Contrite Heart

"You do not want a sacrifice,

or I would give it;

you are not pleased

with a burnt offering.

The sacrifice pleasing to God is 

a broken spirit.

You will not despise a broken

and contrite heart, God." - Psalm 51: 16-17

     My wife and I are going through a Lent devotional put forth by a leader at our church. An introductory quote read, 

"Until sin be bitter, Christ will not be sweet."

    If we think highly of ourselves, that we are our own saviors, then there is no reason for Christ. One must merely open their eyes to see that we live in a fallen world, and that a savior is needed. Often we fall into the line of thinking that our good outweighs our bad, and therefore we are on the right trajectory. If receiving a report card we would be getting A's and B's and the parents would be jolly. The fact of the matter is that it is impossible for us to progress from F's across the board because the standard is perfection and we are totally depraved. This knowledge should create in us a contrite heart concerning our brokenness, and only then do we understand the magnitutde of God's grace. 

    So where does this originate, this inability to grasp the bitterness of our sin? Pride

The acknowledgement of sin would threaten our pride and therefore it must be rejected. 

Douglas Wilson in his book, "Future Men" sums this up precisely under his heading "Counterfeit Masculinity",  

"Because the 'Masculinity' is a matter of pride, not humble acceptance of responsibility, then anything which threatens that pride must be rejected. One of the things which always threatens pride is any kind of failure, and the way that insecure males deal with this is through making excuses. True masculinity accepts responsibility, period... Fending off a threat of wounded pride through excuse-making is typical of males in sin, and yet is thoroughly unmasculine. A refusal to make excuses is right at the heart of scriptural masculinity."

True Masculinty would seek to acknowledge sin and failure, to be humbled by the brokenness, and to accept full responsibility. 

Relative and Absolute

"Speed is the rapidity of action. It applies to both time and space. Speed over time is tempo-- the consistent ability to operate quickly. Speed over distance, or space, is the ability to move rapidly. Both forms are genuine sources of combat power. In other words, Speed is a weapon. In war, it is relative speed that matters rather than absolute speed. " - MCDP 1 Warfighting

In a race, it does not matter how fast I am running unless I am running faster than my opponent, (assuming, of course, my objective is to actually win.) 

In a fight, it does not matter how skilled I am in throwing my fists unless I am more skilled than my opponent. 

In a marriage, it does not matter how much I love my wife, unless I love her more than any other. 

In a survival scenario, it does not matter how long I can live, unless I can outlive the circumstances acting against me.

We all know this to be true, the importance of relative speed over absolute speed, but so often we focus our efforts on the absolute. Focusing on the absolute is helpful if it is absolutely faster than the adversary - This presupposes we have done our research on the enemy. A fallacy I have encountered is focusing on how often I am reading my bible, how often I am in prayer or intentional thought and practice of the gospel, all of which is in vain if my mind is more devoted to the things of the world. The relative love, as opposed to the absolute measure of love of Holiness needs to be pursued. My love of Holiness bears no fruit if my love for wordiness outweighs it. 

The humor in Facades

In a recent staff meeting, the topic of our rifle/pistol team surfaced. Many stores do not sell target pistols and only carry more tactical higher caliber guns. The joke was made "yup, everybody is a warfighter right?" - to which all in the meeting enjoyed a good laugh. To those not familiar with the current culture in the military it seems as though every third person you talk to was a navy seal, a green beret, or a sniper. But you need not ask - for you can perceive their former status from the clothes they wear, the beards they sport, and the high-caliber, attachment heavy guns which they carry. So why the humor?

Everyone is humored by transparent facades. Especially when those perpetuating the facade have been tricked of its opaqueness themselves. People like to appear to embody certain characteristics that would elevate others' perceptions of them, but do not themselves possess the experience, temperament or respect for that which they claim. In Christian circles it pays to appear a more devote Christian than those around, this I feel is why many high school and college students crave the "summer mission trip" - They achieve their status and only have to live their faith for a few weeks. It pays in the military sphere to appear to be combat-hardened, and the claim to certain communities or the wearing of certain gear, the growth of a particularly thick beard can achieve this status. They can live their fantasy without making the sacrifices it takes to actually join one of those communities, or see combat. The problem, however, as we can see with culture, is that if America were invaded they might be the first to adhere to the new communist regime rather than risk their lives to stand for our freedom. A good friend and mentor of mine, Todd Vanvoorst likes to say there are a lot of boys with beards in this country. This example works well, as many "men" would like to appear manly but do not love their wife, or shepherd their children, or accept responsibility. We live in a world that is under an epidemic of the facade.

