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I’m not a pacifist and I DO believe you can be in military and serve God. I pastored a military-oriented church for 16 yrs co-adjacent to a major AFB. That said, he’s clearly talking about Idolatry: “cannot serve 2 masters” AND early church opposed military service for 300yrs 1/ https://twitter.com/marcorubio/status/1329055330286891012
2/ So, just like I opposed the attack on that young GOP Congressman for evangelizing people of other faiths, we also need to recognize that what Warnock is saying here is a theological belief re: war, violence, and idolatry. @scotmcknight explains: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2013/07/08/the-early-church-and-military-service/
3/ I had to work through this yrs ago as I pastored Airmen, A-10 pilots, majors, colonels, those who would go to the Pentagon and make major life/death decisions as well as those who taught war. We also had Navy, Army, and Marines with us. Ethics, where true allegiance lies ...
4/ ... how to serve God & country, protect weak, put God first. We honored military, but didn’t idolize it. American flag wasn’t in sanctuary. No one wore uniforms in church. We were Christians first. And, faith influenced honorable service. 1/2 church was connected to military.
5/ This is NOT a defense of Warnock overall other than addressing clip and Rubio’s tweet. Rather, it’s to say that there are legitimate theological beliefs at work here. There are good ways to put God first and serve in the military. And, there are bad ways to make it an idol.
6/ And, here’s my thread on attack on Rep. Cawthorn re: evangelism. Albeit, this attack came from a website and not a sitting U.S. Senator, the principle remains that we need to better understand people’s religious beliefs and not hold them up for scorn, whether media or senator. https://twitter.com/alanlcross/status/1328801954030448640
