A Worthy War

Today I finished watching the PBS documentary, The War.  Many of the soldiers in the seventh volume testified of the great atrocities they discovered in the concentration camps against Jews, Poles, and mentally infirm.  To their horror and disgust soldiers came upon nude, dead, emaciated bodies "stacked like cordwood," a testimony to the wicked and barbaric Nazi regime which spread horror and death across the world.  If you have seen pictures or footage of those hellish places, words are almost useless to convey the pitiful and tragic conditions through which any victims were miraculously able to endure.  The human body can only survive so much starvation, torture, isolation, and merciless experimentation by twisted souls.

As I thought about what I had only seen of what millions experienced firsthand, my mind went through a progression.  There are people today who say the holocaust never occurred.  That would be as screwy as to say WWII never happened.  As of 2008, there were 2.3 million living American veterans of World War II, eyewitnesses still living of the 16 million who served (http://www1.va.gov/opa/fact/amwars.asp).  Many of those Americans who served lied to join the armed forces, anxious to see action.  My dad's uncle, Bill Grisez, was 16 years old when he joined the Army as a paratrooper and was held as a POW in Italy.  I'm always amazed and intrigued when I hear of people fearlessly join a fierce conflict.  Either they are very brave and patriotic, have no idea of what they are getting themselves into, or a combination of both.

Many people are ignorant of the spiritual battle that rages for the souls of men today.  If only the souls of men could be seen stacked like bodies in front of Hell's crematorium!  The Germans used poisonous gas to kill, and Satan uses pornography, narcotics, intoxicating drink, greed, hate, pride, and every manner of evil.  How quickly men run to embrace that which kills them!  As much as the Internet has been used for good, people used it ten times more often to their own destruction.  The devil seeks to enslave men to their own lusts, blind them to the truth of the Gospel, and consequently rob them of life.

I see myself poised on the brink of great struggle as I seek to plunge into ministry in Australia.  It has been estimated 3 to 6 percent of the population of the country attend church, and from my meager experience many are not being fed the pure milk and meat of the Word of God.  I feel like that sixteen-year-old who will do what it takes to see action and prove his worth.  I am not saying I am reckless or will stoop to deceit, but there is that same determination to experience real spiritual war.  This is what I have been trained for:  not to kill or destroy, but to seek and save the lost.  I want to be among the first who storm the strongholds in God's strength, feeding the emaciated, binding up wounds, and carrying the weak to safety.  When the stench of death swirls around, I want to continue fighting the good fight.  My fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers overcome by the blood of the Lamb.

Jesus says in Matthew 10:28, "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."  Men have done horrible, unthinkable things during times of war and peace.  The casualty statistics of WWII are tragic, but pale in comparison to the spiritual holocaust which has been perpetuated by sin.  There is a time for war, and a time for peace.  Peace will never come until the war is enjoined for souls of men in the power of Jesus Christ.  This will take much prayer, sacrifice, service, and love.  That is how Jesus fights.  I would rather be slaughtered on the field of battle fighting for what is good and right than live in ease and comfort bound by fears, inaction, and regret.  It is better to fight one day and perish under God's command than live 1000 years in opposition to Him.  He has placed in every human being a living soul.  It is the noblest effort of men to glorify God through saving souls.  May every follower of Jesus Christ be of this mind.