What's Old is New Again

Perhaps you recall the story back in the Book of Acts about Peter healing the lame man at the gate of the temple. He asked for alms and Peter gave him that oh, so classic response, "Silver and gold have I none, but what I have I give you." And then he said, "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!" (Acts 3:1-6) Well, of course, the authorities were delighted. They could see the cost of healthcare decreasing astronomically and they were deeply concerned about the welfare of the people and, being religious authorities, they were just plain tickled about seeing the unvarnished, undeniable hand of God at work. Or not. No, it didn't work out that way. Peter and John ended up on trial (Acts 4). The authorities demanded to know who authorized it and Peter gave his pleasant little speech (Acts 4:8-12) about "the stone that was rejected by you" and "there is salvation in no one else" -- stuff everyone loves to hear. In fact, the only thing that saved them was the fact that the man was healed and that the crowd was rejoicing about it. So, they tried to figure out what to do.

"In order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name." So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard." (Acts 4:17-20)

And, what's old is new again. The Pentagon has declared that it is against the law for Christians to share their faith with others and they will prosecute "on a case by case basis" for it. Mikey Weinstein, the president of The Military Religious Freedom Foundation is calling on the Air Force to enforce a regulation that they believe calls for the court martial of any service member caught proselytizing. "We would love to see hundreds of prosecutions to stop this outrage of fundamentalist religious persecution." Weinstein called proselytizing a "national security threat" and compared it to rape. "The Pentagon needs to understand is that it is sedition and treason." The Pentagon confirmed that Christian evangelism is against regulations.

Are you ready, Christians? The same rhetoric Weinstein is using in military terms is cast about in general terms by other groups, and the "compelling" arguments (by which I mean the "non-arguments that appeal so highly to the feelings of the general public without regard to facts or logic or even the law") are getting louder and more accepted. Are you ready, military Christians? It isn't far from the horizon. You will need to decide for yourself whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to man rather than to God. And it won't always have a pleasant outcome.