Conscientious Objector Memorial in London

Once containing a relatively large nonviolence faction, Churches of Christ are now more conflicted. Contemporary Churches of Christ, especially those that hold with the teachings of David Lipscomb, tend toward pacifist views. This means that they believe that the use of coercion and/or force may be acceptable for purposes of personal self defense but that resorting to warfare is not an option open to Christians.

(From the Wikipedia article on “Peace Churches“)

Not to question a reputable source like Wikipedia, but I think their description leaves the idea that a large percentage of churches of Christ have pacifist tendencies. While this was true up until World War II, since then pacifism has not been popular in mainstream churches of Christ. (Some of the smaller movements in our brotherhood have held to this tradition, particularly among the non-institutional brethren)

With yesterday being Memorial Day, a day set aside to honor those who served, I think that we Christians would be negligent not to honor a courageous group among us: those who chose not to serve because of their faith. As I said, this was more common in churches of Christ  before World War II. Still, the number of men from churches of Christ who have chosen imprisonment, work camps, etc. because of their faith numbers in the hundreds if not thousands.

At some point, we in the church should stand up and honor these men as heroes of the faith. These are the ones that said, “I’m willing to suffer for what I believe.” They were ridiculed. They were imprisoned. They were treated harshly. Dare we call it persecution? I’m sure that some of them suffered the effects of that decision for the rest of their lives.

As I have written before, we live in a militarized society. It seems normal to us. If we do not teach our children that there is another option, that there is a different path that men of faith have chosen, they won’t even know to ask the questions that need to be asked.

We can’t wait for our government to honor such men. It’s not going to happen. We shouldn’t wait for society as a whole to embrace those who have taken a stand for their faith. It’s up to us. Not surprisingly, it will require us to go against the norms of our culture. I think our church will only be stronger if we recognize those that have had the courage to take a stand for their faith.