by Elder Johnny Kim

On Monday May 26, Americans around the country celebrated the Memorial Day holiday with picnics at the park, barbecues on the beach, and fun with family and friends. But while Memorial Day might provide many different reasons for joy, including a welcome day off from work and the unofficial start of the summer vacation season, the true reason for the holiday ought to be what Americans always celebrate first and foremost, even if it’s more somber in nature. The history of Memorial Day dates back to the end of the US Civil War when it was originally known as Decoration Day, so named because the graves of soldiers who died during the Civil War would be decorated with flowers on that day. Since then, the holiday has been renamed Memorial Day and has been reestablished as a day in which we as a country remember all the men and women who have died while serving in the US military. Traditional activities on Memorial Day include watching military themed parades, visiting national cemeteries and memorials, and observing a moment of silence to honor those who died while serving our country.

As we spend the day considering those service members who sacrificed their lives while serving in the Armed Forces, it’s always a sobering thought to consider that men and women would knowingly place themselves in harm’s way for any given reason. While today’s military is now an all-volunteer force, even during past periods of conscription, many men volunteered to fight for our country ahead of being drafted and ended up dying in the fight. People willingly volunteered to join the military even when it was all but assured that they would be sent into combat to risk losing their lives on the battlefield. They submitted to the will of the leaders of the country, were obedient in following the orders of their commanders, and carried out dangerous missions all for a cause they believed to be greater than themselves and even their own lives. In the end, they did all this believing that the defense of America’s freedoms and liberties and the morals for which this country stands were ideals worthy enough to make the ultimate sacrifice for. It’s the reason that we who are now the recipients of these freedoms and liberties spend the time to honor such individuals on Memorial Day.

Now while most of us might not have any experience being in the US military, Christians ought to be at least somewhat familiar with the idea of the military. Aside from the chronicles of various military campaigns and conquests found in the Old Testament of the Bible, we can find that even the New Testament is replete with military terminologies and ideas serving as metaphors for various aspects of the Christian life. In Philippians 4:1, Paul urges people to “stand firm” in the Lord with language used to describe a soldier who stands guard. In 1 Thessalonians 5:8, Paul goes on to relate characteristics of the Christian life to the physical pieces of armor worn by a soldier. And in 1 Peter 2:13, Peter urges people to “submit” to the government with a military term used to describe ranks of soldiers below and in submission to a military commander. These and many other examples found in the Bible, to great effect, use elements of military life in order to describe characteristics of the Christian life.

However, for the genuine Christian life, similarities to the military don’t just stop there. The truth is, like soldiers in the Armed Forces who are ultimately willing to die for their country’s cause, Christians who truly know the cost of following Christ will understand themselves to be in the same boat. As followers of Christ and slaves who are subject to His lordship, we are given the same charge, that we too should be willing to die for the sake of Christ and His Gospel cause. In Matthew 10:24-29, in a list of requirements for His disciples to consider in following Him, Christ concludes the list with the ultimate requirement in verses 38 and 39: that those who would follow Him should be wiling to give up their life, up to and including dying a physical death. Christ repeats this requirement later on in Matthew 16:24. In both instances, Christ uses the picture of the cross and in doing so, He makes it unmistakably clear that the cost of following Him is not merely one’s life in a figurative sense, but in a sense that is as real as being persecuted, tortured, and executed by crucifixion on a cross. By setting the cost of following Him to possibly include our physical lives, Christ established once and for all that He and His cause are worthy enough to make the ultimate sacrifice for.

Do you believe that Christ and His cause are worth fighting for? Do you believe Christ and His Gospel are worth dying for? Like a prospective soldier signing his enlistment papers, do you understand exactly what you are signing up for in calling yourself a follower of Christ? Christians need to understand that while we might not be a part of any physical army, we are a part of the Lord’s army. While we might not ever fight in physical wars, we are participants in a spiritual war, whether willing or unwilling. Christ our Commander in Chief commands and orders us to be obedient to His Word and to His cause, even to the point of death. And should we have to sacrifice our lives while in faithful service to Him, we too may just find ourselves being honored as well (Revelation 2:10).