Fallen Soldiers Ministries has been approached by Navy Seal Team members to write for FSM's Quarterly Newsletter when inspired, time allows and anonymity is protected. They will use the pseudonym "The Chief".
This is the third consecutive contribution sharing their unique perspectives.
by The Chief
The deployment wasn’t my first into foreign lands, but the first with the elite unit I’d recently achieved entry. The thirty-hour travel ended as typical—the large military aircraft touched down in a hot, dusty climate far afield from home and liberty.
Several weeks later, I sat in our JOC (Joint Operations Control), the command’s central nervous system for operations on our FOB (forward operating base). Computer and TV screens flecked the spartan tables and plywood walls, each device connected with classified ethernet cables. Maps of the area, target imagery, asset reports, and other intelligence splayed out in stacks on desktops. The air was warm and tense. Scheduled for that night was an operation, but the manifest didn’t hold my name. I’d be sitting this one out.
In the room with me was one other person, our EOD technician. We were reviewing the scheme of maneuver for the night. Midway through reading the intelligence reports, a hot anger rose in my chest. A small village nearby had been defended for several years by an outpost of American soldiers. Only days after the troops left for good, Muslim extremists descended on the village and slaughtered their way through the resistance.
Evil. Injustice.
For better or for worse, American politicians and strategists have, since Vietnam, undertaken a strategy known as FID—foreign internal defense. The idea is that American soldiers are sent to vulnerable countries (whose ideologies and interests are similar to ours) to train their military and furnish their troops with necessary supplies to defend their country against a common enemy.
In Vietnam, we allied in the south against the communists, and in the War on Terror, we allied against Muslim extremism. Likewise, in the faraway place where I sat, America had earlier deployed troops to train and equip the locals to fight against terrorists seeking to overrun their government by weaponry force.
The end goal of FID is to adequately train the local military to fight their insurgents on their own after American troops have returned home.
Sidebar: I believe that FID has never worked—and I don’t mean rarely worked but never worked. Much more than training and equipment is needed to create a soldier. Roman legionaries knew this hundreds of years before Christ when similar strategies were conducted and failed. A warrior is more than toughness and weaponry. How can we quantify conviction, loyalty, culture, and zeal? A freedom fighter armed with a pistol makes a far better operator than a draftee who wishes only to return home.
Several months before my arrival, American strategists had determined that the village had consumed enough American resources. The local military had been under our training for years, and they were ready. My thoughts were in agreement; eventually, allies must be able to stand on their own. We can’t endlessly spend our tax dollars on trained allies.
Our EOD technician and I watched classified videos of the terrorists butchering the village men who stood in their path and then putting the entire village to the edge of the sword. The males were killed, the women raped and then murdered or enslaved, and the children executed. As we watched the footage, our complexions darkened with rage. The EOD, a seasoned operator, spoke the words searing in my heart about the extremist forces. "God Almighty, I hope they want to fight tonight!"
You see, our boys were to go in there, within hours, with a partner force. Most of the time, in this type of operation, when extremists realize that American troops are blowing down their doors, they immediately surrender. They know the ROE and that American soldiers are constrained by clemency. We’d take the terrorists prisoner, and in a matter of weeks, they’d likely be released. Why fight and die against black ops soldiers when the alternative is so favorable?
The EOD technician, a nonbeliever who had seen his share of combat and bloodshed, hoped beyond hope that the extremists would have a fighting spirit in them that night so we could administer what we viewed as justice. Something deep within him had cried out for righteous judgment against the evil-doers.
Something in the human soul longs for justice.
The technician didn’t necessarily understand the root of that desire, but I had gained insight from God’s Word. Man is created in God’s image, and God is the righteous Judge. By His holiness, He cannot be impartial to sin and cannot take sin lightly because sin is opposed to His righteousness—His nature and character.
While so many Christians express the love of Jesus to the lost world, which is good and true, we often do so at the expense of accurately conveying His justice. Yes, God loves you, but He also hates sin—He abhors sin; otherwise, how could a good and righteous God survey the depths of depravity and violence on the earth and simply forgive the injustices against His character and supremacy?
You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil dwell with You. The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity. —Psalm 5:4-5 (writer emphasis)
God is a just judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day. —Psalm 7:11
The Lord tests the righteous, but the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates. —Psalm 11:5 (writer emphasis)
"All their wickedness is in Gilgal, for there I hated them. Because of the evil of their deeds I will drive them from My house; I will love them no more. All their princes are rebellious." —Hosea 9:15 (author emphasis)
You hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. —Revelation 2:6
Those Scripture verses are only a few of many that speak of God’s hate of sin—and the sinner. If God loves, He must also hate. He loves humankind, created in His image to reflect His righteousness, and hates anything harmful to righteousness. His character traits He embedded in us. I love my wife, and I hate anything that would harm her.
Based on the above verses, the familiar phrase "God loves the sinner and hates the sin" is only partially accurate. The verses show that He doesn’t only hate the deeds of wickedness but also hates the doers of evil. After all, it is not sin itself that He sends sin to hell but unrepentant sinners.
I do not claim to understand how God can simultaneously hate the workers of iniquity yet also love them enough to die for them. But Scripture expresses both truths in tandem.
My point is this: Bearing God’s image, we, too, hate injustice. Every person on earth, regardless of culture, tribe, or nationality, desires justice.
We may squabble over the definitions of right and wrong, but we agree that not everything is permissible. Created in God’s likeness, we instinctively know that specific actions are wrong—unrighteous—and should not be taken. Even before a young child can speak, he knows when he has been wronged. We learn by experience that consequences follow all deeds, good and bad.
What we all yearn for—what the EOD tech and I yearned for in that sweaty JOC years ago—is for things to be made right.
Philippians 2 says that every person who has ever lived will confess that Christ is Lord. Even those sentenced to hell will know that they deserve it and that Christ is rightfully condemning them. They will hate Him for His justice but not doubt His righteousness in His judgments.
My prayer for you, dear reader, is that you will understand that the desire for justice within you indicates the nature of God formed in you—in His likeness, His character.
Jesus will right every wrong: "He who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality" (Colossians 3:25).
Just as I wanted to avenge the blood of the villagers on the extremists, God desires to punish the wicked. Make no mistake; God will avenge Himself on the wicked. He will make all things right.
But, before the hammer falls, God is offering us each His hand in fellowship through our repentance, faith in Jesus, and thereby God’s forgiveness (John 3:16; John 6:47; Revelation 3:20). Before it’s too late, will you accept His generous offer and the consequential gift of righteous standing beside His saints in wonder as He does what He alone can do?
I can scarcely fathom the world God promised to create for those who put their trust in Jesus Christ as the Savior: a world in which evil thoughts and actions will never again enter the hearts and minds of men—a world where justice reigns.
---------------------
All Scripture is quoted from The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
by The Chief
____________________________________
If you are Veterans or a friend/family member of a Veteran and would like request our counseling, please use the link below:
If you are a counselor and would like to join our network, please use the link below:
Join the FSM Biblical Counselor Network
If you like what you've read , sign up to receive quarterly newsletter articles and updates via email - or SUPPORT our mission by making a donation, even $10 per month can make a huge difference and allow us to grow our counseling and spread the word of God!
Donate Now - One-Time or Recurring Monthly Donations!
If you are a Federal Employee and would like to donate FSM
is a certified Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) charity.
Designate ID #59846 / Fallen Soldiers Ministries.
_____________________________________________