Should Christians Observe Memorial Day?

Just over a week ago, this nation (at least some Americans) observed Memorial Day, our nation’s tribute to those in our country who fought and died for the cause of liberty. There were speeches given. The name of God was invoked as a grantor and protector of freedom that these people died for.

Memorial Day is a tradition, put in place by man. As with all traditions, they should be examined through the lens of Scripture in order to determine if they are supported by Scripture. The central question is we ask Scripture is, should men die for the cause of freedom? Is there something in being free that enables man to live a more righteous life?

These are important questions, for it would be a waste if not an outright sin to pay tribute for someone who died for an unrighteous cause.

We begin by looking at times where bondage and freedom were at issue in biblical and post biblical history to see if we can determine any patterns. As we do this, we must remember the doctrine of God’s immutability. He is unchanging. If we see consistent patterns throughout history, we can use those to help us understand which principles from God’s word are being emphasized in similar circumstances.

One obvious place to look is at the time of the Judges. There we see several instances where Israel was taken into captivity – into bondage. Why? In general, each instance of bondage was preceded by a weakened spiritual condition of the nation. They had fallen into idol worship, were living for themselves and fulfilling the lusts of the flesh and had abandon the teachings of Scripture.

When taken into captive, were the Israelites concerned about their state? Yes of course! Why should they be though? Because they knew they needed to turn their hearts FULLY back to God in order to be released from their bondage. There were several problems however. When under the rule of ungodly kings, limitations were often placed on if and how they could worship God. Also, we see in Scripture where ungodly kings would mock God, bringing further judgment on the land they were dwelling in. (1^st and 2nd Kings & 1^st and 2^nd Chronicles.) And finally, the wickedness of the culture under ungodly kings meant that there was a constant temptation to fall back into the same sins that caused God to allow them to be taken into bondage in the first place!

The result was they had to fight for their freedom. And fight they did. Normally, their freedom came by the sword – God required that they fight their oppressors to regain their freedom. This is no surprise, as ungodly rulers will not generally say “Oh we were wrong. Sorry, go and be warm and well fed!” More on this point later.

Now let’s look at more recent history, specifically that of our nation.

The Great Awakening in 1730’s preceded the Revolutionary War. The idea that personal freedom was a prerequisite to living a life for Christ gained a foothold among Christians. This awakened Christians to the fact that the freedom that their forefathers enjoyed in the new world was coming under threat from the Crown in England. Thus many (not all) supported the war for independence and many pastors preached a message of freedom and liberty. It was these messages that gave motivation and support to the troops to continue the fight against what was seemingly insurmountable odds. By God’s grace, they prevailed.

The Second Great Awakening in the 1800’s – 1840’s preceded the Civil War. Now I don’t wish to pick a fight with anyone, however Christians must also become aware of their history – not the watered down revisionist history taught in our public schools, but what really happened and why.The term “civil war” as applied to the war fought in the United States in the early 1860’s is a misnomer. A civil war is war fought for control of a national government. The south had no desire to control the north. They simply wanted to secede from the union because they felt the north was in control of the Federal government and the Federal government was engaged in tyranny. The “Civil War” thus was in fact a war for freedom from tyranny, just as the Revolutionary War was.

Let me make one thing clear. I am not condoning the actions of the south based on any desire they had to hold onto the practice of slavery. We must however, examine their Constitutional right for the south to secede and their motivation for attempting to leave the union.

John B. Gordon, Maj. Gen. Confederate States of America summed it up best in the book entitled Reminiscences of the Civil War, where he is quoted as saying “I apprehend that if all living Union soldiers were summoned to the witness stand, every one of them would testify that it was the preservation of the American Union and not the destruction of Southern slavery that induced him to volunteer at the call of his Country. As for the South, it is enough to say that perhaps eighty percent of her armies were neither slave-holders, nor had the remotest interest in the institution…both sides fought and suffered for liberty as bequeathed by the Fathers–the one for liberty in the union of the States, the other for liberty in the independence of the States.”

I believe that regardless of man’s motives for fighting the Civil War, God’s main purpose was indeed to bring slavery to an end, as it was a blemish on an otherwise blessed nation.

