"If we would endeavor, like men of courage, to stand in the battle, surely we would feel the favorable assistance of God from Heaven. For he who giveth us occasion to fight, to the end we may get the victory, is ready to succor those that fight manfully, and do trust in his grace." -Thomas A Kempis
With each chapter John begins with a few quotes. Usually song lyrics, occasionally Scripture, and often from other pieces of literature. Very few have really hit me with this reading, but this one did. We've come to the part that thrills the heart of every man, the warrior. This is written deeply into our image. Exodus 15.3 declares, "The Lord is a warrior; The Lord is His name." And in Genesis it says we are made in the image of God, and therefore, man is a warrior.
"A man needs a battle to fight; he needs a place for the warrior in him to come alive and be honed, trained, seasoned... every man is a warrior, yet every man must choose to fight... the warrior is crucial in our movement toward any masculine integrity; it is hard wired into every man."
Every man is a warrior, and a warrior needs a battle to fight if he is to stay a warrior. For his skills to stay sharp he has to use them, and it's crucial that his skills be honed because we live in a world at war, as C.S. Lewis points out, I believe in Mere Christianity, or as Aragorn tells Theoden in The Two Towers, "Open war is upon you whether you would risk it or not."
Every man is a warrior, and every man is born into war, but every man has the choice to join the fight or not. But it is crucial that we do, because without the warrior it is impossible for us to continue on in the journey to man hood. Without being a warrior, a man cannot be a Man of God.
I am not saying that all men must serve in the military to be a real man. I didn't serve, one of the only regrets I have in life, as many of the men I know have not. But literal war is not the only battle there is to fight, and those who put their lives on the line for our freedom are not the only ones who are warriors.
"A man must have a battle to fight, a great mission to his life that involves and yet transcends even home and family. He must have a cause to which he is devoted even unto death, for this is written into the fabric of his being. That is why God created you - to be his intimate ally, to join him in the Great Battle. You have a specific place in the line, a mission God made you for. That is why it is so essential to hear form God about your true name, because in that name is the mission of your life."
You were made to stand side by side with God in this war. You were created for this, and "your whole life has been preparation for battle." Everything that has happened in your life has been part of your training, God's boot camp if you will. The things we have experienced and been through, have served to prepare us for the things we encounter in war. And you have an essential part, you play an irreplaceable role, "No one else can be who you are meant to be. You are the hero in your story." John says, you are William Wallace, armed with a claymore not the guy four rows back with a garden hoe.
God created you to stand next to Him and push forward. The training has happened, the wounds that have been inflicted have been healed, you have been given your true name which comes with an identity and therefore a mission, and now you are ready for battle. "This is the next leg in the initiation journey, when God calls a man forward to the front lines."
The Spartans were the greatest warriors of the ancient world. Take away gunpowder, and I might be tempted to say they were the greatest warriors ever (the Navy SEALs would be the only ones who I'd say would stand a chance against them with hand to hand weapons). A single Spartan was a force to be reckoned with, his whole life had been devoted to preparing for war. He was trained to ignore pain, and went into battle hoping to meet a warrior worthy and able to give him his death. The Spartans were taught never to retreat and were told, "Come back carrying your shield, or on it." Just one of them could take on pretty much any opponent, but the Spartan army was nearly invincible.
The numbers of the Battle of Thermopylae vary based on your source, but the Spartans were greatly outnumbered, and still held their own for three days killing tens of thousands of Persians. The secret was in their phalanx. This battle formation was formed by the Spartans standing side by side with their massive shields overlapping. Each warrior protected himself and the man to his left. The older, experienced warriors, would be in front and back where the fighting was most intense. In the center there were young Spartans who were learning how to fight in an actual war. But no Spartan stayed in the middle forever. The day would come from each of them to be called to the front, being given the honor to add his shield to the phalanx.
We are at this stage in the journey were God has called us forward, we get to join our shield to the phalanx. God is standing to your right, covering you with His shield. And you have the chance to call others to join you. I've shared the meaning of the names I've picked out for my sons, and along with those names I have picked out a life verse for them. To my first, "Mighty, Man of God" I've picked out 2 Timothy 2.1-4, "You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier." The time will come when he will be called to join the front lines, to add his shield to the phalanx, to stand firm with me as a solider of Christ. And when he is called to the front it will be because he is ready.
God has called you to the front lines. You have what it takes. You are a warrior.
"Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen." Ephesians 3.20-21
To God alone be the Glory!
Strength and Honor
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