The Value of a Warrior

Greetings My Brothers! Listen, just how many of you like movies such as Brave Heart, Saving Private Ryan, Gladiator, and Band of Brothers. Now listen to this… You awake and find yourself in the midst of a great and terrible war…complete with the violent sounds, the acrid smells and the visual devastation. You know, just like in the movies you rush to go see! Then, you suddenly realize the impact of this desperate hour as your eyes are now wide open---your heart is pumping--- adrenaline is rushing.

You realize it is no dream…you are on an epic quest for your King that will take you deep into enemy territory. Your mission is simple…break down some gates of bronze, cut through bars of iron (Psalm:107:16} and set some captives free! Just like in the movies. You then realize this will be a dangerous and difficult mission…that it will require a dangerous man…a warrior to complete. You take a deep breath…then you exhale with the full realization that you are that dangerous man…that warrior…and that you’re willing…to risk it all for your King. Just then you hear your King say, “Follow Me, Let’s Roll”!

Our old pal, Lawrence of Arabia, put it like this; “All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.” Pretty simple, huh?

As men we should intuitively know that there are certain things worth fighting for. For instance, our marriage…and surely the institution of marriage; children, whether they are yours or not; liberty, whether yours or your neighbor’s, and most certainly for the most defenseless, the unborn!

The war cry of the Zulu Warrior, Noma Kanjani: “Whatever the cost we will pay it”… this can be our war cry! The motto of our Special Forces is, De Oppressor Liber, To Free the Oppressed. Does that sound familiar? Jesus declared in Luke 4:18, that He was anointed, “to set the oppressed free.” This apex purpose is echoed in 1 John 3:8, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. Just to make sure there is no confusion here, Jesus declared in John 10:10 that the devil’s work was to steal, kill, and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. Gentlemen, our calling is clear…our calling is true…we must, without delay, answer our calling!

Life itself, a most precious gift, must often be fought for. Can anything in this life on earth that is good, precious, true, or beautiful be protected without a fight? Certainly not! This is why God made man in His image “tselem”, Genesis 1:16, because God’s plan was for man to join him in that battle, to take dominion over a fallen and dangerous world. Negotiate? Never! Never! Never!

My observation has been that most men come alive when we mention certain movies such as Brave Heart, Saving Private Ryan, Gladiator, and Band of Brothers. Why is this?! I learned at a National Coalition of Men’s Ministries Conference that there’s a lot of data now that supports the fact that men go to movies to discover their values rather that for entertainment. They also spend hour upon hour in the fantasy land of video games…slaying dragons, saving empires, and rescuing maidens. I believe this fresh intel needs to be exploited for Kingdom purposes. Our men really do want to be warriors…and that’s because it is in their spiritual DNA.

First, we must establish an understanding of the term “warrior” because all who “wear the uniform” are not warriors. I can attest to this fact from my own experiences as a navy combat pilot and law enforcement official. 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.” That is motivating!

To gain this understanding, we must enter the warrior ethos, and review the character and tone of this timeless, storied dimension. An ethos is not some mystical concept, it is simply the distinguishing character, sentiment, moral nature, or guiding beliefs of a person, group or institution.

–The Samurai warrior had an observation on this that I believe every pastor and every ministry leader needs to review and then translate into Kingdom speak. “There is an old saying, ‘When you go out your door, it is like seeing an enemy.’ Since you are a professional warrior and wear your swords at your side, you should never forget the spirit of combat at any time. A warrior who wears two swords at his side but does not put the spirit of combat into his heart is nothing but a peasant or a merchant wearing the skin of a warrior.” Code of the Samurai Remember those placards posted where you exit the church building…”You are entering the mission field”--maybe they should say, You are entering the battlefield.

Now most of you have probably already translated this 400-year-old, pagan doctrine into 2022 American Kingdom speak. In case you haven’t quite grasp it all, let me be of service. A Christian man who carries his Bible to church meetings, to Bible studies, and even to the Brave Heart men’s breakfast, but who does not have the spirit of combat in his heart, is nothing but a merchant wearing the skin of a warrior.

We must begin to build our warrior model “from the heart out”…not from the head down. Proverbs 4:23, Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Our Father God is a warrior, Exodus 15:3a, The Lord is a warrior and so warrior is in our spiritual DNA.

I have known many great natural warriors and spiritual warriors and each one had the spirit of battle in their heart. There was no apparent struggle in “getting their mind right” because their heart was right. It is essential to acknowledge that entering the warrior ethos is a heart issue. Jesus operated out of his heart…passion is a heart issue, love is a heart issue…these are not a cerebral processes. 1 John 3:16 describes a warrior’s heartbeat. 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 and sisters.

