“Now I appeal to Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement. And I ask you, my true partner, to help these two women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News. They worked along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life.” (Philippians 4:2-3 NLT)
Though I’ve never been in the military, my dad, many of my uncles, other relatives, and many close friends have served. One of my friends was among seven of his buddies who went out on night patrol. Only he lived to tell about it. Though wounded, he survived and to this day, 50+ years later, it still haunts him. His only consolation is to meet weekly with other military friends who have experienced similar trauma.
One way of expressing their closeness was the saying, they’re of the “same mud, same blood.” Serving together in war gives them a common bond that is thicker than blood. Remember, this was in the 60’s, and many returning soldiers didn’t come home to open arms and waving flags. They came home to protesters and angry mobs.
Ron Hutchcraft put it this way: “We’re talking about a time when America was convulsing with civil rights conflicts, right? But the documentary told the amazing story of how a company that started out with huge racial walls between them became molded into this group of guys who would die for each other… There was something about being in a war together that brought people close together who might otherwise have never had anything in common. Mission glue – that’s what held that racially mixed, potentially racially divided group of soldiers together. They had a life-or-death mission that brought them together and kept them together.”
One of the reasons we’re so divided in Christendom is that we fail to see our corporate mission. Jesus’ blood was spilled for each of us, not so we could “talk the talk,” bad mouthing and shunning those in His Family who don’t believe exactly like we do on points of doctrine, but that we could “walk the walk” together for the sake of the mission to “win the lost at any cost.”
I’m reminded of John Piper’s quote: “We cannot know what prayer is for until we know that life is war.” Unfortunately, there are still those in the Body of Christ, like those in the verses above of whom Paul spoke, who get bent out of shape because they don’t get their way. The “battle” isn’t only getting believers to join the mission to reach the lost, it’s to get them to see their pettiness is driving their loved ones and friends away from Christ, not serving as a means of inviting them to Him.
The Lord has shown me that everything I do, unless it focuses on and is done in the spirit of love for Christ and others, is a landmine that has the potential to “kill” other’s desire to learn of the Savior. Satan is the god of this world and to the extent we ignore Christ’s commands and directives, thus choosing to serve ourselves, to that extent the “broad” way is widened, and Satan is delighted.
As believers we may not be of the “same mud,” but we’re definitely of the “same blood.” By God’s grace and with the Spirit’s help, can we please set aside our differences long enough to love those without hope to Jesus? Can we just lay down whatever grievances we have in order that Christ’s blood might cleanse us of being more interested in having our own way than showing others His way?
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 