OBJECTIVE

For an objective to be effective it must be clearly defined, decisive, and attainable. The objective speaks to or says something of the severity of the situation, as well as prescribes the necessary or acceptable level of violence of action to be used. Objectives, similarly to decisionmaking, do not exist in a vacuum but instead in an environment in which an adversary is also forming objectives aimed at deteriorating your ability to resist his will. Objectives themselves then are not fleeting but the means in which they are achieved will be and are required to be adaptable. There are a great deal of jump-off points in a conversation about objectives - I want to focus on the first qualifying attribute - that of clear definition. The description of "clear definition" assumes an existing objective in some form or another and advances the definition to define it as not just existing but also being specific. I would advise to be very intentional about understanding your own objectives, daily, weekly, yearly, and across the scope of your life. A godly objective, clearly defined, will create a much different result than an objective aimed at the folly of the world. The means needed to achieve the former primarily consist of the fear of the Lord for, 

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.

Proverbs 1:7

while the latter primarily consists of the embrace of sinful desires - which do nothing to evade the certainty of death. 

Getting treasures by a lying tongue is the fleeting fantasy of those who seek death.

Proverbs 21:6

If the objective is worldly treasure - hapiness based on consumption and esteem - then the price tag of buying a ticket out of eternal death is way over budget. 

Without a clear definition of your Objective, can you take a temperature reading on which route you are pursuing, what means you are employing, and if the objective will achieve a decisive result? I would argue without the intentionality of a clear definition your inherent depraved heart will take the lead of your life and knowingly or not, you will follow a selfish pursuit of worldly happiness into the vast chasm of eternal death. 

This is the severity of the situation that the objective reveals. That of Eternal death. Violent action (in a metaphorical sense) is needed to shift our own and others' pursuits away from fleeting fantasies and towards fear of the Lord. 

MASS

The first of the nine principles of war, Mass, involves the effective concentration of combat power at the decisive point, place, and time, to achieve the decisive result desired. This concept makes sense. In a fight, if one man gains leverage on another's arm, the application of his mass at a decisive point can yield very painful results to the other. Unless of course the man was deceived about just how decisive this point was, and having devoted his mass completely is now off-balance and vulnerable to the counterattack that is sure to respond. This is what we experience when we devote our Mass - our time, energy, and money - to life's ultimate decisive point Happiness, only to discover life has deceived us and devoting these efforts to something as meaningless and fleeting as happiness leaves us vulnerable to life's counterattack - the emptiness and loneliness of fruitless pursuits. I urge you to devote, commit and employ your mass towards life's true decisive point, the belief of God the Father.

What truly is your Main Effort

My wife and I made a trip to VA this weekend and were able to have dinner with some friends of mine currently attending TBS. During our conversation, the obvious MOS questions arose as MOS assignment is the climactic moment of the course and directs the rest of one's military career. One friend, previously a "Diehard Infantry Hopeful" or a "Hater of POGs" if you will, expressed his top picks, none of which included Infantry.

This is a common theme amongst students at TBS, exclaiming Infantry as their destiny only to change their minds when actually undergoing the course. One reason mentioned for this drastic change was that, and I quote - "You can never talk to an Infantry officer without them speaking in terms of or bringing up MCDP 1 Warfighting." I understood the point he was making, while at the same time shocked by it.

This is the equivalent of a Christian - when speaking to a group of friends about why he doesn't like to spend time with a fellow Christian brother (say Theopolis) - saying "Ehh, I don't care for Theopolis, he is always bringing up the bible, he's just too.... Christian". I think we all can relate to this example and how absurd but yet alarmingly widespread it is. If being a Christian is your utmost desire, and serving and worshiping the God who breathes scripture is your intent, then why on earth would you cite a reason for abstaining from a relationship with someone to be that they embody your very own expressed pursuits and beliefs of said scripture?

Back to my original focus, and purpose of providing the exhaustive example above - 2nd Lieutenants at The Basic School shy away from becoming Infantry officers because Infantry Officers live in accordance with and in light of MCDP 1, the defining doctrine of the Marine Corps - In other words, they are too Marine.  MCDP 1 being hailed as the Bible of the Marine Corps strikes the parallel between the two scenarios above all too well. People tend to create distance between themselves and others who shed light on their own weaknesses and shortcomings, especially those that they would rather keep hidden. Such as not living under the constant authority of Scripture as a Christian, or not taking MCDP 1 seriously as a Marine. The Infantry Officers embodied what my friend knew he didn't and what he would have to sacrifice too much in order to gain. Time, self-comfort, and constant intentional intellectual thought in light of the conduct of war: and thus, reluctant to pursue what he knows he wants to pursue or dare I say should pursue, he makes the claim that they are, "Too into MCDP" Just as a Christian might complain that his Christian brother is "Too into the Bible" - In other words, "their actions prove what they say with their mouths, and mine do not, therefore they make me feel uncomfortable."

Disclaimer - Obviously other MOSs in the Marine Corps are vitally important, I am not making the claim that Infantry should be placed on a pedestal above all else. Infantry is, however, the Main Effort,—"the focal point upon which converges the combat power of the force. "

 Like the commander's intent, the main effort becomes a harmonizing force

for subordinate initiative. Faced with a decision, we ask ourselves: How can I best support the main effort?" - MCDP 1 Warfighting