As men, we must understand this basic principle and here is a major clue to assist us. That clue is found in the definition of warrior spirit, because without it you do not have a warrior. I wrote a book, Born to Be a Warrior, which is based upon this definition: The passionate desire and determination in the heart of a man to prepare and to perfect himself for the stance against evil in the service of others. I came to call this mind set as being Jesusesque.

This is a definition I believe the Holy Spirit gave me one day…because I searched the internet and all my books and could find one nowhere. So, my definition of “warrior spirit” is contained in these three verses: Matthew 20:28,…just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and give his life as a ransom for many; Romans 12:2a…be transformed by the renewing of your mind; Ephesians 6:13c-14a …after you have done everything to stand. Stand firm...

To assist us with our perspective, here is a view of the world I’d like to briefly share with you from an internationally renowned author/speaker and special forces warrior, Dave Grossman.

Dave writes, “The world is largely populated by sheep grazing on consumerism, junk food, and junk information. Preying on these sheep is a much smaller population of wolves, drawn to violence without conscious. The wolves pick away at the weakest sheep with negligible opposition. When you are a sheep who enters the cross-hairs of a wolf, your world changes from ignorant bliss to sheer terror. In these moments the sheep bleat in terror, who hears them? It must be you---the sheep dog.”

In our culture the sheepdog is typically the law enforcement officer, first responder, or military member. These servants have taken an oath to protect the sheep and they readily do step up and take a stand for the sheep. In community life, pastors, coaches, friends, neighbors, parents… we must be that sheep dog, our brother’s keeper. Now we can talk about our subject, the value of a warrior and we will use several specifics.

1. A warrior is of value who has shown that he can master himself, that he has self-control, that he is under authority. For the Christian man, this comes from an internal governor, the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:23---gentleness and self-control; Proverbs 25:28---like a city whose walls are broken down is a person who lacks self-control. “How can he be trusted to master an enemy if he cannot master himself.” This is an ancient standard for acceptance into an established fellowship of arms. Moreover, how can he properly represent the King (the pastor) who sent him if he is a rogue warrior, prone to representing himself in difficult, challenging situations? A warrior under authority is protected by the layers of authority over him much like the layers of a Kevlar tactical vest protects. Luke 7:8, the centurion operating under the protection of authority and manifested in his personal integrity received this response from Jesus, “I have not found such great faith, even in Israel.”

The missing ingredient always seems to be related to a lack of discipleship and that would certainly be in play in each of those scriptures. It would be both foolish and dangerous for the military and first responder services to pass undisciplined, untrained personnel into operational units. How about auto mechanics, dentist, or computer techs? Wouldn’t it be critical for you if your dentists had a history of a successful practice, before your appointment? And yet we think in the church that we can ignore our Commander’s orders and not “make disciples”.

How many of you have ever attended a Followership Conference or signed up for a course on followership? When Jesus said to “follow me” He immediately began to do followership evaluations of those following…pretty much a ‘pass/fail’ or complete/non-complete program. Remember Judas? How about Peter? Paul gave leaders and followers great standard in 1 Corinthians 4:15b-16. Paul says, “I became your father through the Gospel. Therefore, I urge you to imitate me. Wow! Is that radical or what! He uses the word mimeomai, from which we derive our word ‘mimic’, and is translated as the word imitate. Have you ever, in humility of course, suggested that men in your church imitate you?

2. A warrior is of value who has become ‘at one’ with his weapon. Ephesians 6:17, the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God; Actual combat with the enemy requires the skill of the warrior and the capabilities of the weapon to be fully employed. The weapon has always been an extension of the warrior---his sensory preceptors, his passions, his strengths---and moreover, an extension of the authority the warrior represents.

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. A handful of men, inured to war, proceed to certain victory, while on the contrary, numerous armies of raw undisciplined troops are but multitudes of men dragged to slaughter. Flavius Vegetius (390 AD) Our old pal, Vegetius knew well the value of “making disciples”.

Jesus coming out of the wilderness is a model of this principle and is worthy of examination. Matthew 4:1-11. Satan, knowing Jesus was in human form, targeted the three major chinks in man’s armor; the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Jesus, on the other hand, was led by the Spirit. That, we know, is always the best model. He simply countered each blow of Satan with Truth! I like to think of this spiritual bout in this manner. Jesus let Satan “throw the first blow,” striking at His weak and hungry state. So, Satan was taken “off balance”, much like a martial arts technique of Bruce Lee or Chuck Norris. Then Jesus countered with His primary weapon…Truth, Deuteronomy 8:3, ‘it is written, not by bread alone’, striking Satan’s center of gravity, of “liar”.

