The Battle and The Baggage

When you read the book of Acts, it's easy to get the impression that Christianity is all about aggressive evangelism and itinerant ministry, and this is true, in part. However, we need to recognize that the book of Acts describes the exploits of the most active 1% of Christians in the Early Church. The great majority of believers were simple, workaday people, quietly minding their own business, living as salt and light amongst their families, neighbors, and communities.

A lot of people (including, incidentally, Paul himself,) are fond of comparing Christianity to warfare, but what conscientious military commander would send his entire army into the heat of the battle with no reserves, no medical support, no communication relays, and no management infrastructure? Obviously, such a policy would be tactical suicide. We need a sounder strategy.

Many of you know I volunteer for Search & Rescue work with the local Sheriff's Office. My position is affectionately referred to as "Ground-pounder" - I'm a foot-searcher, and it's my job to get out there and do the looking. However, on a given search, the number of people who are actually out looking is usually smaller than the number of people who are working behind the scenes just to keep the operation running. There's radios to run, maps to print, meals to coordinate, and volunteers to transport, not to mention prioritizing the search and strategizing about the most effective allocation of resources. It's a lot of work.

It is plain that we need courageous soldiers on the frontlines, but it ought to be equally plain that there is much more to Christianity than merely the frontlines. The body has many members, and all members do not share the same function. What about the saints who stay behind and labor quietly in prayer or study to protect the faith from being ambushed in an ideological coup? What about the thousands of workaday believers who are living simply and consistently giving to and supporting the "real work" of God? Being an overseas missionary is wonderful, but the Christian who answers that call is in no sense more spiritual than the Christian who stays at home and faithfully goes about the specific work God has set before them.

In 1 Samuel 30, we have the story of David's men undergoing a mission to recover their kidnapped wives and children from the Amalekites. After hearing an affirmative from the Lord in regards to whether they should follow the raiders, they set out in hot pursuit. When they reach the brook Besor, 200 of David's 600 men are simply too exhausted to continue, so they stay behind. The other 400 continue on and successfully recover their wives and families - a bit frightened, perhaps, but alive and well.

When they return to the Besor, the 400 men who had gone with David argued that the men who had stayed behind should merely have their wives and children returned to them and have no share in the other loot. David disagreed.

“You shall not do so, my brothers, with what the Lord has given us. He has preserved us and given into our hand the band that came against us. Who would listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share alike.”¹

I believe that we as a Church would do well to emulate this spirit of generosity and brotherhood. Some are called to fight on the frontlines, others to wait by the baggage. We're all brothers and sisters, and we must get over our carnal tendency to be constantly trying to outdo one another spiritually. (Mark 9:33-35, 2 Cor. 10:12)

Thomas Merton was a Trappist Monk who lived at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky in the mid-1900's. He was deeply concerned about social justice and the effective diffusion of the Faith, but he also understood that this was not the whole story - that there is a very real place within the Church for behind-the-scenes service and active solitude.

Solitude has its own special work: a deepening of awareness that the world needs. A struggle against alienation. True solitude is deeply aware of the world's needs. It does not hold the world at arm's length.²

Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called (1 Cor. 7:20), and let us learn to recognize, respect, and enjoy the vastness and variety of the body. Onward Christian soldiers, and a resounding "Thank You" to the cooks, nurses, munitions suppliers, strategists, and loyal hardworking citizens that no one ever sees. None of this would be possible without you.

(1) 1 Samuel 30:23-24, ESV
(2) Thomas Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, (Doubleday, 1989), 19

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