As I’ve travelled in the US, I have been surprised by how prevalent
the taking of oaths is in that culture. In contrast to Canada, the
pledge of allegiance is an oath taken thousands of times by every
American citizen, nearly from birth. The national anthem is certainly
an oath when sung with hand on heart (hey Canada, stop doing that).
And then of course there are the many oaths sworn in the legal system
and the military. When I have witnessed this, esp. among exhuberant
Christians, it troubled me. Initially it was just an issue of culture
shock… but then I got to thinking…
Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, "Again, you have
heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath,
but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ But I tell you, Do not swear at all:
either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is
his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.
And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white
or black. Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.." (Mat 5:33-37 NIV)
While
I’m aware of the biblical gymnastics performed to exempt ourselves from
this clear commandment of the Lord Jesus, the use of oaths indeed opens
the door to all sorts of evil. Tolstoy, in his wrestlings with the
Sermon on the Mount, paraphrased it this way:
"Never take an oath, because we can promise nothing, for man is
altogether in the hands of the Father, and oaths are imposed for wicked
ends." (Tolstoy, What I Believe, 186)
Rather than dismissing this little commandment as an irrelevant sidebar
in an otherwise impossible sermon, I would say that Jesus knew the
power and danger of oaths to one’s allegiance to Christ’s kingdom and
thus, clearly forbade them.
Why the big deal?
The soldier solves the contradiction between orders to kill one’s enemy
and Jesus command to love one’s enemy by saying, "I’ve sworn an oath of
allegiance. I was under orders." Ironically, the very oath which they
are invoking to justify killing is often taken on a Bible which forbids
both [the oath and the killing]. This is a problem in any nation and in
any military: but how much more so for those who swear on their hearts
every morning for every day of their schooling through childhood. It’s
enough to give a good citizen an understandable blind spot.
Back to Tolstoy: "Jesus bids us not to contradict our reason
and conscience by an oath of allegiance to Czar, Emperor, Kaiser, King,
Queen, President, or General, for some day they may require us to kill
our fellowmen. Then we will be forced either to break our oath or
commit crimes of which we would not otherwise have dreamed. Wilhelm II
once addressed some naval recruits who had just taken the oath of
allegiance, reminding them that, if commanded to shoot their fathers,
they were bound by oath to obey him. As in the Roman Empire of Jesus’
day so also in all nations today, people are recruited and trained for
wholesale murder called war. They are induced by the swearing of oaths
to entrust their consciences to the keeping of others." Cf. Aylmer
Maude, Tolstoy and his problems, (17).
This came clear for a little while through the war crimes tribunals of
Nazi soldiers after World War II. But somehow, we didn’t see how it
might ever apply to the Allied nations.
More recent events bring Christ’s warning back into focus. Just this
week, a British medic was given a prison term for refusing to deploy to
Iraq for a third tour. His objection [paraphrased]: "The invasion on
Iraq is an illegal war, akin to the Nazi aggression of World War II."
The judge’s logic: "Irrelevant. You swore an oath. It is against the
law NOT to go to war–even an illegal one–if you have sworn an oath to
enter the military and obey it’s orders."
But back to the Bible for a moment. If we doubt that they are imposed
for evil ends, a quick survey of the New Testament should verify Jesus’
(and Tolstoy’s) assessment:
Matt. 14 – A hasty oath is invoked to have John the Baptist beheaded, even against Herod’s conscience and better judgement.
Matt. 26 – Peter swears an oath to deny Jesus.
Acts 23 – The Jews swear an oath to fast until they have murdered Paul.
James 5 – James warns not to swear an oath lest you fall into condemnation.
In fact, the only good press that the New Testament gives oaths are those sworn by God himself on his own name.
I
would ask those who name themselves, "Christian" to ponder again the
commands Christ gave in that great Sermon. Far from being impracticable
or making a point that you CAN’T obey them, Jesus himself said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments"
(John 14:15). Given that Jesus credits the devil with the inspiration
of oaths, and given the evil they are used to justify, couldn’t
we–shouldn’t we–reconsider and even renounce their use? Rather than
limiting the scope of Jesus’ command, can we not take it seriously… I
suspect that the difficulty we have in surrendering this "one little
thing"–and the effort we expend to cling that "one little thing"–is
proportional to the unclean power that oaths exert… thus
demonstrating that we have bumped into an issue of Lordship.
By way of experiment, I have a challenge for those who would
dare test the power of oaths or the degree to which your particular
region has bought into "Babylon." Next time you are in a setting where
everyone else is expected to pledge allegiance, quietly (not
obnoxiously) refrain from participating. Let your hands hang limp and
keep your mouth shut. Then ask yourself, "What is happening in my
heart?" Is it no big deal? Do you feel people staring? Do you feel
disloyal? Afraid? Unchristian?
Can I propose that placing our hand over our heart and swearing an oath
of allegiance to flag, state, and ruler is a western way of bowing? I
wonder if resisting will make us feel like Daniel’s friends who would
not bow to the image of Nebuchadnezzar. I wonder what fiery furnace we
might find ourselves in. But fear not, You-Know-Who will be there with
us.
Jesus is Lord,
Brad Jersak