Article July 5, 1941 Issue

"The armor of a Christian"

[Written Especially for Young People]

KIMMIS HARTLEY HENDRICK

Is warfare ever Christian? This is a question which sometimes presents itself. Although world events make plain the need for defensive measures, many are puzzled as to how this need can be reconciled with the teachings of Jesus. Some people call themselves "conscientious objectors" and refuse to fight. Others, although they object to war in theory, are willing to support it in practice. What should be the position of the youthful student of Christian Science? Like others who follow the Master, he is well aware of the saying in the Sermon on the Mount, "Resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." This saying is not a basis for formulating a philosophy of nonresistance. It is a call to all men to realize, understand, and demonstrate the truly spiritual nature which is man's. Christian Science teaches that man is God's image, consisting not of material elements, but of spiritual qualities. And it declares that everyone's need is to live so that this true or spiritual selfhood is shown forth increasingly as the actual fact of his being.

To do this, meekness is essential. And what is meekness? It is not weakness, self-abasement, or lukewarmness, although people sometimes think of it in this negative way. In Christian Science, meekness means the consistent, honest endeavor to make divine truths practical in daily living. It means placing one's trust in God and in the fact that man is His likeness. It means recognizing evil, not as personal or factual, but as error seeming to act as thought. The meek turn the left cheek to error's threats, because they will not believe that sickness, fear, envy, limitation, or the like is real.

Mary Baker Eddy writes in her Message to The Mother Church for 1902 (p. 19), "Meekness is the armor of a Christian, his shield and his buckler." Meekness arms the Christian. It exalts the fact of man's eternal unity with God, and this understanding heals the belief that evil can harm, hinder, rob, misrepresent, or defraud the man of God's creation. Indeed, it keeps one ever in the way of maintaining a clear sense that man has a divine individuality. The man who understands he is God's likeness is active in goodness; he is intelligent, wise, and spiritually strong. He has the resources of Spirit, the confidence of Truth, the inspiration of Love, and the guidance of Mind. Because of this, the meek face with courage what is called the human situation. Mrs. Eddy says in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 317), "The understanding of his spiritual individuality makes man more real, more formidable in truth, and enables him to conquer sin, disease, and death." That is why meekness has an element of boldness which sometimes seems surprising to those who had not expected to find it. For where rights of conscience, honest government, and the wisdom of true democracy are concerned, true meekness prompts the Christian to be a firm advocate of right. This is his patriotism; this is his position as a member of the world community. Not merely in self-defense, but in defense of humanity's right to know God, the Christian marches forth.

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