Messiah’s Congregation Position Paper on Women in the Military
April 14, 2003
Messiah’s Congregation confesses, along with all the true churches of Christ throughout the ages, that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the alone perfect source by which we may know what man is to believe concerning God and what duty God requires of man.
The Teaching of the Bible Concerning Women In The Military
Messiah’s Congregation finds that the Scriptures specify, in the Book of Numbers, Chapter 1, that Moses was to take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls; From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: thou [Moses] and Aaron shall number them by their armies.
We find in this passage the simple, and until recent times, virtually universally accepted principle, that warfare is the responsibility of qualified males.
From the Garden of Eden, the Lord God differentiated the roles of male and female. The primary sphere of responsibility for the woman is domestic. This truth is repeated throughout Scripture, being especially emphatic in the New Testament of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (see Ephesians 5 & 6, 1 Timothy 2, and the Book of Titus, e.g.).
This teaching, we believe, has at its center, a design intended to protect women, whom the Bible denominates as the weaker sex (1 Peter 3: 7). God’s holy Law continually provides greater protection to the vulnerable. The churches of Christ must insist on this as axiomatic.
Warfare, a result of sin in the world, is a horror, yet an occasional reality for which every sovereign nation must be prepared. We fully recognize the responsibility of Christian men to take part in just wars on behalf of the nation of which God has providentially made them members. We regard as an abomination, however, the forced inclusion of women to be among the ranks from which an army is to be mustered. Those who would point to Jael (Judges 4:17-21) as an imagined justification for female subscription, fail to note that this exceptional woman of valor performed her courageous and noble deed while interrupted in her fulfillment of her domestic duties. She was at home in her tent, not in combat on the field. The testimony of Scripture remains uniform: warfare, as such, is the responsibility of qualified men.
We have no quarrel with policies which permit women to engage in support and ancillary activities appropriate to their sex, outside of combat, and in accordance with the wishes of their respective covenant heads. Even these, however, must be done in a manner which protects their dignity as women and does not expose them to abuse or unwarranted risk of assault or injury. It is the responsibility of man to bear whatever sorrows may be necessary to protect their women and children.
Conclusion
The Consistory of Messiah’s Congregation, with the authority it has received from Christ our King, instructs its members, and all sympathetic Christians willing to submit to the testimony of God Himself, to instruct their families in accordance with the truth noted above. Our daughters may not be subject to military draft, may not be regarded as proper participants in any pool from which commissioned combatants are to be drawn, and ought not to be placed in any environment or circumstances which would otherwise compromise their high and holy calling as women of the covenant community. Signed this Day, November 20, in the Year of Our Lord 1995,
Rev. Steve M. Schlissel, Minister
André C. Setyon, Elder
Captain J.D. Martin, USAF (Ret.), Elder
Thomas Trouwborst, Elder