Then it is Satan’s move who strikes at pride, and at the temple in Jerusalem of all places, in church! Ponder that a moment. Satan knows scripture, realized Jesus was using scripture and so, satan also backs his move up with Psalms 91:11-12. “He will command his angels concerning you to guard you…” Wow! Jesus simply counters with a higher order of truth, Deuteronomy 6:16, ‘it is written, you shall not tempt the Lord your God’, striking another blow to Satan’s center of gravity of lies and twisted truth.

At last Satan goes for all the marbles with a visual offering of all the kingdoms of the earth, “if You will fall down and worship me”. Jesus, again giving us a pattern for spiritual warfare, strikes an artful blow to Satan’s center of gravity of “deceiver”. The bout-ending-blow of truth was Deuteronomy 6:14, ‘It is written, you shall not worship other gods’. This was like a spiritual “round house kick” to the head. This should give you a better appreciation of Deuteronomy, The Gospel of Moses.

Thus, what is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy’s strategy. Sun Tzu

You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Jesus

Many of our Christian men simply do not know the Word…it has not been hidden in their heart, again discipleship is critical. 2 Timothy 2:2 must be adhered to, ‘entrust to reliable men who can teach others’. Some men may have never taken the Bible study and seminar experience onto a spiritual battlefield…they may have never created enemy casualties or freed any captives. This is exactly what Jesus did while in His earthly form. For this purpose, was the Son of Man manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3:8b.

The use of any weapon is a perishable skill…this principle is true in all aspects of life. I was talking to a young surgeon about this principle, along with the whole idea of warrior spirit while sitting beside him on an airplane. I was talking about training deputy sheriffs to become ‘at one’ with their weapons and how we had trained while blind-folded and doing sit-ups to take their Glocks apart and put them back together 4 times per minute, etc. I was amazed at how he chimed right in telling me about this instrument console that he had at home. He explained that, with his fingers, he sent a signal to the actual instrument that made the cuts and that he ‘practiced’ at home so that he could operate with the required skill level in the operating room. He was excited to get a copy of my book!

And yet so sensible were the Romans of the imperfection of valor without skill and practice that, in their language, the name of an army was borrowed from the word which signified exercise. (Romanorum Exercitus) The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon. This quote confirms the critical nature of real discipleship vs the many programs in the 2022 American congregations.

An army of sheep led by a lion is to be more feared than an army of lions led by a sheep. Chabrais

Combat experience is invaluable. “War develops the soul of a fighting man”. General George S. Patton

The nation that makes a great distinction between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by fools. Thucydides

President Lincoln had great difficulty in finding a general who ‘would fight’, this prolonged the misery of war and only increased the death and devastation.

3. All of the above bullets speak of an operational capability and bring us to our last point. The true value of a warrior can only be evaluated by his performance in battle against the enemy, everything else is academic. And so, we must then conclude that a warrior is of value who is trained to fight and who will fight. So simple, but yet so true. It is here that final passage into the fellowship of arms is transacted. A warrior is of value who will ‘run to the sound of the cannon’ rather than from the sound of the cannon. They will run to the need rather than from the need. The thrust of The Great Commission is directed at an “operational” army not a ceremonial guard and the word is “GO!” This is why, we recruit and then train and equip our military…so they can then “GO” operational. This is the Value of a Warrior.

An English army of 9000 men had landed in Normandy, France in October 1415. They marched inland to the strategic city of Harfleur where they encountered stiff opposition. Harfleur surrendered, but the English army was struck with dysentery, losing 3000 men from the fight. Henry led the depleted and weary army on a 200 mile march in just 16 days. Then at Agincourt they met a French army which outnumbered them at least 4 to 1…and had “home field” advantage. Here are a few excerpts of Henry’s speech to the English army just before the ensuing battle. From Shakespeare’s King Henry the Fifth:

That he which hath no stomach for this fight,

Let him depart; his passport shall be made…

We would not die in that man’s company,

That fears his fellowship to die with us.

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers

For he today that sheds his blood with me, Shall be my brother, be he ne’er so vile,

This day shall gentle his condition; And gentlemen in England now a-bed

Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,

And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks

That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.

The resulting English victory is a storied treasure among English soldiers to this day. The French army was routed with over 8000 casualties while the English army had only 600 casualities.

Among medieval knights there developed, around 1400, a challenge to fight called take up the gauntlet. The gauntlet was a glove of mail with extended cuff designed to protect the hand and wrist. As this tradition became established the gauntlet was thrown down as a challenge to fight. The act of taking up the gauntlet was an acceptance of the challenge to fight and to do combat with the challenger. Who among you will stand to take up the gauntlet and fight this growing challenge to our God and our Christian Faith? Be like young David, grab your sling and advance towards and pick up the gauntlet!

Barney Barnes, 05-21-22, Promise Keepers National Ambassador for the Military and Prisons