In light of Veterans Day, I want to salute my brothers and sisters-in-arms. It has been my great honor to serve our nation alongside them.
On February 28, 1996, I arrived at Lackland Air Force Base for Basic Military Training (BMT) along with a few hundred other recruits from all over the U.S. with as many different reasons for enlisting. Some joined to provide for their families, and some to pay for college. Some joined to escape toxic environments and others, like me, to take their place in the long military legacies of their families. Few came with the intent to actually serve anyone, let alone their country. We all arrived as individuals, yet somehow after eight long weeks of intense verbal encouragement (yelling), physical training, classes and tests on military history, and a two-mile obstacle course, we became a cohesive team. When one person failed, we all failed. When one person triumphed, we all triumphed. Our personal motivations were exchanged for a common mission and common values. Our mission was to protect and defend America and our allies, and our values were, “Integrity first, service above self, and excellence in all we do.” We arrived alone and departed as a team ready to serve our country and each other…even unto death.
Fast forward to today, as the pastor of student ministry at New Beginnings Community Church, I have a front-row seat to the pressure, excitement, and anxiety of our high school juniors and seniors as they consider their post-graduation plans. While they yearn for freedom and discovery, they feel pressure from all sides - their schools, their peers, their parents, and the world.
It seems like yesterday that I too held wonder and possibility in one hand and fear and anxiety in the other. What should I do? How can I matter in this world while achieving my ultimate dream of traveling throughout it and learning from it? And deeper still…what was I created to do? I didn’t have the answer to that lofty question nor the means to sponsor my dreams, so I enlisted, in the United States Air Force.
Years later, I found Jesus and entrusted Him with my shattered dreams and broken heart. I desperately needed the love He offered, and I vowed to surrender my life to Him. Having little religious background, I took classes on what it meant to be a Christian and to be a member of His Church.
I was immediately struck by the multiple parallels between the life of a Christian and that of a soldier.
While a soldier’s ultimate authority is the current President of the United States, the Christian’s ultimate authority is Jesus Christ, the eternal King of kings and Lord or lords. While a soldier’s mission is to protect and defend their country and each other, a Christian’s mission is to love God and others: “to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…and love your neighbor as yourself,” (Matthew 22:37-38) and to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded,” (Matthew 28:19-20). Both soldier and Christian accomplish their mission by sacrificing their comfort and self-interest, even unto death: “Greater love has no one than this, that a person will lay down his life for his friends,” (John 15:13).
In both worlds—military and religious—the commitment to a shared mission binds the individuals together, creating a deep sense of purpose and belonging.
The complexity of the structure may vary, but the underlying principle remains the same: each person, no matter their role, is an integral part of a larger, interconnected whole, working toward a common goal.
Here are just a few of the Christian principles I’ve seen crossover into professional and military life:
- Integrity First: “Blessed are those whose ways are blameless [having integrity], who walk in the law of the Lord.” (Psalm 119:1-8)
- Service Above Self: “Do nothing out of selfishness or vain conceit. Rather, in humility, value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” (Philippians 2:3-4)
- Excellence In All You Do: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” (Colossians 3:23-24)
Over the past twenty years of serving Jesus and His people, I have gone from being a new believer (a rankless soldier), taking basic core Bible classes, to becoming a pastor (officer) entrusted with leading other believers toward our common mission. It was never my ambition to rise in rank in the church, but when we serve with God’s version of the same military values I was trained with, we can’t help but grow in Him…even when we don’t get it right all the time.
We, as a nation, honor the great sacrifice of our veterans. They bravely left the comfort of their hometowns, sacrificed birthdays and holidays with their families, missed the births of their children, and have been displaced every few years or so while always being on high alert to jump into action when called. They have often seen the worst of humanity and have been forever affected by it. May God bless them and their families for their sacrifice.
May we all come to the feet of Jesus as we are with whatever needs we have. There is no end to His love and He promised to never leave us. But as we continue in our training, let us lock arms in service with each other with the fervor of a soldier’s commitment and never forget that we, the entire Church, still have a common mission: to love God and love others, and to make disciples of all nations - even as we remember that we are called to serve and obey our eternal Commander in Chief who commands us to love…even our enemies. No. Matter. What.
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