November 27, 2007

From: Wallace Alcorn
Sent: Tues 11/27/2007 6:10

Mission to the Military
Matthew 28:19, 20

Christ has given us a specific mission to military personnel that must be performed to fulfill the Great Commission.

1. The New Testament precedent

1.1. The Capernaum Centurion (Matthew 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10) — The centurion from Capernaum had absolute faith in the commanding power of God’s Son.

1.2 Calvary’s Centurion ( Matthew 27:51-54; Luke 23:44-49) — The centurion guarding the cross saw the power of God and gave public testimony to God in Jesus.

1.3 Centurion Cornelius (Acts 10:1-48) - Because Centurion Cornelius of the Italian Cohort in Caesarea sought God, the Holy Spirit resolved Peter’s prejudice and sent him to minister to this responsive man.

1.4 Tribune Claudius Lysias (Acts 21:30—28:16) — Tribune Claudius Lysias — and several centurions — protected Paul from the Jews and secured fair trials for him.

1.5 Centurion Julius (Acts 27:1—28:16) — Centurion Julius of the Augustan Cohort escorted Paul from Caesarea to Rome and saved his life.

2. Needs for ministry

2.1 Needy people: Military personnel need to find Christ as their Savior. This is the basic and by far the most important reason. It is, of course, exactly the most important need to witness to anyone and this admittedly does not pertain service people as a class. However, it is still the most important reason and, therefore, we must start with it.

2.2 Pressing need: Military personnel need to find Christ promptly. Both because of the obvious danger of combat and because of the usually hazardous duties regularly performed, military personnel are more in danger of being killed before they have an opportunity to accept Christ than are most people. The only class more in danger of death are motorists. But because motorists are too general to approach in particular, service personnel are principal in this category.

2.3 Known need: Military personnel know they need to find Christ. Although most military personnel (as anyone else) not only are unaware of their need for Christ but even hostile to him, military personnel more than any other category are faced with the reality of death and the necessity of thinking through the meaning of life and death. There is a natural motivation here that is absent from most people.

2.4 Unusual need: Christian military personnel have an unusual need for Christian nurture. They are away from their families, churches, and communities and often in foreign cultures radically different from their own. There is something about the worldly environment in which they must live that impacts severely on their spiritual growth. Because the government cannot be expected to provide specifically spiritual ministry, we must do so.

2.5 Needed people: Christians are the kind of people most needed. The armed forces need people with a Christian sense of social responsibility (willing to serve) balanced with moral sensitivity (recognizing the evil in violence). The services cannot tolerate hateful and vengeful people and need responsible and sensitive
Christians.

2.6 Reachable: Reaching all classes within the military can be accomplished efficiently. Military status is such a strong identification that having broken through into it, we have access to all within it. Military chaplains, for instance, are chaplains to all personnel—regardless of which or any religion.

2.7 Expanding opportunity: Spreading the gospel can be done efficiently within the military community. The military community is close enough so that when we have once reached part of it, we can efficiently reach throughout. If we win military leaders to Christ, they can have an strongly effective impact upon others in their witness.

2.8 Expansive opportunity: One of the most efficient ways to spread the gospel around the world is through military personnel. Because military personnel are constantly being transferred around this country and even deployed worldwide, spiritual seed planted in them is sown wherever they go. They enter places where it would be extremely expensive to send missionaries and, indeed, in places where missionaries are never be allowed the military often is deployed. They have direct contact with foreign national leaders. Foreign officers regularly attend service schools in this country and can be reached during such tours