God and the Operator
The philosophy of CTG
To state the obvious, we live these days in a state of conflict and warfare. Hopefully these days will be short, but the general opinion of men who understand these matters is that these days may well go long. A tragedy of our current era is that men and women who take up the burden and honor of soldiery are often made to feel as though they are different, or unacceptable to the very society that they protect. On some occasions, these same men and women adopt a self-inflicted attitude that they have somehow been branded with the "Mark of Cain", and no longer belong to that society. At worst, after some of the things that have to be done to fulfill mission accomplishment, some of these men and women eventually feel that they are somehow beyond redemption.
In the Gospel of Matthew (8: 5-13) Jesus was approached be a Roman Centurion, who asked Jesus to come to the Centurion's home and heal a servant who was gravely ill. Jesus asks if He is to come to the Centurion's home to perform this cure and miracle. The Centurion responds in this way:
"Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter my house, but, only speak a word and my servant will be cured. For even I am a man under authority, and I have soldiers under me. I say to this soldier 'Go' and he goes, and another, 'Do this’ and he does it"
The verse continues in this way:
‘Jesus was amazed when He heard this, and said to those who were following Him, “This is the truth I tell you-not even in Israel have I found so great a faith."
What does this mean for our men and women in service today? Maybe not much to some, but consider this. The centurions were not the officers of the Roman army, nor were they the aristocrats and patricians of Roman society. The centurions were the battered, beat up, chewed out long service regulars who were in command of a group of soldiers making up what would today be two platoons. These were men who had spent their entire lives in the Roman Legions, and endured lives of constant combat. In short, the centurions were the Master Gunnery Sergeants of the ancient world. These were men who had killed with their hands in world of edged weapons and battlefield soaked in urine and blood, who bore scars and lived rough lives. And yet...and yet...
The centurion who came to Jesus in Matthew is now one of the most attractive characters in the Bible. To add to this, there was the centurion who recognized Jesus on the Cross as the Son of God, and there was Cornelius, the first gentile convert to Christian Faith—also a centurion. A centurion rescued Paul from the fury of a rioting mob. Another centurion saved Paul from a planned assassination on the road between Jerusalem and Ceasarea.
God found a use for these old NCO's of the ancient world. Even if their own society excluded these men, God did not. A line from Polybius' description of the Roman Army would be a good NCO Board requirement even today, as he states that:
"They (centurions) must not be venturesome seekers after danger as men who can command, steady in action and reliable; they ought not to be over anxious to rush into a fight, but when hard pressed, they must be ready to hold their posts."
Try and make this Word from Matthew live. The next time you see a salty old warhorse NCO climb off in the middle of some guy’s (or girl’s) back pockets, try and visualize him (or her) as the centurion who came to Jesus asking for the cure of his servant. Whether that works for you or not, try and remember that God not only had a use for the rough old centurions of the Roman Army, but that he also loved them, just as he loves the men and women who take up a soldier's life in our long days. This doesn't mean that God will love everything you do, you are still responsible for that, but you are not beyond redemption, and you will never be excluded from God unless you choose to be.
After all, God even loves E-8's.
Michael D. Vaught, CTG
God and the Operator
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