Opus 2011-280, Onward Christian Soldiers

Most of us have seen the picture.  It is from World War II and shows Adolph Hitler walking with a group of his Nazi leaders.  They are all dressed up like soldiers.  They are sporting mirror polished jack boots, jodhpurs, peaked hats and a chest full of medals.  If you did not know better you would think you were watching a bunch of little boys playing at soldier or a group of true warriors. 

What we are really looking at is a bunch of sociopaths playing wannabe.  None of these guys had ever stood up to an enemy or done anything requiring courage.  Instead they had sent out their thugs to intimidate normal citizens and their armies to destroy neighboring civilizations.  It was all a big game to them.

This is like so many people calling themselves Christian.  They have the uniform.  They know the pass words.  They have a great self image.  But they are not really living “Onward, Christian Soldiers.”  They are not really going “onward as to war.”  It is just a big game.

I personally want to be a follower of “Christ, the Royal Master.”  The real heroes of World War II were not the generals with their swagger sticks and personal servants.  The real heroes were the privates hunkered down behind a tree with a rifle in their hands.  The real heroes were the ones who thought time to finish a candy bar was a treat.  I saw the difference in Vietnam.  I visited the air conditioned dining hall of the order-giving class.  I touched the linen table clothes and saw the senior enlisted men standing at attention with towels over their arm waiting to wait on their commanders.  I was also out in the field where the grunts thought a warm coke was a luxury.

I don’t expect to get any medals.  I don’t expect to get famous.  I don’t really want any of that.  What I want is to stand before the throne on judgment day and hear, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”  That doesn’t come from smoke and mirrors but from substance.

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