Fire Teams and Discipleship Essentials

Many years ago, I was a Fire Team Leader or “FTL” with the Navy Seawolves in Vietnam. As an FTL it was determined that I had acquired the skills and judgment to lead two gunships into combat under all conditions, both day and night. It was a life filled with much adventure, danger, and purpose as many of our missions were supporting navy SEAL team operations or responding to assist allied troops already in contact with the enemy, usually at night.

Even though I flew 507 combat missions, it would be very dangerous and foolish to place me in an FTL role today. Chief among the reasons for that is that being a FTL, like many functional roles in life, is a perishable skill. As Christian men and spiritual warriors the problem is often just that, the skill is perishable and the whole armor has not been donned, sometimes for years. By my 100th mission I had become skilled because I had been discipled by men who loved me.

However, there is an even more prevalent problem in the spiritual warfare arena. That is simply this, the dynamic of skill acquisition sometimes called discipleship, has never been consummated. Trust me, this would also be true if applied to natural warfare! Flavius Vegitius, the great Roman commentator really nailed it when he said this: “The courage of a soldier is only 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, march to certain victory, while on the contrary, numerous armies of raw undisciplined troops are but multitudes of men dragged to slaughter.” Jesus gave us a shorter version, “Go and Make Disciples”. Yes, we can also march to certain victory against our diabolical and evil foe!

Vegitius’ brilliant observation has been true throughout the history of natural and spiritual warfare and remains true today. Jesus certainly knew how critical discipleship would be to the advancement of His Kingdom. The survival of any Kingdom is dependent upon the king having heirs prepared and capable of maintaining the kingdom and its rule of that realm. What if we were focused on discipling men to have a warrior spirit like Jesus? 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.” This perfectly describes Jesus’ life.

“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 attacking but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable.” So said the great warrior, Sun Tzu. Paul gives us an abbreviated version of this precept in Ephesians 6:11: Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. Our old pal Peter weighs in with, Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion. 1 Peter 5:8.

As Christian men we must realize that the life of a warrior is a life of preparation to acquire, develop, and maintain those warfare skills necessary to protect and defend that which we hold dear. So, we can strike fear in the heart of the enemy with Truth, just like a Seawolf fire team.

Barney Barnes, 07-03-2021, Warrior Spirit Ministries