The Warrior… Part 6

Part 1 – Upon The Rock
Part 2 – In The Upper Room
Part 3 – The Lord of Hosts
Part 4 – The Uninvited Guest
Part 5 – The Gift

Part 6 – The Truth About Soldiers

The diagram on the table in front of him seemed more than a little corny to Dillon, in light of his recent experiences. Normally, he would have been the first to start looking for some study guide, but that seemed suddenly dry and lifeless. He kept this observation to himself, for the moment, since Mark seemed utterly transfixed on it and was feverishly taking notes.

“OK,” Mark was referring to his Bible and then the drawing systematically. He had already labeled most of the items on the diagram. “The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God.” He began writing, “So, the Bible is an offensive weapon, like a sword.” He went back to his Bible and commented, “That’s it, but I still have blanks on my diagram.”

Dillon looked again at the coloring-book drawing of a Roman soldier armed for battle. Mark had downloaded it from the internet and brought a copy for both of them to study. The longer Dillon looked at it, the more childish it seemed. He noticed the extra blanks, all pointing to the little soldier’s head, when they had begun this exercise. Obviously, the writer of this particular curriculum had something in mind, but it eluded Dillon too.

“I don’t think the blanks are all that important,” Dillon commented. “And I don’t think that a slavish approach to the uses of the weapons is going to work either.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, the ideas that the belt holds up your skirt to keep you from tripping and the helmet protects your mind are nice metaphors, but I don’t see that being the only purpose of Truth and Salvation in actual warfare.” Dillon was beginning to hate theology.

Mark, on the other hand, seemed strangely energized by the armor metaphors and symbols. “Are you suddenly getting all loosey-goosey with you bible study techniques?”

“We’re looking at this little man and trying to imagine what the actual uses of each piece of the armor represent. I’m more interested in why Truth is essential, how I acquire some Righteousness and what to do when my Enemy attacks my Faith.” Dillon paused for a moment and considered the rather bland expression on the face of the soldier-drawing. “Colorful writing is nice, but I’m looking for some instruction on how to be certain that I have all of the pieces.”

“I guess the use of the armor will come as naturally to you as picking up Caleb’s sword did,” Mark began.

Dillon rebutted, “Not necessarily. The sword is the Bible and my grasp of the black and white basics is a lot more solid than some of the other elements, Faith and Righteousness, for instance. Those two might be areas of weakness, so there’s no way to know how I might trip up there.”

“We’re only guessing that this stuff will turn into literal armor when you make the crossover,” Mark got a rather wistful look on his face for a minute.

“Assuming that there’s a crossover at all,” Dillon corrected. “So far, everything has happened right here in this reality. And I got the distinct impression that Caleb is shielding me from most of the really intense battles anyway.”

“Have you tried to crossover?”

“I wouldn’t have the foggiest idea of how to do that,” Dillon replied instantly. After a brief silence, he continued, “But I suppose it would just be an exercise of being willing to go. Most of the events so far have just happened. But I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Caleb said to focus on arming myself against the ‘present enemy,’ meaning my own Flesh.”

“Who seems to be a great liar.”

“Right. And that’s where he really nailed me: by twisting the truth around and trying to make me believe a lot of rot about God and myself and my friends.” Dillon felt a stirring in his heart that gave him the distinct impression that they were on the right track.

“So, you need to really drown your mind in the truth,” Mark began. “Start with that stuff Caleb said about your heart being good and noble and strong.”

“That was a real revelation to me at the time. You don’t hear stuff like that in church,” Dillon replied. “I looked up some passages in the Bible that really support those ideas. I wonder why we’ve abandoned that truth.”

“Hard to explain why we act like such jerks if our hearts are good,” Marks said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“I suppose,” Dillon felt deeply that this was an oversimplification. He began to think out loud, “What if there’s more to it than that?”

“What do you mean?”

Dillon continued, “What if the Enemy is as real as God?” Mark nodded his assent and Dillon went on. “Think about it: the Bible says that Jesus’ goal was to free the captive hearts. Can you see where the Enemy would get a real kick out of making us think that our freed hearts were still bad?”

“Unregenerate?” Mark asked, with just a hint of sarcasm.

“Nice.” Dillon seemed unperturbed by Mark’s dig. “If our regeneration really is a process, then the Enemy could trick us into misinterpreting our slow growth as a sign that our hearts are unchanged.”

“Still captive.” Mark offered.

“Still bad,” Dillon said.

“So the Truth about Dillon,” Mark began, “is that God started a process of changing you. He started in your heart…”

“The center of my identity,” Dillon interjected.

“Right. He put Himself in there, and where He is, you’re good and noble and strong.”

“And He moves outward in a process of changing me, changing my behavior, my attitudes,” Dillon paused. The conclusion seemed to be right on the tip of his tongue.

“Until you’re the kind of person who can help set other people’s hearts free,” Mark saw it first, “Someone just like Jesus.”

The two friends sat in silence for a moment, letting the ramifications of what they had said percolate. In that time, Dillon realized that King Jesus had given him a knighthood. He felt, rather than heard, his King saying, Carry my banner and fight to rescue captive hearts. Build my Kingdom.

Mark broke the silence. “Can I say something a lot less profound?”

“Always.”

“I just want to go on-record saying that I haven’t lost patience with you and I’m with you wherever this goes,” he seemed a little defensive, but Dillon understood in light of the seeds of doubt his Flesh had tried to sow with regards to Mark. “I don’t want you to think I’d dump you.”

“I was wrong to believe that you might,” Dillon confessed. “Forgive me?”

The confession seemed to catch Mark off guard, as if he assumed that he owned the deficit. Dillon realized that Mark’s statement was intended to precede, rather than invite, an apology. “You are the truest friend I’ve ever had, Mark.” Dillon said, honestly.

A crooked smile crept across Mark’s face and Dillon knew that the serious buddy-moment had passed. “You’re shaping up nicely too. All is forgiven.”

Dillon smiled warmly back at his friend and nodded, then returning to the cartoon on the table began to doodle a beard and sunglasses on its face. “I think I found enough Truth today to hold up my pants,” he said idly.

“Well, then,” Mark countered, sipping his tea, “Tomorrow we’ll see if we can find you enough Righteousness to protect you vital organs.” Both smiled and, making eye contact across the table, said together, “That’ll take a bit longer.”

Dillon rolled his soldier into a little ball and bounced him off of Mark’s head.

<Continue to Part 7>

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