The Church Taught Me to Love My Enemies—Then Blessed Me as I Went to War By Jason Burkett, US Army veteran and friend of PCI

I joined the Army twice. The first time (1989-1996), I was a junior in high school, the summer before my senior year. My dad was a truck driver, my mom was a teacher, and we didn’t have much money. I knew my parents couldn’t afford to send both my sister and me to college, and back in the late ’80s and early ’90s, it was all anyone talked about: college, college, college. My dad had served in Vietnam. My grandfather — my mom’s father — served thirty years in the Marine Corps. So joining felt like a family thing to do. I signed the papers in what’s called the Delayed Entry Program and chose the Infantry, even though my test scores were high enough that I could have done pretty much anything in the Army. I wanted to be like my dad.

Seven years later, I was asked to leave for being a knucklehead. I went back to California, started college, met my wife, and had three kids. In 2006, my family and I were living in Missouri, and I was working as a Local Veterans Employment Representative for the state of Missouri — helping veterans find jobs — but the benefits for a family of five ran about $600 a month. I couldn’t afford it. Then I started getting emails from the military: We’re looking for veterans. I already knew what was on the other side of that door. Great medical, great dental, housing, guaranteed promotions, and pay raises. And bonuses. My first reenlistment bonus was around $25,000. When I was deployed in Afghanistan a few years later, I reenlisted again while I was in-country — that bonus was tax-free. Some Green Beret guys were getting $100,000 or more to stay in. The military was the best option for my family, full stop.

But the second time I joined (2006-2019), I was also a Christian. And that added another layer to why I went back. During my first enlistment, I was in a dark place. I went to see chaplains — more than once. Not one of them ever asked me about following Jesus, about the way of Jesus, about anything that actually touched the soul of what I was going through. I knew that going back in, I could be something different for soldiers. I deliberately chose to enlist and work my way to becoming a non-commissioned officer (NCO) rather than an officer because NCOs are always in charge of lower enlisted guys. Always. I wanted to be present with them, to be somebody they could actually talk to about life. That was real to me.

What I never heard — not once — was anyone suggesting that returning to the military might not be the way of the church. I had never heard of conscientious objectors, and I now see that Scripture calls us to love and nonviolence, which should inspire my Christian Brothers and Sisters with hope for a different Christian path. read more…