The Roman soldier was called a legionary. He was typically armed with a sword called a gladius and a shield called a scutum. All of his equipment together weight approximately 45 pounds. Discipline was the order of the day resulting in hours of arduous drills. A legionary could walk up to 20 miles a day in full equipment. He was molded with others in his cohort to be a well oiled machine totally in step with his unit knowing his place in the operation.

 

This seemingly simple task of marching was the first step for a roman soldier. Before being trained in combat, you first had to learn to march in step with your unit fully equipped. When Paul is commanding endurance, he uses the soldier as his example, and it becomes abundantly clear why. As the soldier marches in step, we are also to keep in step with the Spirit (Gal. 5:16-25) as He is our spiritual commander.

 

This leads us to the next point, we need to focus on the commander’s cadence.

As soldiers of Christ we are to be dedicated to obeying and living out Christ’s will (Eph. 5:17, Rom. 12:2). Our King is Lord Jesus and our lives are His bought at a great price (1 Pet. 1:18, 19). We are called to suffer to this end, to obey his commandments, and to remind ourselves that we do not simply suffer FOR Christ, we suffer WITH Him (1 Pet. 12-19).

 

We are not to entangle ourselves deeply in the pursuits of those unaligned with us. Currently there is a large movement in the church to politicize the Gospel. Some claim Social Justice and political activism is the duty of the church. It is not nor has it ever been the duty of the church to further any cause which does not put forth Christ and His Word as the primary concern. All of politics, all of justice can be summarized in obedience to two commandments: Love the Lord your God with All your heart, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. We are an army concerned with only one loyalty: Christ. This is the Cadence of the church, to keep in step with God’s spirit following Christ as our king and obeying Him accordingly.

There is an example in Caesars “Conquest of Gaul” where the men under his command were starving. Caesar suggested they eat the grasses of the fields and himself ate some as well. His men were encouraged seeing their commander partaking and so they themselves endured and ultimately overcame not only their hunger, but the enemy as well, If a Pagan soldier could have such faith in a mortal man, how much more should the soldiers of Christ be willing to endure for our savior? He has already done more than Caesar, not simply sharing in a meal but he himself being the bread of life. We should readily endure anything thrown at us knowing well Christ has already suffered it on our account once.

Timothy is being called to raise men such as these, that will remain faithful disciplined soldiers even in times of crisis. The soldier’s strength was not in his individual prowess, it was in his reliance on his unit and his commander’s orders. We as Christians have our marching orders, let us endeavor to please our King and experience many victories in His name. Let us win battles against our enemies even if it calls for us to suffer, fast and pray for them.

 

Christ’s soldiers are not defined by how much we cause others to suffer, but by how much we suffer for others. Let us embrace this whole heartedly knowing our Lord has done this on our account first so that we may follow him into battle knowing He knows the way.