Christian Brotherhood
Terry Miller leads the men’s ministry at Cornerstone Church in Long Beach. One of their three tenets is that every Christian man needs a next step. After a major men’s conference, Terry noticed that men tend to drift away. Men need to know what they should do as a next step in the spiritual battle. In our Influencers band of brothers, we are called to the fellowship of likeminded men who choke in each others’ dust as we together chase after Christ. However, we need an answer to the question in Acts after Peter preached the first sermon to the Christian church: “Men and brethren what shall we do?”
Sebastian Junger in his Ted Talk says that many soldiers find themselves “missing in action” when they return home from war. The problem is that war doesn’t have a simple truth. Most people hate war. However, Hollywood glorifies war and young men are inspired to enlist for action. Sebastian served in Afghanistan in an intense war zone six miles in radius. His twenty man company stayed in this remote area for a month at a time. Some say that war is long stretches of boredom punctuated by brief moments of sheer terror. When the enemy attacks, the soldier enters an altered state of mind when pure adrenaline takes over.
Young men live for the adrenaline rush. Young men look for something to do to give them that rush. This is why combat is so attractive to many young men. One man after his deployment said, “what I miss about combat is almost everything.” What is it that he misses? After Sebastian searched his heart about why he missed his own deployment he came to two conclusions. On the surface he missed the adrenaline high. At a deeper level than the immediate rush, he also missed the mission. The question is “why do we fight?” The answer is that “I’ve got my brother’s back and he’s got mine.” What he missed was “brotherhood.” He missed his connection with his band of brothers. Brotherhood is a mutual agreement that each brother will put his own life on the line for each man in his band of brothers.
One guy said the worst day of his deployment was when a bullet hit his helmet and knocked him unconscious. Everyone thought he was dead. After a few moments he came to. He didn’t think about the searing pain of his concussion. He was consumed with guilt for not being able to protect his men for the brief moments that he was unconscious. Brotherhood means to value your brothers’ lives more than your own. If you have nothing worth dying for then you have nothing worth living for. This is what the brothers in arms miss after returning home.
There are parallels between this wartime experience and the fellowship of Christian men. It’s easy to get addicted to church fellowship and yet run from brotherhood. Fellowship in the church as most people define it is easy. Even though you’re in fellowship with others in the church, it’s difficult to find brotherhood.
There is a phenomenon of male loneliness in our society. Isolation is a major problem outside and inside the church. Even though we may not know each others’ names, we have something in common with our brothers in Christ. However intimate brotherhood is different from casual relationships within the church. Fellowship doesn’t let you see what brotherhood lets you see. Only with your band of brothers is it safe to expose your war wounds of the spiritual battle. Each brother is also bleeding from taking a bullet for you. It’s healing to be able to bind up one another’s’ wounds and to comfort one another while we heal together.
Brotherhood according to Webster’s is “the state of being brothers.” According to Urban Dictionary, a friend will talk you out of a fight. A brother will go toe to toe with you no matter the argument. Brothers are each other’s emergency contacts. Brothers grow together in a bond of love.
It’s easy for a Christian man to become a “lone wolf” soldier in the Christian spiritual battlefield. Isolated individualism is counter to the truth of the body of Christ. Self imposed solitary confinement is called “punishment.” We need our band of brothers within the body of Christ. Brothers are honest with each other. A brother will raise up his brother in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Thank God when our brothers reprove us. Godly correction means to “restore to an upright position.” Even though it’s painful to be straightened, Godly chastisement is part of the truth in proverbs that says, “Iron sharpeneth iron.”
The original sin is when the devil convinced Eve that she would be better off without God. He sowed a seed of doubt about her most important relationship: her relationship with God. The Devil perpetuates this same lie that we’re better off without relationships…without God and without others.
Men and brethren, what shall we do? The next step is the step into brotherhood. Fellowship is safe, however brotherhood is taking the plunge into an intimate, deep seated abiding relationship with a select few. Jesus himself rarely ministered to the multitude. The question is, “who are your three, and who are your twelve?” Jesus had his inner circle of Peter, James, and John. He also had his band of brothers, his disciples who agreed with Peter who said, “we’ve got nowhere else we can go. You have the words of life.”
There are several scriptures about brotherhood. These include: Proverbs 18:24; John 15:13; 1 Peter 2:17; 1 Peter 1:22; Romans 12:10; Ecclesiastes 4:12; and Proverbs 12:17.
As brothers within the body of Christ, in order to sharpen each other as iron sharpens Iron, there are four questions to ask one another:
1. How’s your soul. 2. How’s your walk with God. 3. How are you doing with your family and close relationships? 4. How can I pray for you right now?
These next steps help us bind up one another’ wounds and build one another up within the body of Christ. The follow up to each question is “tell me about that.” Our job is to listen. Our action is in the fourth question: “how can I pray for you?” An important prayer is “pray that God will find me right now in this moment.”
As brothers of the Son of God, we have each other’s backs in the midst of the spiritual battlefield. And as we fight the good fight may we ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael