[206 words]
Bombadier Theodore Halleck was not a praying man, but when he got in a tight spot over the target he would whisper to himself, “God, ya gotta. Ya gotta get me back. God, listen, ya gotta.” Lots of men promised the Almighty that if they got through they’d swear off liquor and women. Halleck said he never promised that, “because I figured that if God was really God, He’d be bound to understand how men feel about liquor and women” (Excerpt from The Story of World War II by Donald L. Miller ).
On the one hand, it’s understandable that people facing almost certain death would cry out to God when they normally would not. It is hoped that for some that would be the first step on their journey to seek God, find Him, and serve Him, should He grant their survival.
On the other hand, it is tragic to hold to the notion that God would “understand,” that is, empathetically condone, any and all unrepentant sin, and have that as the reason one would choose to not pledge to God to not work to repent of and avoid those sins. Such a mindset is a form of modern idolatry, making God in one’s own image.
Jon Mitchell
East Main Street church of Christ
Murfreesboro, TN