Parable Reflections & Military Parades

That's the bibliography citation for the source of a Facebook post I found in my feed this morning.  The post quoted from a Newsweek article that began, "President Donald Trump's military parade is set to kick off on Veterans Day, but at a cost that even conservative estimates show could feed every homeless veteran for at least two weeks, a Newsweek analysis found."

That's a well-crafted sentence if your purpose is to belittle the President, because using 'conservative" as an adjective to mean a traditional, not over-the-top standard of estimation will simultaneously and subliminally insert the notion that "even conservatives," the political bloc, are against him. But that is not the case. Many patriots see this parade as a brilliant part of a larger plan.
 
My first response was this—

What Trump understands about money and Newsweek apparently does not is that this parade is going to generate tons of support for our veterans and our military. So yes, he could feed the veterans Chicken à la King for two weeks, or, he could inspire the we-the-people across the nation to invest in the VA and push their representatives to help fix what Obama had deconstructed. If Newsweek really wants to find money to feed the vets, they can always go investigate the sums that we are spending to feed the border-crashers. That money would feed our Veterans a lot longer than two weeks. The article was just another whine about Trump.

It's fairly easy to see that Newsweek has abandoned the wisdom old proverb about teaching a man to fish:  Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. And no, I am not suggesting that all veterans need to go back to school. Retraining may help some, but we are not dealing with a one-size-fits-all answer. I am talking about Newsweek's argument being based on a short-term remedy, after which, one is left with the original problem unchanged.

A parade would inspire many to see the value of our military, both past and future. It says that those who contribute to national security are worth investing in. It's a great recruiting device, not just for enlistments, but to recruit national pride and support among the citizenry. That's the genius of MAGA: recruit national pride and that form of self-respect motivates the citizens to do better and work more enthusiastically as a team.

The idea of a parade does more than make an appeal to patriots, however. Running across its surface is a streak of inspiration where Trump potentially plays the Left.  The Left claims to be all about safety. They want safety so much that they believe we ought to be willing to give up a prodigious selection of our freedoms for it! A parade is a balancing trick for them. If they oppose the military too harshly, Americans will see that they don't care about safety as much as they claim; but if they support it too much, their enemy Trump wins. About the only card they can play is the one that attempts to make Trump look like a spendthrift.

But some actions that look wasteful on the surface are investments that produce great returns. This came up in Jesus' ministry when John records this scene in Chapter 12 of his gospel:

5"Why wasn’t this perfume sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?" 6Judas did not say this because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. As keeper of the money bag, he used to take from what was put into it…

In context, Mary (not Jesus' mother, but Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus) had taken roughly a pint of an essential oil called nard¹ and poured it over Jesus's feet. And here we see Judas complaining that this was too extravagant, just as Newsweek is complaining that a military parade is too extravagant. But the Bible then explains that Judas's compassion for the poor was fake and that he had very different motives. Similarly, Newsweek has exposed itself as having a motive other-than compassion for our Veterans. Their contention that a parade is too extravagant quickly falls apart when their true motives are exposed.

Often, God is extravagant. And Jesus was fine, even impressed, with Mary's extravagant in this situation.  "Leave her alone," Jesus replied. "She was intended to keep this perfume to prepare for the day of My burial,"  John 12:7.


Extravagance is God's true nature.²  But while we are living here on the Bootcamp Planet, He wants us to learn Value. If all we ever knew was His extravagance, it would be our normal and we would never develop a standard or baseline to appreciate God. Remember, Adam tried the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and as a consequence, we learn about the evil of lack as well as the provision of a good God. And we also learn about the evil of using fake motives to manipulate outcomes.

Judas's little speech was befitting the description of Psalm 55:21, His speech is smooth as butter, but war is in his heart. His words are softer than oil, yet they are swords unsheathed.  And Newsweek's article fits this characterization as well.

Newsweek will probably be out of business before the parade. They have been in financial trouble for a long time, as far back as ending the dollar-sucking print edition in 2013. That was to give them more time and a reboot, but this past March, an audio recording surfaced with one of their executives saying that the publication has "only weeks to get out of financial straits or it will die." (sources: Newsmax, Daily Beast)
It has been three months now, and they are still pumping out articles with an anti-Trump bias. Perhaps the rising tide has kept their boat afloat a bit longer.

One of the most important things we can learn on this Bootcamp Planet is to judge things in line with God's values, which are usually radically different than man's values. God values things as simple as a cup of water.³ He also values a heart with pure motives. If you understand that the Lord places a high value on pure motives, then you will be able to understand why He also considers slander to be such a Big Sin. Slander is the destruction of someone's character by giving false witness. When that false witness is against something that God highly values, such as a pure motive, the sin is compounded. President Trump has been clear that he wants to make America great again. Anyone who still questions the authenticity of his motive by slander is putting himself in double jeopardy for divine judgment.

Bring on the parade! It is motivated by the intent to help make America better. 


Footnotes

Nard

¹ Nard is an intensely aromatic oil that is collected by crushing the rhizomes of a flowering plant. The oil is then distilled, purifying and thickening it. Nard was an ingredient in the special incense the Israelite priests burned in the temple in Jerusalem and was also used in local synagogues on Shabbat. It is estimated that the value of the nard Mary used was equal to the average annual income at that time.
² God's extravagance ought to be self-evident, but if you need a footnote, think about how He is Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent. Think about the extravagant variation of Creation. Think about how he loved the world so much that He gave His only son; that's omnibenevolence.
³ Matthew 10:42 — And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is My disciple, truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.