Would You Like to Play a Game?

I support our troops. Political beliefs aside, forgetting a few soldiers I have actually known and what tools they were, I actually do have a lot of respect for people who are willing to make that kind of sacrifice, that are dedicated enough to put their life on the line for something they believe in. All that aside, I think that Army Recruiters are downright funny. I spent a whole year trying to convince a guy that yes I was in fact happy with my college choice and no, I wasn't interested in fighting in Iraq so I could go to college. (It was a painful conversation.)

My favorite army slogan to date is, "An Army of One." I think this is really really funny, because an army of one is probably the safest bet you've got. With the exception of Bruce Willis and Superman, an army of one is ALWAYS GOING TO DIE. And yet I think it is very telling of our culture, both as Christians and as Americans.

I have trouble sometimes being a team player. It's not that I don't want other people involved or that I want the credit, it's that I have trouble remembering to let others help me with myself. It's not exactly an ego thing, it's more of an insecurity thing. That line of thinking says that if I don't let anyone help me, no one can hurt me, which is absurd, but easy to slip into. Ironically enough, when I forget about my brothers and sisters and slip into Army of One mode, I tend to slip out of the real battle that I should be in as a Christian, and instead I get caught up in what I'm going to cleverly refer to as War Games.

War Games aren't the real deal. In a war game you get dressed up, you put on your army garb, you even get a replica gun, and then you go and fake fight. Worse yet, in a War Game you don't even fight enemies, you fight your friends. Maybe me slipping into War Games is a safeguard God put in me to pull me out of the real fight so I don't hurt myself. Maybe it's just that I can't find the courage to get in the real fight without friends. Either way, the fact remains that without a full army, I become ineffective, and instead of fighting enemies I fire blanks at my allies, hurting the people that are supposed to be helping me.

I hope you can follow the metaphors here, because the fact is important. At the end of his life, in the book of John, Jesus gets on his knees and ends his prayer career by praying to the Father that his children will be united, and will be one in spirit. He even says it plainly, "So that the world may know you." There is an obvious reason why Jesus wants us to fight together: The end result will be that the world will know the Father.

I need to let people into my heart, and I need to openly share my life so that I don't slip out of the fight. 80 years of War Games just isn't as thrilling as a real battle, and I need some good war stories if I'm ever going to be a proper old man.

(jake)