For Whose Glory?

     A soldier stands at attention awaiting his briefing. He has been serving in this army for quite some time now and has passed his training. His commanding officer approaches and gives him an order. He salutes, turns, and hastens to fulfill the order at once. Nothing distracts him, and he does not stop to boast about his new orders, or to compare notes with other soldiers. He does not worry that others in the army may have been given orders also. It is of no consequence that his fellow soldiers may have higher priority orders, or orders on a differing timeline. 

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     This happens every day, in almost every army on the planet. Soldiers execute their orders with efficiency and discipline. This allows the army they serve in to function at the highest level, and eliminates distraction and confusion.  

     Contrast this approach with the approach of those in the Army of God. Should our General give us a direction, our first impulse is usually to broadcast our orders to all within earshot. We may have top secret information entrusted to us, but we first have to tell our neighbors that we have been tasked to pray for brother Jerome and his struggle with lust (sorry if your name is Jerome, I didn’t mean you). Now the enemy knows the details of the assignment that only you should know. They can adapt their strategies, since they know exactly what your battle plans are, having gotten them directly from you. 

     Our next impulse is to make a dramatic production of simple orders to be relayed. Should the General give us a Word to share with our fellow soldiers, we struggle to just deliver the message, unedited and unembellished. We must first wait for testimony time, then go up and go into detail about everything except the message we have been given. We have to explain that it was on a Tuesday… no Wednesday morning, when we had just finished breakfast (pancakes and eggs), and we were listening to that new gospel album, you know the one, with the track that has the chorus that really speaks to your struggle, when you felt the need to turn your Bible that you had gotten signed by the Pastor last week when he preached that message on study, you know since he preached that message, you’ve been studying two hours every night instead of watching the sinful stuff on TV…  

     By this time the people that need the message have long since tuned out, and any chance of the orders being relayed and received is gone. The assignment is blown, because the information was not effectively relayed, and the enemy has gained another foothold. All of this because we couldn’t simply tell our fellow soldiers that the General said to attack a certain point. We have a culture now that demands a production every time our General speaks to us, as opposed to an understanding that receiving orders should be the norm. If we claim to be in the army of God, why should we act as if it is miraculous that our God should assign us tasks? Should it not be expected? We make more of a focus on the fact that we have gotten an assignment than on what the assignment is. Not that we shouldn’t celebrate hearing from God, but we should put more emphasis on what He says than the fact that He has spoken. 

     As we claim to be soldiers in the army of the Lord (if you’re of a certain age, you now have that song stuck in your head), let us act like true, professional soldiers. Let us carry out the orders we have been given without the distractions. This way we can make sure the General will continue to trust and promote us. 

Heading to deeper waters,
Fish

B&F Ministry