Soldier Imagery
I was walking down Sherbrooke yesterday and had a few thoughts running through my head.
I had just had yet again another struggle and fight with the carnality of my mind, I do believe the Holy Spirit was desperately trying to give me a way out, but I refused to take it (1 Corinthians 10:13). I became angry and ashamed of myself. Did I not just preach about the Fear of God? As images began to come into my head, the question running throughout the entire ordeal was, do you not have the fear of God in you? I have never had that question come into my head before when dealing with habitual sin patterns.
I along with every believer who has read Paul’s writings can completely agree with his statement, “For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.” (Romans 7:15) So, feeling incredibly hypocritical, angry, and not really sure what to do, I decided to return a movie Jeannie and I rented from Blockbuster. I had a rather interesting thought. I looked up.
I know this does not sound significant, but I decided to keep my head straight up, and look directly in front of me, not looking to the ground, or the side, but up. This revealed to me two things, I could not help but have the verse in Hebrews 12:2 about fixing our eyes on Christ. As I was walking, I realized that I could walk forward completely confident. My normal walking gaze has me looking at the sidewalk. I end up having to do this sort of walking dance around people, almost bumping into them, objects, etc. I found that looking up I could already compensate for people walking towards me, and for more sharper and aware of things around me.
I found too that I was completely less distracted. Here in Montreal, there are many questionable billboards, and advertisements on phone booths, and I found that by looking up, and watching where I was going to, I was less prone to those sorts of distractions. Even when I was on Ste. Catherine’s, it was far easier to not allow my eyes to wander to the nudie shops, and sex stores that are so prevalent on that street.
I also had “health” benefits, my whole life I have had terribly posture, this all of a sudden forced my “BACK IN, CHEST OUT, SHOULDERS BACK EVERYWHERE!” I say it like this because I had another thought. I was reminded all of a sudden of being back on basic training. Learning to march. The Bible uses a lot of soldier imagery. After spending 9 years with the Canadian military I am understanding why.
Marching in step at the Old Port Canada Day
Besides the obvious of “fighting the good fight”, “war” and “battles” that is often used to describe Christian life. I had a different glimpse in something as simple as marching. Marching is probably one of the funniest, frustrating things to learn in drill. It really is a simple skill. It is merely exaggerated walking. Your hands are clenched in a fist, your arms swing up (no bends in the elbow) to your chest, when the right hand moves forward, your left foot moves forward, and visa versa. This is just a natural way to walk. It really is not difficult, yet, at the same time, add to the mix, trying to keep in step with everyone else, and people yelling at you, makes it a difficult skill to learn. Often recruits, (myself included) do what’s called “bear marching”, which when you are staff on a course, is hilarious to watch. What happens is your right hand and your right foot both move forward at the same time. It is completely unnatural, and the instructors delight in letting you know how unnatural it is.
What does this have to do with Christianity? A whole lot. When you watch a troop, squadron, regiment (what can I say, I am Armoured!), or any size of soldiers march, and nothing is more sharp then when they are completely in step and moving as one. This is accomplished, NOT by looking at the feet of the person in front of you, which is the natural tendency. When you watch the feet, you will always be out of step. To remain in step, you look straight ahead, watching the shoulders of the person in front of you, and timing your arms with theirs. Your feet will naturally fall in step. You exaggerate the left step. So you get this swish (hands on the pants), click (light right step), boom (left foot exaggerated). In a good march, the high ranks do not need to call out “left, right, left, right”, you can hear it, and you just know.
You also learn on basic training to listen for commands, this is especially unnerving if you are in the front rank, and a wall is coming up. You keep going forward, and you do not turn to the left or the right unless you are told to. You keep moving forward, until told to change direction. In the case you run into the wall, you mark time, but you do not stop. You do not move out of the way of mud puddles you walk straight through them, you do not move for snow, you have to trust your drill commander.
What does this have to do with what I was talking about at the beginning, habitual sin, and the Christian life? A couple things, when we keep our heads straight forward, we can anticipate the obstacles and obstructions. Focusing on Christ can help us with that, not looking right or left, we keep our eyes on Christ. Sometimes we are called to follow and walk in step behind Christ, if we do not look at His feet, and instead keep our eyes up, and follow His shoulders, and listen to His steps, we will be able to keep up, and not get our feet tripped up.
Sometimes we walk straight ahead, and we are about to walking into a wall. We keep moving forward wondering if the person calling out the commands notices the wall. We dare not slow down, we may have not been told to, we dare not move to the right or the left, because we have not been told to. Instead we keep moving forward waiting for the command to come, we either mark time and wait, or the command comes to “right or left wheel” around the wall. Either way, we have to wait and have trust in the “drill instructor”.
What did this do for me? It made me realize that I stopped listening to “drill instructor” and was trying to move on my own. Instead of keeping my head up and watching the shoulders, I put my eyes down to keep in step, and it made me trip up. I also panicked and tried to move on my own around the “obstacle” instead of allowing the one calling out the “commands” to safely move me around the obstacle.
Hebrew 12:1-3, “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”