Background: If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. Anyone who does not take up their cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Jesus, Gospel of Matthew. In such an ethos, where you no longer “cling to life” but rather die to self and live to serve others, you really come alive and “live”. Christian men today can personally experience this paradox that Jesus spoke of. The word for “life” that Jesus used in these Matthew passages was psuche, which refers to our “heart and soul”, not necessarily our physical life. This fact is of paramount importance in understanding the nature of our calling—of our mission.
Jesus used the same word for life in John 10:11, “the Good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep”, and in John 15:12-14, “no greater love than this that a man lay down his life for his friends”. Jesus set the bar for our own conduct, by freely giving his heart and soul for us. In giving His heart and soul Jesus also freely gave up His “life” to cruel, brutal executioners so that “all who called upon His name might be saved.” Really amazing…Amazing Grace!!
Jesus used the same word for life in John 10:11, “the Good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep”, and in John 15:12-14, “no greater love than this that a man lay down his life for his friends”. Jesus set the bar for our own conduct, by freely giving his heart and soul for us. In giving His heart and soul Jesus also freely gave up His “life” to cruel, brutal executioners so that “all who called upon His name might be saved.” Really amazing…Amazing Grace!!
Discussion: Elite warriors who are they? To begin with, they are not “elitist”! Rather, they are masters of the fundamentals of their trade. They possess a maturity developed through training and operational experience; seasoned disciples relentlessly pursuing self-improvement; absolutely understand the imperative of unit cohesion; wear stress and uncertainty well; share cherished values and a love of life and love for each other; are absolutely accountable; quickly and decisively covering a team member’s mistake rather than call attention to it; and they love their mission–their calling—for which they are willing to die. I was once privileged to serve in such a unit, the Navy Seawolves, the highest decorated Navy Squadron of the Vietnam War. We flew helicopter gunships supporting Navy SEAL and Swift boats. Forty-four Seawolves and 46 SEALS were killed in action.
There is a pronounced awe and respect in our culture with regard to units like Navy SEALs, Delta Force, Army Rangers and other elite teams. Throughout the history of warfare, the success or failure of great campaigns have often been determined by the effective employment of elite units operating in concert with the larger conventional force. Besides the aforementioned, some other notable examples would be Alexander the Great’s Companions and Napoleon’s Old Guard. At this point you may well note that these are all examples of natural warfare and rightly ask, “Is there a spiritual warfare application?” …or, “What does this have to do with my church life?” The proclamations of Luke 4:18-19, to set the oppressed free, may answer these questions. Note the motto of US Special Forces, De oppresso liber, To free the oppressed.
From the beginning such actions have been in our spiritual DNA. In Genesis 14, Abram leads 318 “trained” men on a daring hostage rescue mission about 90 miles distant. The Hebrew word we translate for trained is chaniyk also means ‘practiced’ or ‘initiated’. Abram chose men who had been trained or discipled to be men of purpose and men of action…men prepared to face adversity. Abram did not say, “every man come with me”, rather the “trained” men of the covenant. Abram led these men in a bold night attack and recovered all his hostage kinsmen and all his “stuff”. Sounds like a mission I would want to be qualified for and would desire to be invited to go on!
Another great example is the familiar account of Gideon in Judges 6 and 7. Here we have a conventional army of 32,000 men sifted down to 300 elite warriors and finally divided, at night, into 3 groups of 100. These were men who could be trusted to follow orders and execute detailed, specific instructions…they were disciplined and mature men who demonstrated the power of unit cohesion—and they could also fight at night. Gentlemen, all of our pastors need such a compliment of trusted men, a band of brothers, to operate with confidence and under authority in the spiritual darkness of our modern culture. I call such men “no moon” warriors. They use spiritual night vision goggles, Truth, for illumination to fight and to “own the night”.
Later on, in scripture some 50 “mighty men”, elite warriors all, gathered around King David as described in 1 Chronicles 11 and 12. The text describes the quality of leadership, the attitude and single-minded focus of these warriors as they gathered to “make David king”. This formative time of resolving leadership roles and building trust relationships in David’s new army was necessary to win, with the entire army, on the battlefields that lay just ahead. Most pastors I have known would love to have such a “men’s ministry group”, with a single-minded focus to follow their pastor and “make Jesus Lord of all”.
In the New Testament we find the consummate apex special operations warrior in the man Jesus Christ. He began recruiting, making disciples and forming a potent “fire team”. In His mission to conquer sin and the grave, Jesus was relentless in doing only what He saw Father doing. He was faithful—to serve others and to love others. Jesus was passionate and committed in his purpose to “destroy the works of the devil, see 1 John 3:8. In short, Jesus exemplified every elite warrior quality mentioned in paragraph four, and so very much more. Finally, He assaulted a hill looming on the horizon…armed only with a cross. He took that hill called Calvary, and instead of a flag—He planted Himself on that cross because…He loved you and me.
Mission: As men, we must decide to answer the call, just like Paul and Peter, “to be transformed into the image of Christ”. To be certain, a portion of this image must be trained and equipped as a spiritual warrior! Paul exemplified the qualities of an elite warrior in both the natural and spiritual realms. Our churches are filled with men sitting on their hands or busy doing religious stuff. Every army needs troops to march in parades and perform ceremonial duties. However, these actions are normally celebrating past accomplishments on the field of battle.
A seasoned warrior penned the words of 1 John 3:16, words actually form a warrior code to live by and have greatly simplified things for me: “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.” This maxim is applicable in both natural and spiritual realms. This is the day of battle, and we must put aside the parades, the ceremonies, and the “dress uniforms” for a season and be Jesusesque. Ask yourself this simple question… “Is there anything or anybody…anything at all, that I am willing to give my life for?” If not, just make sure your dress uniform is pressed your shoes are shined for the next parade.
Developed by: Barney Barnes, 01-30-19, Promise Keepers National Ambassador for the Military and Prisons