Missionaries to the Secular Age
How God is Using Chaplains Today
Occasionally, I have the opportunity to counsel those called to ministry. I always remind them to remember one of the pastoral ministry's most historic and effective expressions: The Chaplaincy. The Chaplaincy today is undergoing significant growth. These open doors for these expanded ministry opportunities are related to the increasing secularization of the West (including North America). “Secularization and more Gospel opportunities? That doesn’t sound right.” But the research bears it out (see, e.g., Involved with Mankind: A Theology of Chaplain Ministry). This is the glorious paradox of the Gospel at work today.
The paradox of the Gospel is that the cross, the sign of shame, became the symbol of salvation. The grave, the icon of death, became the open tomb, the invitation to new and eternal life. Thus, in the ruling motif of the Gospel, the things that seek to destroy God’s work become a servant to advance it. The “Roman roads” that carried troops to kill Christians served as highways of hope to fulfill the Great Commission. Similarly, the high priests of the secular age—viz., the prevailing philosophical voices of our time—seek to diminish the role of the Christian faith.
Thus, in the ruling motif of the Gospel, the things that seek to destroy God’s work become a servant to advance it.
Not long ago, television and radio stations and other media offered public service announcements to “ go to the church of your choice.” If you are over sixty years old or so, you will remember (if not this particular recording) public service announcements like this one from NBC:
It is impossible to imagine any broadcast allowing valuable ad space to promote the Christian faith or Judaism, as this example did. If, however, the dominant worldview recognizes that all of the material bounty of America and modern Western culture “cannot bring happiness” (as this PSA warned), then it is perfectly reasonable to expect that everyone would want to support the active embrace of the free exercise of religion. Thus, we can find things like the Code of Ethics for television and movies in the archives of things no longer used. The secular age takes a different view of the First Amendment. Rather than promoting religion as a stabilizing centerpiece of society, secularist worldviews see the promotion of the Christian faith and historic Judaism as harmful to the licentious spirit of evil at work in the world. Yet, here is the thing:
The deconstruction of society, discarding the truths of the Bible and the Person and work of Jesus Christ from the public square, produces “hollow men” (T. S. Eliot). Charles Taylor called the phenomenon of a worldview without “God with us” as “excarnation.” The removal of God from our lives brings predictable spiritual chaos. Since people are not in church, since they seek to find more meaning in work, and since people must have spiritual food (even if it is laced with strychnine in some cases), all of which causes people to seek spiritual help, corporations, healthcare institutions, offshore oil rigs, airports, government agencies, the Armed Forces, merchant marine operations, and anywhere people are placed into organizations, secure chaplains. We must understand “chaplain” as another word for the pastoral office in a missionary setting.1 From the standpoint of others, “chaplains” seem to be a “safe” way to meet the spiritual needs of their workforce. By “safe,” I meant to say that research has shown that chaplains, as a group, are seen as more approachable and less intimidating than parish pastors. You and I know that is not what we believe. We want people in assembly with each other in a covenanted place of worship with all of the marks of the Church present. Yet, suppose we recognize our chaplains as missionaries to the secular age and, as such, a first step in fulfilling the Great Commission. In that case, we can see how the Lord will use chaplains to reach the lost and send these converts into covenanted Christian communities, i.e., the local church.
So this is how the Lord uses the worldview that opposes Him to reach those who resist Him. Chaplains are at the forefront of the mission to people in the secular age. And for that, we can be thankful. And we can be hopeful. The Lord is in control.
Read about chaplaincy here: https://michaelmilton.org/2019/11/11/why-we-serve-an-old-army-chaplain-reflects-on-living-the-dream/
Learn more about the Presbyterian and Reformed Commission on Chaplains here: https://pcamna.org/ministry/chaplain-ministries/
Read about the concept of “total institutions,” which creates a “closed loop” organizational model (e.g., the Armed Forces). See M. A. Milton. (2016) “The Chaplaincy and Closed Institutions.” Faithforliving.org.