When inspiration becomes idolatry

More than once in recent years, I've received a forwarded email that has this quip somewhere in it: "only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you -- Jesus Christ and the American soldier."

I'm certain the vast majority of those who distribute this thought mean well... they're attempting to honor the hardships endured by those in the service of America. But one should always be careful about putting anything in the same sentence, much less category with Christ.

There is no doubt many peoples--not just Americans--owe what freedoms they have to the sacrifices made by those wearing U.S. uniforms. But the reasons those men and women were on those battlefields were many and varied, and the national decisions that placed them there not always as clear cut as our sense of self-righteousness would like to suppose.

Christ, on the other hand, willingly submitted to carrying out the will of His Father, in the completion of a plan designed even before the words "let there be light." That plan had but two objectives: the glorification of God, and the salvation of man. No battle anywhere, at any time, was fought with more humble resolve or with purer motives.

It is right on Memorial Day to pause and remember those whose lives were cut tragically short due to war -- a horrific manifestation of man's sinful nature. Regardless of the shifting sands of foreign relations or the unspoken motives of many conflicts, America has long been privileged with those who are willing to put other considerations ahead of their own comfort. Such selflessness is a faint reflection of that which was shown on Calvary--but should never be confused with it. Honor our fallen, yes. But never forget the One who was raised after a grotesque death... at the hands of soldiers.