In the early 1800s, the Native Americans who lived in and around Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, had no idea that their mountains, their woods, and their streams would some day become one of the bloodiest battlefields of the American Civil War.

They had their own problems. Much of their lives were inextricably intertwined with the Chickamauga Creek. It provided water to drink, water in which to wash their clothes, water for bathing, fish to eat, and a pathway for their canoes. During an outbreak of smallpox, the creek also provided a speedy way to spread the virus and bring death to thousands. Chickamauga Creek became known as the “River Of Death”.

In 1863, some of the bloodiest fighting of the Civil War took place at Chickamauga. Nearby Chattanooga, with its rail center, represented the gateway to the heart of the Confederacy. Thus, this area had great strategic value to both sides.

Speaking of “both sides”, let me allow you to jump smack dab into the middle of my recent stream of consciousness. I went to Ft. Oglethorpe to visit our daughter for a week. Her home is about a mile or so from the entrance to the Chickamauga National Military Park. While Kathi taught high school in nearby Ringgold, GA, I had an opportunity to visit some of my favorite areas in the park.

Very early one morning, I sat on a little hill overlooking cannons, monuments, grassy fields, and Chickamauga Creek. In the early morning mists, I formed a mental picture of the carnage that had taken place right there 135 years ago. I could make out the now ghostly figures, some clad in blue, some in grey, as they fought their way toward each other. I could hear the musket balls whizzing through the trees. I could smell the burned gunpowder. Often, the combat was hand to hand. Their weapons were rather crude and not all that accurate. Thousands were killed. Many thousands more were wounded.

It occurred to me that of all the wars in which the United States of America has participated, organized, pursued, or tried to settle, this war was the greatest tragedy. Americans weren’t fighting somewhere else around the world. Americans were fighting each other! In some instances, brothers from the same family ended up fighting on opposite sides. Friends and family members were torn up, displaced, and driven from familiar places.

Brothers fighting brothers. American citizens fighting American citizens. As a very amateur Civil War buff, I find this war the saddest war of all time. I don’t want to try and dissect the Civil War. I don’t want to try and prove who was responsible. I only want to grieve for the horrendous loss of life on both sides. I have ancestors who fought for both the Blue and Grey.

As my mind kept bringing up pictures, another scene began to form. I began to see another army, the army of the Lord. The soldiers of this army are offered the best armor:

“Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”(Ephesians 6:11-17) The citizens who form this army are encouraged by the Lord to live together in harmony and unity (Romans 15:5; Ephesians 4:3; Ephesians 4:13; Colossians 3:14). They’re instructed to confess their sins to each other (James 5:16) and settle disputes quickly and fairly (Matthew 5:25).

Yet, I once read this opinion by a man of God: “The Christian Army is the only army in the world that kills its own wounded.” A major part of what I’ m called to do involves counseling. I counsel locally with families. Internet counseling is becoming more frequent. One of the toughest areas in which I counsel is with congregations – primarily churches headed for a split unless healing takes place. There are local congregations across our country who are shooting verbal bullets at one another, lobbing ill-aimed projectiles at the “enemy” across the aisle in another pew. Brother and sister fighting against brother and sister. Often, the weak and tired just drop out and nurse their wounds, unable any longer to fight those whom they’ve been instructed to love, much less to fight the supposed common enemy, the devil.

I get E-mail every week from folks who are discouraged in their own local churches. Politics, in-fighting, battles for power, prestige and position. Sometimes it involves petty issues. More often than not, the true problems are not so petty. Church splits are so common today. New churches spring up in our area in just about any building that can be rented on Sunday.

I have personally dealt with churches who fought over the color of paint that was used to paint Sunday School classrooms; another involved people who were upset because plastic communion cups were used instead of glass; still another sprang from differences of opinion about whether the pastor wore ties that were too “loud”. The list is practically endless. I grieved as I sat on the Chickamauga Battlefield. As sad as the pictures in my mind were from the Civil war, even sadder were the pictures in my mind of today’s church. Full of Christians claiming the power of an Almighty God. Full of claims to special access to Godly wisdom, knowledge, and insight. Yet, I also see, up close and personal at times, the look of disdain, incredulity, and mockery on the faces of those who make no such claims to know or serve our God. I believe they figure that if knowing this all-powerful, all-knowing God didn’t help us in the church get along all that well, perhaps there really wasn’t much to the whole thing.

Onward, Christian Soldiers! Gee, sometimes I wonder. Any Life Lessons in all of this? This week, I’m leaving that up to you! E-mail is always welcome.

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