C.S. Lewis unknowingly summed up our 2023 situation in his classic, “The Abolition of Man in 1943: “In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect from them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings to be fruitful.”In other words, we have created a culture of spiritual eunuchs. Lewis skillfully confronted what he considered to be an opposing cultural force, the education of men, which is only exacerbated by our failure to “make disciples”.
The soldier’s trade, if it is to mean anything at all, has to be anchored in an unshakeable code of honor: Otherwise, those of us who follow the drums become nothing more than a bunch of hired assassins walking around in gawdy clothes…a disgrace to God and mankind. Von Clausewitz, On War 1832
In his great book, The Faith of the American Soldier, Stephen Mansfield writes, “The warrior code takes a soldier and makes him a knight. It connects the natural life of a fighter to the supernatural understanding of the warrior calling. His duties are transformed into holy sacrifices; his sense of self is reformed into an image of the servant in pursuit of valor. He becomes part of a fellowship, a noble tradition that flows through him and carries him beyond the mediocre and the vain.”
In my first book, Born To Be a Warrior, I defined the “warrior spirit” as, “The passionate desire and determination in the heart of a man to prepare himself and to perfect himself for the stance against evil in the service of others.” Of this precept, I wrote that Jesus Christ is the consummate example for men to follow and described such personal conduct as being, Jesusesque.
Ethos: The distinguishing character, sentiment, moral nature, or guiding beliefs of a person, group or institution. – Webster’s Dictionary
“The nation that makes a great distinction between its scholars and its warriors will have its fighting done by cowards and its thinking done by fools.” Thucydides
The essence of war or warfare is a violent struggle between two hostiles, and irreconcilable wills, each trying to impose itself on the other. This is absolutely also true in spiritual warfare. Sun Tzu gave us this: “Thus, what is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy’s strategy.”
In modern warfare, a remotely positioned drone operator can eliminate an enemy threat by projecting the power of the nation, under the authority of The Constitution, via remote control. Jesus was astonished at how well the Centurion understood this principle of authority, “of sending the Word” and how it seamlessly applied to spiritual warfare. See Luke 7:7-8 and Matthew 8:8-9.
A primary purpose of discipleship/training in spiritual warfare is the same as natural warfare, to prepare the warrior to prevail in battle over a ruthless adversary. The great warrior Sun Tzu advised: “The Art of War teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy’s not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not coming but on the fact that we have made our position unassailable.” That unassailable position is, in Christ, on the solid rock! Martin Luther expressed this when he wrote “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”.
The Roman writer Flavius Vegitius made this observation about training that is so true in natural war and in spiritual war: “The courage of a soldier is heightened by his knowledge of his profession, and he only wants an opportunity to execute what he is convinced he has been perfectly taught. Small bands of men inured to war proceed to certain victory while on the contrary armies of raw undisciplined troops are but multitudes of men dragged to slaughter.” Christian leaders seeking to avoid the rigors of discipleship in 2023 should ponder the truths contained in this ancient observation.
Throughout history and into the modern era, this integrated relationship of warrior and weapon has enabled the weapon to become an extension of the warrior…his sight, his hearing, and his strength, loyalty, and passions. Under this principle, the warrior becomes vicariously an extension of the authority that the warrior serves under.
True warriors have always known that the use of any weapon is an acquired skill albeit a perishable skill. This fact makes discipleship a strategic imperative. In my own experiences in natural warfare today was always the day of battle. While warriors often talk of and remember past battles, and may even embellish past victories somewhat, the enemy in front of you is always a ‘today’ adversary. He is totally unimpressed with your past victories.
Paul makes the point in 2 Corinthians 10:3-4 that our spiritual weaponry that we fight with is not manufactured by Glock or General Dynamics but is nonetheless ‘mighty’ and can ‘demolish strongholds’. I interpret this to mean that The Word can be a laser guided bunker buster of the first order. However, this is a skill to be developed in discipleship and in ‘searching the scriptures daily’. Christian men must realize that Paul talks about the weapons we fight with—not the weapons we read about or talk about—rather, the weapons we “fight” with.
Many of our men have been Christians for many years but either have never developed a skillful use of The Word against demonic forces or have not ‘cleared spiritual leather’ for a long while. They may be familiar with the nomenclature of the whole armor of God but have not suited up for training or for game day…ever, or at least in a while. The writer of Hebrews, you may recall, was also disgusted with having to ‘feed milk’ to those ‘spiritual babes’ who should be ‘eating meat’. Hebrews 5:12-13.
Paul often used martial type imagery to make a spiritual warfare point such as Ephesians 6:13-17 and 2 Timothy 2:4. The life of Paul, before and after conversion, was that of a warrior and one who lived by a warrior code. It is important to note that several years of discipleship/training were necessary for Paul to make the transition to be an effective Christ follower. Knowing the paramount importance of discipleship for the warrior, Musashi the greatest of the Samurai said this…”Know Your Sword”. It is a critical imperative that we men “Know The Word” if we are to prevail in life’s battles.
A major spiritual warrior eventually emerged who could then observe the uniform/armor of a Roman soldier and develop a comprehensive/functional spiritual application, like Ephesians 6:10-18. Paul would later say with a confident humility, “imitate me as I imitate Christ”. Paul used the word mimeomai , which denotes a decisive act with permanent results. This is not achieved in a weekly Sunday morning service but rather in the intentional and protracted desire and determination of the warrior spirit, to prepare yourself and perfect yourself for the stance against evil in the service of others.
The scriptures give us such a code to live by in the person of Jesus Christ. Discipleship in such a warrior code takes a natural man or common soldier and makes him a bit supernatural…a knight of the realm. His duties are transformed into holy sacrifices and his image of himself is that of a servant on an honorable, noble, and risky quest. Just think for a moment of your image of our modern warriors engaging enemy warriors in foreign lands. Individually they are a member of a band of brothers, a noble tradition that carries them beyond the mediocre and the vain.
A similar, incredible adventure into destiny is available for all husbands, fathers, sons, and brothers who have a passionate desire to be a knight in His Majesty’s Service. This calling is in our spiritual DNA, because our Father God is a warrior, Exodus 15:3. To create casualties in the camp of the enemy, to be Jesusesque per 1 John 3:8.
The future of our nation will be written in the history of the Church going forward. The response of Christian men to evil in this ‘the day of battle’ will determine the outcome. Gideon responded correctly to being addressed as Gibbor or ‘mighty warrior’ in Judges 6:12. He responded because it was in his DNA, his true identity. What will be your response to the call in 2023? Rise up you men of God!
Prepared by: John R. “Barney” Barnes, 02-04-2023