The Briefing, Part I

The Inaugural Web Log Post, Containing an Investigation into the Propriety (Or Want of Propriety) of the Title of this Very Web Log, and a Brief Summary of Related Subjects to be More Thoroughly Examined as Providential Opportunity Allows in the Course of Time (Part First)

Years ago, there were three things that I boldly told those around me I would have no use for in the pride of my technological ignorance: my own cell phone, Facebook account, and blog.  With this blog post the final pin falls.  I got a cell with a texting plan and joined Facebook for the noble purpose of better keeping up with family and friends; I’m not sure yet what I plan on accomplishing through this blog (especially if no one ever reads it)! At the very least a few of my thoughts will be preserved for posterity....

So, why did I call the blog “A Man that Warreth”?  Second Timothy 2:3-4 says, “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.  No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.”  Playing “Medal of Honor” years ago is the closest I’ve ever come to being in the armed forces, and I have no plans to enlist!  However, I (along with every other person who trusts Christ alone for his salvation) have been “drafted” (and happily so) as a soldier commissioned to “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus,” (II Timothy 2:1) and “the things that thou hast heard of me...commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also” (v. 2).  Christians are to fight for the truth with the same degree of dedication as a soldier fighting for his life and those of his comrades in battle.  I realize that Paul was writing this to a man who was in a teaching pastoral/leadership role in the early church, and I am not in that kind of role; notwithstanding, the call to defend the truths of the gospel by sharing what you’re learning from the Scriptures and to “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3) extends to all believers, regardless of their role within the church. Being the father of four young boys, I read II Timothy 2:2 and see that it has become my duty (and joy) to teach them the faith by word and example, so that they, as faithful men, can teach others the same in God’s time.  This is how we wage war.

Within II Timothy 2:3-4 there are two charges given to those called as spiritual soldiers: “endure hardness” and “do not entangle yourself with the affairs of this life”(to paraphrase).  As I mentioned, I have no military experience, but I have seen plenty of war movies (that counts, doesn’t it?), and these both sound to me like appropriate instructions for a soldier going off to war: “Stand firm and stay focused!”  In this war for truth, it’s not by pony-ing up and relying on our own wisdom or know-how that we accomplish the goals set before us, but by persevering in obedience to Christ by relying on His enabling grace and focusing on God’s all-encompassing sovereignty no matter what’s going on around us, with the ultimate goal of pleasing the Lord who chose us and lovingly ordained the circumstances of our lives.

To Be Continued...