US Military and Proselytism

The difference here is who you have decided to serve. Those who seek to serve God go and seek to convert at their own cost if necessary. They don’t wait for the world to come to them. You choose not to follow the command of the Lord, but the commands of men. That is your choice. By the away it is not about doing it on the clock. It can be done at lunch or break time, the same in the military. You are trying to justify your rejection of the command and there is none. However if someone was near and even if we are on the clock and the opportunity is available to speak about the Lord I would do it. God’s commands supersedes every command of man. If others can talk about sin then I can talk about God and salvation. If that brings a court marshal then praise God!
"seeking to convert people over in these countries would hinder the cause of Christ in the long haul" :laugh: I will give you one guess who put that in the heads of men, and it wasn't God.

 

Think you misunderstood what Sapper was saying. He did mention that he talks about it just like you mentioned in your post.

As for me, while in the Middle East, God provided opportunities to discuss with Iraqis and Afghans what the Bible says, and what we each mean when we talk about God.

Look at what's happening to the Christian military members now that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" has been repealed: Several have already been forced to make the decision to get out of the military. Some have been classified as having personality disorders, and are being denied re-enlistment.

At one time in my career, I had considered leaving the military, and asked for counseling from a pastor friend. He prayed and gave it some thought, and asked, "if all the Christians leave the military, who's left?"

So what we do is, we tell people that we're Christians; we do exactly as Sapper, Free, and Salty have said, and when people talk to us, we take the God-given opportunity; and, paraphrasing what the apostle Paul said, we become all things to all men, in order that Christ may be preached, and souls may be saved.

 

Where in scripture does it say wait until they seek you out? I do know it says "Go Ye into all the world".

Jas 1:2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
Jas 1:3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
Jas 1:4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

2Co 11:23 Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one--I am talking like a madman--with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death.
2Co 11:24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.
2Co 11:25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea;
2Co 11:26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers;
2Co 11:27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.

An assumption without foundation and with no consideration for the work of the Holy Spirit.

Mat_6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

 

This statement is at best an attempt to misrepresent me and I am both offended and surprised. No one has said go seek to be a martyr. It was not implied either. I do hope you can discuss this with more reason in the future.

And no one suggests we should. But your example of just waiting for people to come to you is contrary to clear scripture.

Do not think you are an expert, above what God has said, on future mission work. How much mission work have you been engaged in. Serving in military action does not provide the expertise you are seemingly trying to display. When ever anyone has spread the gospel in a hostile environment there is a risk of a great many things. Jesus took this risk, Paul took this risk, many missionaries today are taking this risk. Your logic absent reason does not add up.

Only if you have an agenda

Paul was thrown into prison and killed as has been many witnesses. And they were done that way not because they waited for people to come to them. They were beaten and killed because they were so bold even after the authorities had told them not to. Your personal and unscriptural agenda would have pigeonhold Jesus and everyone else.

 

Not sure how this is relevant

 

In a previous post, you wrote: Where in scripture does it say wait until they seek you out? I do know it says "Go Ye into all the world".

Thus, Salty's response.

 

No it was not implied. You are reading into my words what you want to justify your position. There are other options to reasonable people.

Now you are taking only half the quote to justify your position. I said no one was suggesting you should to:

"There is absolutely no reason to challenge the laws of man when we are capable of fulfilling the great commission within the parameters set upon us. "

I did not reply only the unbolded part but to the entire statement. The second half places the first half in context.

Home has nothing to do with it. Home has not been mentioned by me.

And applying sharing the gospel brings the whole thing into and entirely different area.

Because that is the command

Not likely the gospel is the Word of God not your habits.

You can provide no evidence to support this.

Not at all. The gospel is the Word of God Romans 10:17

 

Waiting on them to come to you is not active, it is passive.

 

What some of you fail to realize is that Muslims often talk about the Crusades as if it happened yesterday. They are VERY sensitive to it. When you go around in uniform with a Bible in one hand and an M4 in the other trying to convert people, they don't always take it well, it can appear as if yes we are on yet another Crusade. If they think they have proof of this, they will rally around it and we'll have much more of a fight on our hands instead of just fighting insurgents. Such an action would have a large and direct impact on innocent people on both sides. This is why we scrubbed the verses off of Trijicon scopes.

 

That is a bunch of hogwash. While an extremist may hold to the crusades as an excuse to carry out his murderous ways the average Muslim never brings it up.
That is just another excuse for our godless leaders to strip away our rights and freedom denying us our personal rights within our Christian beliefs.

 

There is an old Afghan saying: "If someone does you wrong, and you wait 100 years to exact revenge, you've still acted too hastily."