The greatest worry of any nation or kingdom is to be devoid of soldiers in a time of war. It is the same with God's kingdom. When we have millions of Christians today attending church every Sunday but unconscious of the war raging against their very souls and God's kingdom advancement on earth, and what they were supposed to do, it is a worrying situation.
What use is a mob of civilians when a nation is under attack? The only people strong enough to defend a country's territorial integrity, national security and protect the interest of a nation is the nation's military. Politicians can debate in their beautiful chambers, but those who bear the crux are the soldiers. Needed, Needed, Needed, God's kingdom Soldiers!
Are soldiers born?
No one was born a soldier; soldiers are ordinary people who were empowered to serve their nations via the information and training they received. Even the weakest Christian can be turned into a formidable soldier of God's kingdom, if he or she is given the right information and training, under the tutelage of a veteran soldier in God's army. That was supposed to be the continuous duty of every church; transforming ordinary believers into soldiers of Christ. But it is unfortunate this isn't the concern of most churches whose sole aim is to increase their numbers to make money, acquire wealth and properties. Today, the kingdom of God seems to be populated but facing a grave crisis of limited soldiers.
How Do We Turn This Around?
It is simple! We have to change the way we view our local churches. Instead of viewing them as religious and social communities, we should start seeing them as boot-camps to transform ordinary believers into well-informed and trained soldiers of Christ. That is the way forward for the church. God is "sick and tired" of Christians, ministers, and churches existing as mere liabilities in this hour of modern warfare.
What Happens In A Boot-Camp?
In a boot camp, an individual is trained to imbibe the ethics and core values of what it means to be a soldier. Some of these values include:
-Loyalty
-Duty Consciousness
-Respect
-Selflessness
-Integrity
-Personal Courage
-Living a life of sacrifice, etc.
How many people in our churches understand the importance of living up to these values? That's the reason we have the kind of unruly Christians we find in our churches today. When these values become the culture of a people, from then on, they can live them every day wherever they go. It is fundamental when preparing people for combat whether in a secular army or the army of Christ. Principles are universal! For more information! Read my book titled "Dynamics of the Military Life."
If you want your organization or ministry to be empowered, you can invite Global Faith Coalition Team for a Basic Combat training workshop for your leaders/ workers. You risk having an anemic and spineless organization, ministry or church if your people are operating with a civilian mentality.
Becoming A Kingdom Soldier!
I'm still wondering if there could be another way of becoming a soldier without embracing loyalty, duty consciousness, respect, selflessness, integrity, personal courage and a life of sacrifice. Take some of the Christians we have today out of their comfort zone for a seven-day mission; then you will see the deficiency in the above values. No one can be a soldier in the barrack without field experience. Bishop, Pastor, Apostle, take the people in your church for a challenging mission, by the time you return, you may realize you are merely presiding over an adult Sunday school.
If the goal of a minister or church is to be "successful," make money, own properties in every major city, such a minister or church would careless about raising real Kingdom soldiers. That's the "wahala" the church is facing today. I wonder why some "ministers" and churches think they can only be successful by lowering the standard of the gospel and the kingdom vision of Jesus Christ.
Listen! You can stand for the real deal and still be blessed and be more prosperous. Abraham didn't trade his vision for something else to become wealthy; neither did he give up his convictions to become the father of many nations. Who has bewitched us to think we must be politically correct to draw the unchurched to church? It's time to "come back home."
It took men and women of courage to bring King David back to his throne after he fled from Absalom. The legitimate king was pushed out and an impostor, Absalom, occupied his throne.
There are cities, towns, and nations where the influence of the King of kings is negligible, and madmen and women are running wild in the streets. In such a situation, it only takes soldiers of the king of kings to bring back the king to take his rightful place. It is better to have a handful of such caliber of individuals than a Gideon 22.000 of fearful people who are afraid to engage in a real battle.
I hear the battle cry sounding; God is about setting aside the lukewarm in his house to raise an army of men and women like the world has never seen. Joel the prophet spoke about this army in Joel 2.
The Godly can take over cities and nations if they are conscious of their mission. The idea of looking for a safe passage to heaven is "ignorance on fire." That isn't the sole purpose of knowing Christ.
We are here to bring back the king in the hearts of men and women and in every sphere of the society where his light isn't shining. That is the mandate and the mission of the church. It is more than merely establishing a mega-church in a city, while the devil and his army are running wild outside the perimeters of the church building. The vision of the kingdom is that of total conquest!
Well, civilian Christians don't understand what I'm talking about here. In fact, to them, I'm merely speaking in the tongues of angels. That's the spiritual coma many believers are into right in church. The prayer of John Knox is still remembered today by millions of Christians around the world. It wasn't a prayer for some of the trivial things we focus on today, but a prayer for the soul of his nation. He prayed, " Lord, Give Me Scotland, or I Die." Before his death, Scotland lived. What do we pray for today? A church or ministry will either have revival or a funeral! May God help us to have real spiritual awakening instead of a funeral!
DrBenard Etta
Replies