I recently re-read Jocko Willink and Leif Babin’s book, Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy Seals Lead and Win. The book is filled with harrowing stories of war and compelling examples of leadership in intense situations. The book is a wonderful resource for practical leadership wisdom. Yet, as I read through the book a second time to begin the New Year, while the leadership lessons were still good, something else stood out to me in my second reading. It was the risk of fratricide.
On numerous occasions, Jocko and Leif detailed the intense measures that they went through to prevent fratricide. Even as someone with no experience in the military, it did not take much to discern that fratricide was a reference to killing one’s sibling. In the true stories in Extreme Ownership, fratricide happens when soldiers misidentify their own allies as enemies on the battlefield. In the mercy of God, per their own accounts, Jocko and Leif’s Seal Team Three Task Unit Bruiser were able to avoid committing fratricide on the battlefield, but not all military teams have been so fortunate.
The Risk of Fratricide in the Church
As I reflect upon the last year, whether it has been the division in Christ’s church over United States politics, COVID policies, or racial justice, I wish I could say that, when it came to identifying the real enemy, I had witnessed the same vigilance among Christians brothers and sisters that I read in the accounts of the team members of Task Unit Bruiser. Sadly, we ignore the risk of fratricide in our midst.
Instead of going to great lengths to ascertain the situation, though, I have witnessed and even participated in a form of spiritual fratricide which often assumed the motives of brothers and sisters in Christ, placing them in metaphorical crosshairs that should be reserved for real enemies (Eph. 6:12). Instead of putting on love (Col. 3:14), the tendency has been to take up arms against fellow soldiers in the good fight of faith. Instead of demonstrating an eagerness “to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,” there has been an eagerness to accuse instead of listening. This has been true within the broader evangelical movement and within the Southern Baptist denomination that I call home.
A Warning from God
As always, God’s Word is sufficient to address this spiritual illness threatening the Bride of Christ. Paul’s instruction in Galatians 5:13-15 is particularly insightful for our cultural moment:
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
Some will likely object and say, “But what about those who teach falsely within in our own ranks? Ought we not correct them?” To this, I would say, “Yes. We ought to correct errors in our own ranks. We ought to raise the alarm about the false teaching that threatens the mission of the church. And we cannot consider those who teach a false gospel to be our allies in gospel ministry.” To be sure, we must never pit love for people against love for truth. Yet, we also ought to correct error in a manner that is consistent with God’s Word. “And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will” (2 Tim. 2:24-26).
The Captive and the Captor
The final line of 2 Timothy 2 always reminds me of the line from “O Church Arise” from Keith and Kristyn Getty, which says, “Our call to war, to love the captive soul, but to rage against the Captor.” Sadly, what I tend to see is a call to war against captives instead of the Captor. All the while, a world is dying in darkness without Christ and those with the light are fighting one another.
The Need for Repentance and Vigilance
I acknowledge my own need to repent of this sin of spiritual fratricide, and I invite others who see this sin within themselves to follow suit. Instead of expending my energy wrestling and fighting with fellow allies, I intend to focus on praying for and engaging this lost world with the good news of Jesus. Life is too short. Eternal souls are too valuable. God’s Word is too clear.
May they know that we are Christians by our love for one another.
CBH
