Raising Up an Army

 

Photo on armytimes.com
 
 
 
For some reason I have been researching on the difference between the U.S. armed services’ system of conscription and recruitment. Don’t ask me why. I think maybe in light of what is going on in Iraq and Afghanistan, but I think it is out of pure curiosity and my desire to “just to know.”

Simply, in the United States, recruitment is when the military tries to enlist people to voluntarily serve in the armed services. Conscription or better known as “the draft” is a compulsory method of forcing people to serve in the armed services. Throughout the history of the United States, we have seen voluntary enlistment in various periods; and we have also seen various times of the enactment of the draft.

In fact, I have been inspired by the numerous stories of people who voluntarily enlisted after the 9/11 terror attacks on the United States. It was out of their free choice to sign up for the military to serve their country.

As I was thinking about this, it dawn upon me regarding God’s mission and the need for people who are willing to serve in His army.

There is something beautiful about people who willingly volunteer to serve God out of indebtedness to the Gospel. The worst kinds of servants are the ones that are “forced” to serve out of pure obligation. I was just thinking which group of people God would prefer – people who grudgingly serve because they are forced to or people who are voluntarily willing to lay down their lives for His mission?

I realized that there is always a price to pay.

To those who are willing to make the sacrifice, the price is never an issue. They commit to the mission because they believe in it with all their heart. But to those who are “drafted” against their wills will always think about the price and what they will lose or what they will miss out on.

If I were to lead a platoon out on the spiritual battle field, I would want Christ-followers who enlisted in God’s army willingly because of their gratitude for the cross, than to lead cultural and comfortable Christians who really don’t want to be there, but who feel like they have to because of obligation.

Battles are won or lost depending on what type of people are on your platoon.

Spiritual ENTREPRENEUR, Church EQUIPPER, Leadership EDUCATOR, Ideas EXPERIMENTER & Global EXPLORER who is trying to transform lives and transform the world.
Posts created 1651

Related Posts

Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. Press ESC to cancel.

Back To Top