Now, we will come back to the point of this article. There is a distinction between the United States’ history of war and biblical Israeli history of war that must be made. In this nation, war has been waged primarily to maintain liberty and freedom. With biblical Israel, it was to regain their freedom after they were taken into bondage. In both circumstances, we see that God has granted favor to those who fight for freedom, when the result of victory will be to allow the people to serve Him.

Why? Because only free men can serve Christ and Christ alone.

With Israel, when God took their freedom from them, it was His way of igniting a “Great Awakening” in them. “We’ve strayed from God’s ways! Let us repent and be free to return to living according to them!” It was only when they wanted to return to God’s ways that they truly valued their freedom. With the United States, freedom was placed on the hearts of men and women to keep them from being taken into bondage and prohibited or restricted from serving Christ.

As we continue to examine Scripture, we begin to formulate some significant implications related to these observations.

Galatians 5:1 says “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”

Paul is taking about the “bondage” of the Mosaic law. The previous chapter gives us the context of that statement. “Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” Galatians 4:3-5

If Christ died to free us from the requirements (i.e. the bondage) of the Mosaic law, which is a demonstration of God’s righteousness and holiness, how much more should we not subject ourselves to the bondage of man’s laws when they are of man and contrary to our ability to serve Him?

Romans 13:1-7 is the secular/humanist state’s favorite Scripture. In fact, the way Romans 13 is preached in most churches today is heresy. The implications of Galatians 4 and 5 along with 2 Samuel 23:1-5, 2 Samuel 24: 10-14 among others set the context of Romans 13. Let’s examine those Scriptures.

Now these are the last words of David. Thus says David the son of Jesse; Thus says the man raised up on high, The anointed of the God of Jacob, And the sweet psalmist of Israel: “The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, And His word was on my tongue.The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spoke to me: “He who rules over men must be just, Ruling in the fear of God.” 2 Samuel 23:1-5

Throughout his life, David had learned many lessons well. And of all the life lessons that David learned, God chose to highlight this as one of his last admonitions. ‘He who rules over men must be just, Ruling in the fear of God.

This truth was important to David as was demonstrated in Chapter 24. David numbered Israel and angered God. God gave him a choice of three judgments. 1) Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? 2) Shall you flee three months before your enemies, while they pursue you? or 3) Shall there be three days’ plague in your land?

Pay attention to David’s response.

“I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.” 2 Samuel 24:14.

More than anything, David wanted his people to be spared the suffering that comes from being under the rule of ungodly men.

Summary

While this is not an exhaustive examination of Scripture on the subject of freedom, it does represent God’s heart for His people to be free. It is important! Individual freedom and liberty is God’s preferred state of the Christian in order that they are unencumbered to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. It removes from God’s people the threat of punishment by ungodly men for obeying God rather than them (Acts 5:29), which by the way, we are called to do if faced with that choice.

It is right then for Christians to pay tribute to those who have fought for freedom. These men gave themselves for us. We enjoy the benefits of their death without having to suffer it ourselves, just as we benefit from the death of Christ without having to suffer the cross ourselves. What greater love can a man have?

There is a problem however today. Christianity has always been despised throughout the world by secular/humanist governments. They want to be king and rule over man. Yet anyone who would echo the words written in Committees of Correspondence in 1773 “No king but King Jesus” is a threat to their rule. Thus like all other secular/humanist governments in history, ours is beginning to draw battle lines against Christians.

It is vital that we understand the legacy of freedom in this nation, for we too are now being faced with the need to fight for it. By God’s grace, we may avoid the need to take up the sword to fight for freedom. We have the one form of government in the world that gives us that chance – a republic – even though over the past few decades it has been run more like a democracy (which is nothing more than mob rule) and is what our current president means when he arrogantly says “I won.” Because of the gift of a republic, given to us by our Founding Fathers, “we he people” have the opportunity to see a peaceful deliverance from tyranny such as Israel was granted in Egypt from the hand of Pharaoh. Or as was seen when the Berlin wall crumbled in Eastern Europe due to the heart felt prayers and petitioning of the many churches in that region.

May God grant us mercy that we may not be required to add to the number of those we pay tribute to on Memorial Day. But history is clear. That will only happen if we understand what we are facing, repent of our own national sins, pray fervently, and fight with the peaceful fight with all the tools we have available – before it is too late.