Four ministers from different parts of Missouri recently came together for a panel discussion that touched on the morality of war, the death penalty and abortion.
Atticus Dyer, director of Baptist Student Union, said the purpose of the event title “Gospel Talk: God and Conflict” was to help students think critically about whether their actions are justified. The discussion took place Oct. 2 in the Elliott Student Union.
“I don’t know how many of you walked around campus and saw the street preacher in the square talking about Jesus-kind of,” Dyer said. “We are here to talk about how we justify things in a broken and corrupt world.”
Dyer put his phone number on a whiteboard so students could anonymously ask questions.
Devin Hackler, a senior pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Odessa, Missouri, said he is grateful for each and every person who showed up.
“Whether or not you are a Christian or not, being here shows that you care about serious situations and real-life questions,” Hackler said.
In 2006 to 2007 Hackler was deployed to Baiji, Iraq, and recently retired from the United States Army. Hackler gives an example of pulling the trigger and living with that the person who was shot, will go to hell.
“Now what? I took a life and I pulled the trigger and so now they are likely to spend eternity in hell. Now what?” He said. “God is sovereign. Each soul is responsible to their creator.
Hackler said whether he can answer yes or no to if pulling the trigger was justified is going to help with grief.
“Ultimately this is where you need to trust in God, trust his word, and ultimately trust his Son who came to reconcile evil,” he said.
Patrick Edwards, a senior pastor at First Baptist Church of Warrensburg, moved to Warrensburg a year ago.
He said this area has a unique dynamic since it’s so close to a military base.
“Pastoring in a context where so many of our members on Sunday morning are in the Air Force or are in the Army Reserve is making me learn how to minister with guys who are flying drones and then having to come home to dinner to wrestle with some of these conflicts,” Edwards said.
Edwards said he grew up in a Christian home, which meant they were pro-life. Edwards said his family takes the sanctity of life seriously.
“I still hold true to pro-life, but as I got older, I had to wrestle with what the sanctity of life meant in other areas,” Edwards said.
Dyer then asked if war is justified.
“Is war justified?” Dyer said.
Edwards said God of higher authority than people.
“We are not a legitimate authority in this room,” he said. “God has created governments and preordained them as his servant. Engaging in warfare must be the last option for addressing problems.”
Edwards used the tension between the United States and North Korea as an example of thinking critically about your actions.
“If Kim Jong-Un is annoying us, so we are just going to go in there and wipe him out,” Edwards said. “Just because you’re defending your country, doesn’t mean it’s justified. I believe you still have a responsibility as a citizen under the kingdom of God to ask and evaluate questions about what your national citizenship is doing as well.”
Dyer asked the panel about the death penalty.
“I do believe in the death penalty. I believe it is Biblically allowed,” Branch said.
Alan Branch, professor of Christian Ethics at Midwestern Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri, was a chaplain in the United States Army Reserve. He was deployed in 2011-2012 in the 821st Transportation Battalion.
Branch offered his opinion that the worst part of the death penalty is a factor.
“The major problem with the death penalty in the United States is this: The person most likely to get the death penalty in a capital trial is a black person who kills another black person,” Branch said.
Branch offers the theory that having money gives someone a better chance to fight against the law.
“The more money you have to provide yourself with better defense attorneys, the better your chances are,” he said.
Branch said he wants justice for the people.
“For me, it’s not primarily about protecting the society with the death penalty, it’s about justice,” he said.
The panel discussion came to the conclusion that it is the students’ job to listen to God and open God’s word so, in times of conflict, one can make a justified decision.
Editor’s Note: This version of the story corrects a spelling error in the lead.