Interlude: Chaplaincy

By Matt

I started trying to read Romans 6 but realized there's something else on my mind that I need to get to writing about, as a preparation but also as my way of wrestling through things. If you've read the entry on boot polishing a few weeks ago, you know about my recent foray into WWII reenacting. Well, this coming weekend is a tactical reenactment and I've felt my excitement mounting as the faroff dates of May 10-11 loom ever closer on the calendar. And now it's this week, a few short days away! I'm pretty excited, especially since this time around I have my own uniform (that fits!), helmet, and some of my webgear in addition to my weapon and boots. So, it'll be a lot more fun for me in that regard, and also I know a bit more of what to expect.

The other thing that is exciting for me is that I've been asked to give a 5 minute service before the battle on Saturday. Guys in the unit know I'm a youth director and hinted at the last reenactment that I should take on a chaplain impression as well. I decided that sounds like fun and that I'd look into it after I get my primary impression as a rifleman down. I then began to realize that this might be a ministry, that I might be called to this unit for a purpose. A lot of the guys seem really cool (a few scare me) and I'm sure there are at least a few Christians in the group (at least one, who might also take on a chaplain impression and switch off with me). However, there are some definitely hurting and questioning veterans of Iraqi Freedom. So, not only is this a chance to lend some authenticity for our unit, it's a true chance to share the gospel with people who need to hear it.

However, I'm also kind of scared about my first foray this weekend. I'm a lot younger than most of the guys and, even though a younger chaplain right out of seminary is actually accurate, it's kind of intimidating for me to consider preaching at people older than me. Just doesn't happen often. Nor does preaching. I might yak on about stuff, but I don't consider it preaching. So, that's a little scary. Luckily I have sought out an Anglican priest who is also a chaplain in a WWII reenactment unit and maybe he can give me some advice/things to say.

But then there comes the great debate about Christianity and war, which is made all the more interesting since at least one Quaker will be reading this ;). I don't know if it's a "debate," but I can see the two sides which I like to think of as pacifists and those who see the credibility of just war. I think everyone knows the arguments on each side here, so I won't go into it, and I also think that it's pretty universally accepted that if there ever was a case for just war, WWII would be it. Personally I think I fall somewhere in the middle. I think. I guess I feel that war is terrible, awful, and the opposite of what God wants, but I can't also imagine that God wants Nazis executing his children by the millions across Europe. And I also can't imagine Hitler and his regime being talked down or cowed by economic sanctions. I guess my belief is that war is wrong, but sometimes wrong things have to be done to make things right.

But, nevertheless, even if WWII is justified, how did the chaplains do it? There's a scene in the movie Patton where Gen. Patton asks a chaplain to write a prayer for better weather so that his 3rd Army could reach the battered 101st Airborne who were heroically holding the important city of Bastogne but were completely surrounded on all sides by the German Army. A good cause, right? But the padre's response is interesting, along the lines of, "You want me to ask God to give us good weather so that we can go kill people?" As Joel's door likes to point out, when Jesus said to "love your enemies" he probably didn't mean kill them. So, how do you do that? How do you reconcile that conflict, a good end but a bad means? I really don't know. Guess I just need to find a chaplain and ask him (or read an autobiography).

I think that one thing I do know is that the chaplaincy is a mighty display of the Gospel. Men who parachute behind enemy lines, storm onto beaches, or push through in tanks into the greatest conflicts we have evern known armed with only what they picked up in Ephesians. Men tasked with emboldening boys to do something they didn't want to do but had to do, something that runs counter to what they believe. Men who lived out the corporal acts of mercy--being with the sick and injured, comforting the dying, burying the wounded--but did it with bullets flying and bombs exploding. It's a dynamic witness that is undeniable and I'm glad there were men around brave enough to do it for real.