Mighty Warriors and Saving the Beauty

Ethos is a term that is not in wide use in modern culture, however, it is a well-known term in warrior cultures. If you are not familiar, it will be an important term to incorporate into your lexicon going forward. An ethos is simply the distinguishing character, sentiment, moral nature, or guiding beliefs of a person, group, or organization. A great example from scripture of warrior ethos would be the familiar, Gideon’s band of 300 which evolved in Judges 6-7. When we men embrace the warrior ethos we refine and define that realm for which there is an ever-increasing, even desperate need, for Christian men to enter into…just as in the scenario of Judges 6-7.

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 Gideon’s army there were 32,000 soldiers but only 300 warriors, please let me explain.

I have found from serving in combat and in law enforcement that, Stephen Mansfield was spot on, in that all who wear the uniform are not warriors. In my 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.” Because this perfectly describes what Jesus did for each of us, I call this being Jesusesque! King David, after committing a very serious sin, cried out with great passion, “Create in me a pure heart, O Lord, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10 (NIV). God’s primary target is indeed our heart, not our head. I believe this “supernatural understanding of the warrior calling”, that Stephen Mansfield observed first hand, is a heart issue and is a key for a Christian man becoming a mighty warrior.

Brothers: “What we do in life--echoes in eternity”, is a great warrior quote of Maximus from the movie Gladiator, which most of us have seen at least one time. This is also a fact of life, for in our hearts, we men long for a quest. We long for an identity with something valorous in response to a higher calling that will echo beyond our years. We yearn for the glory of a decisive, hard fought, victory over the evil prince, e.g., The Princess Bride movie. And why not? After all, it is only by such a noble deed and act of courage that the captive maiden can be rescued. This, of course, is the story line of virtually every movie that men rush to see e. g., Brave Heart. “An adventure to live, a danger to encounter, a battle to fight, a dragon to slay, and all to rescue the beauty”. According to John Eldredge, that’s what we men were made for! That “beauty” could be your wife, your children, your friends, your Faith…or simply all that you hold dear.

We yearn for so much more than going to work and paying the bills, eating and sleeping, recreation…even going to church on Sunday. Our real dream is to live a heroic, even sacrificial life for others knowing that our legacy will ‘echo in eternity’. Why is this? We men really do want to believe, in our hearts, that we were born to be warriors…to be men of honor…to echo and demonstrate a powerful vision-casting life message of a man of integrity! How can a man not believe what is imprinted in his DNA…having been created in his Father’s image? While the enemy’s chief strategy is to deceive us…to have us believe a lie and to live emasculated and passive lives, embracing the status quo. All the while, our women and children are desperately counting on us…to act on the “truth” of The Father’s plan for His sons! To be their real, fully alive and inspiring super-hero! Yeah! A mighty warrior…why not?

Barney Barnes, 02-08-2022, Promise Keepers National Ambassador for the Military and Prisons