One of the connections that I’ve
made while we’ve been in Romania has been with a guy who owns a print shop.
We’ve used his services several times to get copies made for our Battalion since
our main operations center has moved to Poland. He’s an interesting guy in the
sense that he’s excited to share his love for his country with us as well as
his pride in being able to assist the U.S. Army even if it’s just a few copies
at a time.
A few days ago, as I was speaking to
him, he was telling me about the various attractions around Romania. He shared
about Bran, Brasov, Bucharest, and various other tourist sites but he followed
that up by mentioning that there were also casinos throughout the country. That’s
not a very exciting piece of information for most people unless they enjoy
gambling. What was interesting to me was that for him, casinos and the Church
were interrelated. He said, “You give your money to both and hope for the
best.” He alluded to the fact that most people who “gave their money away” knew
that often, they weren’t getting any return for their investment.
As a chaplain – a believer in the
Gospel of Jesus Christ – I was saddened by his statement. To some degree, I
could understand from where it was he was coming. When a person doesn’t see
miracles, or feel as though favor has been bestowed upon them or feel like
their prayers have been answered, it’s easy to empathize, to some degree, a
person’s frustration with faith or their doubts in religion. But I also felt
pity for him. I felt pity for him, and folks like him, who’ve lost faith and they’ve
got religion all wrong.
What most people get wrong with
religion, faith, life … is that they fall into the trap that life, faith, and
religion are what they can get out of it. All of them become very selfish
endeavors if you approach them that way. The Book of James says, “Religion that
is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and
widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world”
(James 1:27 ESV). There’s a principle in this: be selfless. Put others before
yourself. It really isn’t all about you regardless of what every advertisement
in the world tells you.
One of the Army Values is selfless
service. Maybe you have an image of a Medal of Honor recipient; someone who has
gone above and beyond in a combat action that saved the lives of others while
that Service Member put himself in harm’s way even to the point of death. If
you haven’t read about the latest MoH recipient, 71-year-old former Army Medic,
James McCloughan then I encourage you to take the time to check out his story
and citation. A White House statement quotes him as saying, “I would have
rather died on the battlefield than know that men died because they did not
have a medic.”[1] That’s
the kind of story that humbles me.
I’m also humbled by the day-to-day
selfless service that individuals give in small ways: when I’m offloading
laundry and a Soldier simply begins helping me carry in the bags, when a
Soldier goes above and beyond to make his mundane work exceptional as opposed
to doing just enough to get by, or when a Soldier is aware enough of his
surroundings and his buddies to know when things just aren’t right with one of
them and will take the time to ask questions. That’s the day-to-day that
impresses me. Like those simple acts of selflessness, faith and religion should
be built on selfless acts. “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down
one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13 KJV). That means putting others above
yourself.
My favorite Commandments in the
Bible, the ones that I believe that if we could get right, the world would be a
different place are “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”
(Matt.22:37,39). If I never said another word in my lifetime, if I went out
saying those two things, I’d be good. The Church isn’t like a casino. I know
that Christians have jacked up Christianity over the years but I would
challenge you, as I will challenge my new Romanian friend, not to look at the
Church or religion as a lottery ticket. Approaching things in that way is never
good. Approaching your life that way is never good.
Think of the rights and feelings of
others rather than your own. Be selfless in your actions, whether they be Medal
of Honor worthy or not. Ultimately, you will be rewarded in this life or the
next.
