Does a church background help these young men and women in the armed forces?
Not too much. When I ask marines and sailors about their spiritual background, the most common answer I get is, “I used to go to church as a kid, but stopped going.” I don’t ask them about church attendance, but they throw it out there assuming it’s the answer I want. When I ask them if they have a relationship with the Lord, they look at me like I just asked them for their PIN number to their ATM card. Today’s churches are failing to train our young people as badly as today’s parents. It’s easier to put a kid in daycare than it is to have less income and stay home with the kids. It’s easier to put a kid in front of the TV so that mom and dad can have the freedom to pursue their interests. It’s much more difficult and time consuming to train and mentor children and raise them with real Christian values. It can be the same way in the military. Their leaders are not taking the time to get to know these young adults in order to train them to do their jobs well. But the leaders really blow
