Worth dying for?

The looming prospect of World War Three? A decline in the number of young people applying for ministry apprenticeships, training courses and job adverts (see Karen Soole's article in this issue)?

There might not seem to be much linking these disparate situations. But maybe there’s a common thread.

Whether or not we are in the run-up to global war, the possibility is being much-discussed in the media. According to the reputable polling company YouGov, ‘most Britons’ now think such a conflict is ‘likely’ in the next five to ten years. General Sir Patrick Sanders, head of the British Army, said UK citizens should be ‘trained and equipped’ to fight Russia as we are now a ‘pre-war generation’.

At the same time as all this, there has also been much speculation about whether people in Britain would want to fight. Again according to YouGov, ‘more than a third of under-40s would refuse conscription in the event of a world war’ – a number higher than those who say they would either volunteer or accept conscription.

A perceptive article in The Guardian by Martha Gill said that the ‘deeply individualist’ culture of Britain (as with other Western nations) meant army life ‘was always going to be a hard sell’. She explained: ‘In individualist cultures, citizens tend to see themselves as unique beings, rather than components in a social network… Young people in the West are not going to suddenly adopt values alien to the rest of their culture.’

While we are indeed all unique, its manifestation in the West as increasingly selfish individualism is a hallmark of sin. We may have different views on what a ‘just war’ is, or indeed whether pacificism is preferable – but either way, a ‘deeply individualist’ culture is not going to be fertile ground for the self-sacrifice and hardship that go with military service.

And the same goes for Christian ministry, of course. Glamorous it ain’t. Self-sacrifice and a ‘long obedience in the same direction’ are often required, year on year. It is tough. Add in repeated leadership scandals and the downgrading of any notion of a ‘call’ to ministry (en, October and November 2023) and it is not surprising fewer young people are applying.

Jesus is clear: ‘Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.’ How do we better convey that ministry may be one way the Lord is calling a young person (perhaps such as you reading this even now) to do just that?