September 2020 – Incarnation Pianity

Prayer Warrior: An Oxymoron?

Like me, if you claim to be Christian, you have probably seen the term “prayer warrior” a lot in the past year or so—in church bulletins and newsletters, articles in religious publications, print or digital. I recently came across the term “spiritual warrior” in a story I was reading.

Although “spiritual warrior” doesn’t bother me quite as much as “prayer warrior,” I find both of these terms jarring and offensive.

How has prayer become about fighting and killing enemies? Yes, I know there is much of that in the Old Testament. I also know that American culture today has become all about fighting and dividing ourselves into good and evil camps with righteous and militant soldiers in each.

I also know that Christianity has been “militarized” for a long time. As a teenager, I sang a high energy song with the words “Onward, Christian Soldiers, marching as to war, with the Cross of Jesus going on before.”

Holy militarized liturgy, Batman! What does this language say about our image of God or even the teachings of Jesus? Remember Matt 26:52 in which Jesus said to Peter: “Put away your sword. . . Those who use the sword will die by the sword?” Then there is all that “love your enemies” and the “least shall be first” stuff in the gospels as well.

Sure, the “prayer warriors” will tell you that the term doesn’t refer to real killing, but only to “storming” (another military term) Heaven with our prayers. Well, without questioning your good intentions, I would humbly submit to you that language matters!

When we ask God to help us fight our enemies (which is what prayer warriors do, I assume), we are once again, as we do so often, worshipping—if only in the language we use—a god of our own invention. And that is idolatry. God is a lover, not a fighter. Hence, the Cross, which we transform into a sword all too often.

So let’s take our “prayer warriors” off the front lines of conflict and return then to home and field, where they can say their prayers more lovingly without their uniforms on—and perhaps beat those swords into plowshares on the weekend.

Jesus would like that.

Like many other things in today’s polarized climate, “diversity” has become an attack word used by those on the political right. This demonization of people unlike us is one key reason why we cannot unite on the greatest threat facing us—global warming that may destroy our beautiful planet.

Current wealth and income disparity in our country has placed millions in great danger; one in eight families struggles to buy food each day. The pandemic and loss of jobs means that many Americans face exhausted savings and fear eviction for non-payment of rent or mortgages. For the first time in US history, a majority of Americans fear their children will not do as well as they have.

This is why many of us and some of our European neighbors have lost confidence in their government’s ability to help them and turned to far-right nationalist populist parties. What these parties promise is not a real solution to their problems but rather the emotionally comforting assurance that they are the truly worthy people who must unite against them. Them are the feared “others”—ethnic, religious, or gender minorities who are blamed for taking their jobs and causing them to lose status and respect.