Looking for a punchline? Unfortunately there is no punchline because this is not a joke or a laughing matter. I read yesterday about an Air Force chaplain who is in trouble for writing something on the base's web page. The thing that really makes me upset is that it was written in the Chaplain's Corner of the webpage. He wrote an article stating that there were no atheists in foxholes. This is not a new statement but has been shared over and over through the years by many chaplains. But now some atheists took offense and got the post removed and now want him punished for his faith. So how did we come to this in the military?
As I read the article I had some questions come to my mind about the incident. The first question I had was if this post was in the Chaplain's corner, why were atheists reading it if they don't believe in God or religion? They read the post which was there for those who believe in God and are looking for help to strengthen their faith. The chaplain is there to provide spiritual counsel for those who need it and to preach the gospel to the those who are lost. During my tenure in the Air Force, the chaplains did just that. They would write articles for the base newspapers sharing things of faith. If you didn't believe in what they did, you skipped over the post and read the other stuff. I believe the atheists are trying to shut the mouths of chaplains because they disagree with their faith. That now leads me to the second question I had. Have we gotten so far away from where this country started that now Christians no longer have the right to share their faith publicly? This is what the chaplaincy is now facing. Many chaplains have now been told that they cannot share their faith publicly but must not offend anyone who does not believe what they do. So here is the whole crux of the problem. The atheists and every other group can go out and say whatever they want and force us to accept their beliefs and tolerate it but we as Christians can no longer share our faith because people find it offensive. The Bible said that the Gospel would be an offense so we shouldn't be surprised when we start to hear and read posts like this. This makes me even more determined not to have my my shut but to get even louder and share the gospel even more so. Christians over the years have gone through this before so please don't think this is something new for the Church! We have never experienced it here in this country really until now.
This issue is not just in the military but becoming more common generally in this nation. I have told folks before that one day I or other preachers may one day be arrested for preaching the gospel and have it called "hate speech". Ironic isn't? If we really hated these folks we would just let them continue down the path to Hell but we love them too much to not let them know they can avoid eternity without Christ! I believe that God is still moving because we are still here!
