Some years ago, I visited a museum that had an exhibition on the cost of war.
Near the centre of the museum, there was a simple digital counter that showed an estimate of the number of lives lost in wars since the start of the 20th century. This impossibly long number kept ticking up and up and up and up.
Those moments watching that counter certainly had an impact on me – just as the images from Ukraine probably impact us today. But a few years later another moment had a greater impact on me.
Making it personal
I heard a news report that a soldier from my hometown had just died in the Afghanistan war. When I heard the name, I realised that the young man (just 20 years old) was a former classmate from school. I didn’t know him very well. We’d have talked together in class; we’d have played sports together on the field; we’d have worked in groups together in lessons. The news didn’t impact me because we were close. Instead, it impacted me because it made the Afghanistan war personal. Up until then, the war was just an event happening thousands of miles away, but now this news put a familiar human face to the conflict.
The Bible contains numerous accounts of conflicts. Sometimes it recounts stories of large-scale war but more often it portrays its personal consequences. Just think of the fighting that David experienced first-hand. In fact, he penned a moving expression of the pain and mess caused by such fighting (2 Samuel 1).
It is this sense of the personal impact of war that is all too easily lost today.
As history has marched on and as technology has developed, war has become increasingly de-personalised. They can now be directed and fought at great distances from where the action actually takes place and where its consequences are really felt.
So when we come to days like Anzac day, we can feel disconnected from war and its victims. We can also be overwhelmed by the sheer numbers involved – they are beyond comprehension.
Remembering people, not numbers
Yet days like this are vital because they remind us that people cannot be reduced to numbers counted on a digital counter. People’s lives matter. Those who have died in wars and those who will die in conflicts in the future are important. They are people with names, personalities, gifts, talents and amusing stories. They have families; fathers, mothers, spouses, grandparents and children; they have friends, colleagues and sports teams.
On Anzac day we remember the countless lost – but we must remember that they are that; people. If Anzac day is going to be an important time of remembrance and a spur to pursue peace where possible, it will be because we remember individual people, not just numbers.
The few for the many
As Christians, we believe that each and every person matters. People can’t be reduced to statistics because they are individuals who God has lovingly created, cared for and provided for (Acts 14:17). Just think of Jesus and the energy, time and love He gave to people. Sometimes He did speak to whole groups of people but more often He spent time with individuals. Or think of Old Testament stories: we have the stories of God leading the nation of His people but we also have stories of individuals like Ruth and Naaman.
In the 20th century, churches were some of the first public places to build memorials to remember the fallen of the world wars. The majority of these memorials, things like plaques, statues and stained glass windows, feature the names of individuals. It was because Christians recognise that each person matters.
Ultimately, as Christians, we believe that people matter because our loving God gave His life for them and for us (John 3:16).
When delivering one of his famous wartime speeches, Winston Churchill had planned to say, “Never in the history of mankind have so many owed so much to so few”, but a thoughtful assistant responded, “What about Jesus?” Churchill immediately changed his words from ‘the history of mankind’ to ‘the field of human conflict’. He wanted to honour all those who have indeed given their lives during war for the many, but he knew that in a unique way, Jesus gave His life for all.
So, on Anzac Day we rightly remember those who have given their lives for the many. And as Christians, we always remember the One who gave His life for the world.
Editor’s note: Because it can be hard to remember the fallen or relate to war in a personal way, we’d like to share another article with you that tells the story of an Australian chaplain who served in WW1:
