked souls. History has seen “holy wars” before, where God is on our side and against your side. We kill you in his name. And when these wars over, virtually everyone eventually condemns them. It’s never occurred to me to pray this way even for the most wicked. I may have thought it a time or two, but decided to go another route and pray for mercy.

Recently, Hegseth said that under his command, the armed services would be marked by “no more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement, just common sense, maximum lethality and authority for warfighters.” And at a press briefing he promised “no quarter, no mercy for our enemies.” You should know that “No quarter” in the US military refers to the prohibited practice of refusing to take prisoners, meaning enemy combatants are killed rather than allowed to surrender. It’s a clear violation of international and U.S. law and constitutes a war crime.

Are we a nation AT war or a nation FOR war?