The Christian Faith, the Way of the Samurai?

I am ashamed to say it, but after a long day at work I like to relax for a few minutes and spin the cable TV wheel. I never really have anything in mind, but it’s relaxing just to scan through the channels. After walking in the door the other day I threw myself onto the couch and aimlessly began flipping through. I usually budget about 5 seconds per channel, but I stopped completely when I came upon a program about Japan and its Samurais. The narrator was discussing the traits of the Samurai and it hit me instantly that many of these traits could interchangeably be used to describe someone who is totally dedicated to God and his plans. These traits were summed up in what is commonly referred to as the seven virtues. They are rectitude, courage, benevolence, respect, complete sincerity, honor, and loyalty. Join me as I take a look at them and compare these two seemingly opposite belief systems.

If someone is said to have rectitude then they have moral virtue, principles, or integrity. It is funny that this is listed first amongst the virtues since it should also be the foundation to build from for the Christian as well. Living a moral, principled life full of integrity is to be like Christ.

Courage takes many forms. When I say courage you may think of a man or women on the battle field risking their life to save a fallen comrade. There is another side to courage that is sometimes overlooked, but is just as important. It is moral courage which shows itself in the face of shame, scandal, and discouragement. In Ephesians 3:13 Paul tells the people of Ephesus to not be discouraged because of his sufferings. Paul shows us that despite all that is coming down on you and around you we need to hold on to this courage.

Throughout the New Testament we are shown over and over again that we are to be concerned with the welfare of others. There are a multitude of examples where the followers of Christ were told to give. The third virtue talked about is benevolence, the unbiased push to do good to others. In Luke 18 we see the story of the rich young ruler. He asks Jesus what he needs to do to inherit eternal life and Jesus tells him, “Sell everything you have and give to the poor.” We like the Samurai are called to be benevolent.

The Samurai knew that respect for them and others generally created results that were good for everybody. A lack of respect did the exact opposite and caused problems. We as Christians are to respect all of mankind. We are told to love our neighbor. This command to love our neighbor is drastically above the need to respect them, but that is the weight that God places on people.

When the list of virtues mentions complete sincerity, I believe that it is speaking about the need for the Samurai to always speak the truth. We as Christians are also commanded to do this. Christians prescribe to a list of rules or commandments found in the Bible. The ninth commandment states that we will not bear false witness. We Christians, like the Samurai, are commanded to always speak the truth.

The virtue that is hardest to nail down is the idea of honor. Honor is hard to define because it plays itself out in so many ways. I think we can all agree that it is important to have honor, but at what cost. The world may see something that we Christians do as dishonorable, yet it is honorable in the eyes of God. We are told to measure our lives by God’s code. The Samurai code and the commands of Christians are alike since we see the value in honor, yet we define honor by different means.

Loyalty is the devotion to one’s friends, family, and group. In the case of the Samurai their loyalty was with their master, or emperor. In our case as Christians we should be devoted to our Master or Lord, Jesus. This loyalty looks the same for both since this loyalty is unto death. Many Christians have met their demise refusing to be disloyal to Christ.

While there are many differences in the Samurai and the Christian, I was fascinated by some of the similarities. It was as if I was reading devotion about Christian life. There is a movement within the Christian church to rediscover the old ways of the early Christians, and to revive them. I want to look all around for the lessons that God teaches. God shows himself in many ways to his followers.