A Good Fight?

Allow me go back to an old episode of the TV show, “The Wild Wild West”.  Artie and Jim are in a heavily loaded wagon and are being pursued by men on horseback.  Artie says to Jim, “We have been in this situation before.”  “I know.”  “And they catch us every time.”  At that point they decide to do something other than try to outrun the men on horseback.

I liken the organized church to the fictional duo.  Since the time of Luther we have tried one reformation after another.  And the mountains that were uplifted by that reformation are soon worn down by erosion of organization till the new landscape looks almost like the last.

Every reformation that is over fifty years old and some as new as ten have gone that route.  The Lutherans took over two hundred years.  The Assembly of God and the Holiness both took less than fifty.  

Let’s look if this is the norm for mankind.

Every war this country has fought since 1800 has been fought successfully only after most of the peacetime leadership has been relegated to non-leadership posts.  And the church hits that same sitzkreg after every reformation.  Military officers get better at writing reports that get them promotions than leading men in battle.  The force gets soft.  Those who bring the word get more interested in the organization than the living church. 

If you want a thumbnail on this check out the US Pacific Submarine service – from Jan 1942 till Jan 1943 about 85% of the commanders and executive officers on them were transferred to “non-combat” service.  They were not suited to command a boat!  By Jan 1943 most boats were being commanded by men who were green but aggressive.  Some woke up in time to stay but very few.  The force did little in the first six months of 1942 but by the end of the war it sunk 51% of the Japanese tonnage that went to the bottom.  Much of that was sunk in Japanese home waters where nobody else could go.  

“U.S. submarines paid heavily for their successes in World War II. A total of 52 submarines were lost, with 374 officers and 3,131 enlisted men. These personnel losses represented 16% of the officer and 13% of the enlisted operational personnel.”

About 25,000 men made one tremendous difference because they were committed and well led.  That number is less than two army divisions.  I will not take anything from other troops but these men did damage to the enemy far beyond their numbers.   http://www.valoratsea.com/losses1.htm   But isn’t that what we are called to do, damage to our enemy?

And the church gets stuck in history and ‘what we did then.’  The Marines on Guadalcanal fought with bolt action Springfields.  The semi-automatic M-1 was available and was not adopted because of organizational inertia.  More than a few men died because they lacked the ability to stop mass charges, something the M-1 would have facilitated.

But it is the same in business and in government.  I know why Jefferson thought a periodic revolution was necessary and I understand it even more after spending time with Senators Arlan Specter and Bob Casey Jr last week.

Think about it.  

Other Articles by Ralph Brandt

·         Academia Glossary Feb 26, 2007

·         Tearing A Page Out Of The Bible Feb 26, 2007

·         Taking A Stand Takes Courage – Even In The Church Feb 26, 2007

·         Gas Light Oct 29, 2006

·         Pinchot Lake – Fall 3 – fog Oct 29, 2006

·         Pinchot Lake – Fall 2 Oct 29, 2006

·         Pinchot Lake: Fall 1 Oct 29, 2006

·         Sandra Chapter 01: the Accident

·         The First Family: Chapter 1 – Introduction

·         The Handshue Sect 1

·         The Night Sniper Chapter One: On the Beat

·         World War II – a Novel Chapter One