Would Jesus have gone to Vietnam?

I was asked the following question and thought others may have a similar question or an interest in the answer. This is a great question.

Dear Captain Gainey,

I believe your sermon two weeks or so ago was along the lines of "Mind Matters". You spoke of various purposes of the time spent in the Holiness meeting and of worship time. (I wish I had written to you immediately after the meeting, so each of the points you raised was still fresh in my mind!)

Yet I do recall you speaking about study, reflections and questions. You caused me to think that this might be a good opportunity for me to ask a question of you that has long been on my mind. I've spent some time, as in years, refining some religious concerns and questions, discussing it with some friends and relatives, until I am left with this rather simple WWJD question:

Would Jesus have gone to Vietnam?
A. If Yes, why?
B. If No, why not?



The following is my response:

To answer your question, I took a couple of days to pray, reflect, study, and ask questions to people much more astute than I. Here is what I have gathered:

First of all, I think we both know the polity of the question and the obvious biases that can accompany such a request of theological understanding. With that said, I think it is safe to first recognize that this question is based on one of two roles that Jesus would play...is he a soldier or the President? This will make a huge difference in the direction of the answer given.

Let's first assume that Jesus is the soldier. As such, Jesus would have served proudly and gone to war. Why? Because the Word of God tells us that we are to obey the government and its authorities as God himself places all authority in position. "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except hat which God has established. God has established the authorities that exist. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves." Romans 13:1-2 (NIV)
Despite the unpopularity of the conflict, Jesus would have been a mighty, courageous, and obedient soldier, submissive to the governing authorities.

Jesus as the governing official responsible for sending troops into the conflict is another matter. This would be to claim one of two things...either to know the mind of God or to believe that we see the whole picture and understand everything that is happening in the world, good, bad, or otherwise.
King Saul was a terrible king for Israel; this did not stop God from allowing Saul to be king. In fact, David, knowing that Saul had serious sanity issues, would not allow anyone, including himself, to bring harm to the king whom God had anointed and placed in authority. But if God places all authority in their positions, then we, being humble pots, created by the Potter, must approach even the horrific circumstances of the world knowing that God sees the entire picture. "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." 1 Corinthians 13:12 (NIV)

We can't answer for Jesus what he would have done as President, after all, God did ordain war for the Israelites; war that seemed unfair and cruel. "When you go to war against your enemies...When you march up to attack a city, make its people an offer of peace. If they accept and open their gates, all the people in it shall be subject to forced labor and shall work for you. If they refuse to make peace and they engage you in battle, lay siege to that city. When the Lord your God delivers it into your hand, put to the sword all the men in it. As for the women, the children, the livestock and everything else in the city, you may take these as plunder for yourselves...This is how you are to treat all the cities that are at a distance from you and do not belong to the nations nearby." (These are cities other than the Promised Land). Deuteronomy 20:1-15 (NIV)
"In the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. Completely destroy them..." Deuteronomy 20:16-17 (NIV)

Conclusion:
Jesus is an obedient soldier.
Jesus is a just leader.
The world is a place of ironies and is anything but fair. That is not the fault of anything other than sin and the fallen state of man. A perfect world is God's idea; the privilege of making decisions is man's desire; it is that privilege that causes us to make ungodly decisions. However, we still must remember to approach all that we hear and see with humility, as we still don't see the whole picture, including the justification for Vietnam.

My prayer is that this has helped in some capacity.

Thank you for the question and for your desire to be a "Thinking Christian."

Blessings,
Johnny