Christian Concentration Camp Guards

I want to expand on a comment Laurence Vance made in his post on Militarized Christianity.

I’ve been thinking a lot about a contemporary Christian impulse to have Christians in every area of life. At least some of this comes from a laudable motivation to see Christians not artifically separate the sacred and secular aspects of life. Just as Christians should be missionaries as unto the Lord, so should Christians be filmmakers and artists and so forth as unto the Lord. Francis Schaeffer is, at least in part, one of the key influences in this area.

Unfortunately, this impulse has often been unguided by discernment as to what callings are appropriate for Christians. As Laurence jokes, “Should a Christian stripper tattoo John 3:16 on her naked body to get whoever sees it to look up the verse and read it?”

Unfortunately, Laurence’s joke is only a hair away from the truth. There are now “Christian” romance novels and “Christian” imperial stormtroopers. Something is deeply wrong with taking whatever is being done by anyone, slapping Christian on the front of it and considering that something glorious has been accomplished. Not all things should be done by Christians. Some in the early church accepted martyrdom rather than serve the Roman Empire. I don’t see a lot of modern American Christians making that stand.

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1:43 pm on January 22, 2010