Christians, Idolatry and the Military

The preacher at our church this past Sunday spoke from Joshua 24. Joshua challenged Israel to either worship Jehovah or their idols. If they chose Jehovah, they had to put away the idols. For the sake of the sermon, he defined an idol as that which requires sacrifices, gives the illusion of control and can be used for our own ends. It is interesting to use these criteria and compare them to God. God does not require human sacrifices, which many idols of the day did. Indeed, God arranged the ultimate sacrifice, that of his own Son, to bear the weight of his judgement on sin and to make atonement for our sins. God offers real control, not just an illusion, for he is the Lord of history. Finally, God is not to be used for our own ends, even though some Christians think in that way.



Our preacher's illustrative idol for the sermon was personal financial security which he explained in terms of his criteria for an idol. Yet, since this was the Sunday closest to Veterans Day, we also honored those who currently serve in the military and those who had. This made me think of military service in terms of idolatry. For purposes of full disclosure, I served in the U.S. Army during Vietnam, though I did not go there.



Military service and militarism in general can be viewed as an idol using his three criteria. First, it requires sacrifice, especially human sacrifice. Think of the many who have died or become disabled or suffer PTSD and other emotional traumas because of their military service. Other sacrifices of relationships and finances are also required by this idol, money that could be spent on better uses. Second, militarism offers the illusion of control. The bigger the military, the more control we think we have. The American experience in Vietnam put the lie to that. Third, militarism is a tool for our country to get its own way, or so we think. How many times in American history have we used our military forces to serve some vested interests?



Since God forbids his people to worship idols, why do we worship at this idol? Why