Maintaining Maneuverability in Combat

Years ago I knew a guy named C who'd been an Army tank captain in the Vietnam War, before transferring to flight school and becoming a combat helicopter pilot.

C had seen his share of action, both on the ground and in the air, and didn't need much prodding to share his war stories with us wide-eyed teenagers. One of the most poignant things I remember is C telling my brother and I what his "first time" in combat was like as he described the sound of live bullets whizzing just a few feet past his head.

C's first impulse was to jump up and start shouting, "Hey! Why are you guys shooting at me? Don't you know somebody could get hurt?!" Obviously, that was an impulse C resisted: instead, he picked up his weapon and started firing back.

Which goes a long way to explain why C was still around, and able to tell others what combat was really like.

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As a guy over draft age, one of the most terrifying things imaginable is the idea of being in combat, and being overwhelmed and wiped-out.

One day I finally asked C, "So in combat, how do you know when you're in danger of being over-run and wiped out?" His answer was simple and abundantly clear: "A team, squad, platoon, or whatever, is pinned down and in danger of being overwhelmed when it's unable to identify the direction of the attack, lost its ability to maneuver, and can no longer engage the enemy at will."

Being pinned down and unable to maneuver means being stuck in one place, vulnerable to attack from every direction, including the flanks and the rear, unable to tell what direction the bullets are coming from ... while the enemy advances and surrounds you. And finding yourself surrounded means Getting Annihilated is the next appointment in your personal day planner.

In other words, if there's so much lead hitting the dirt around your head that you can't move to a position that allows you to fight back, you're pretty much stuck with keeping your face flat on the ground ... and hoping (praying?) the enemy either runs out of ammunition, or somehow forgets that you're there.

What about staying alive flying combat helicopters? C's answer there was simple as well: You gotta stay outta range of anything the enemy's got that can reach out and touch you.

Hmmm.

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I don't see satan as a cartoon character, or as a figurative metaphor for "the 21st century abstraction of evil." I believe the devil is real because scripture says so ... and that he's called the enemy for good reason.

Satan's already declared war on believers, engaged us in spiritual warfare, and is determined to pin us down. If the enemy eliminates our ability to maneuver in combat, he's wide open to attack us from every angle, until finally we're surrounded. And once we're surrounded, his forces are free to overwhelm and destroy our defenses.

For the enemy, victory means wiping us out ... down to the last man left alive.

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Hey Satan, Why Are You Shooting at Me?

You could be thinking, Ha! The devil can't pin me down! How's he ever gonna keep me from maneuvering and fighting back?

Well, if you've got your hands full fighting up front, how're you gonna notice who's sneaking around back, or attacking your vulnerable flank? Or be able to tell where the attack's coming from?

Could be aimed at our personal finances. Or at a marriage or dating relationship ... or simply at how we treat others in our day-to-day lives. Could come from a flirtatious associate at work, or in the temptation to slide an inflated figure past an insurance claim. Maybe the next attack could even come from inside our churches.

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-A believer who's owned by the credit card company (instead of the Holy Spirit) may not want to accept it, but he's already pinned down by his financial mistakes.

-A believer who's emotionally distracted by a romantic relationship with a non-believer might also be too distracted to notice they're being surrounded in the place they're most vulnerable.

-A believer who sets his faith aside to achieve financial success and material rewards by putting his career ahead of his family might have trouble accepting that he's vulnerable to being overwhelmed and wiped out.

-A church that's more concerned with preserving its own rituals and traditions; a church whose reason for existence has become merely satisfying the needs of its members; a church that has put serving and following Christ in second place is not only pinned down ... it's also lost its ability to identify and engage the enemy.

-A church that's stationary and static about its commitment to share and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ is stuck in its foxhole, and can no longer tell where the attack's coming from. It's lost its ability to maneuver and fight (except with each other). A stagnant church, one that hides and ducks from the enemy, will never notice it's about to be attacked from all sides at once.

-A church that puts its highest priority on steeples, organ music and stained glass windows is leaving its flanks (like say, its Youth Department) dangerously exposed to spiritual attack and annihilation. That church has already been surrounded and is just waiting to be overwhelmed and wiped out ... down to the last child and teenager.

Chances are that church's Post-Combat Casualty Report will indicate the members were busy arguing about flowers, dress codes, music and paint colors ... and never noticed the enemy had already moved into position to attack.