Courageous, Crazy, or…?

     When I first think of the word “courage,” the name of a former super-hero comes to mind—“Captain Courageous.”   In my own generation, dating back to the 1950’s, it was George Reeves as Superman, Adam West as Batman, and my personal favorite, Guy Williams as Zorro.  Today, the same characters are popular, but with a distinctive twist—far more sensual and even dark.  Add to that, the mutant X-Men, digital Pokémon monsters, and alien fighting Power Rangers, and the descriptive word is hardly “courageous.”  I was reminded of this as I recently read about King Saul and his call by God to be a “captain,”—Captain Courageous, if you will.  At least, that was God’s intention—“Now the Lord told Samuel in his ear a day before Saul came, saying, Tomorrow, about this time, I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be captain over my people Israel, that he may save my people out of the hands of the Philistines.” (1 Sam. 9:15,16)  But would Saul be that “Captain Courageous?  You see, there had been no king in Israel, and everyone did what he wanted to do. (Judges 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25)   To desire a king sounds like a noble idea, but what were their motives? —“We will have a king over us; that we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.”  (8:19b-20) These are precisely the same things people are looking for today—a lazy Christianity lived by human standards, and thereby, “worldly.”  This is typical for our godless society, but quite tragic when it happens within the church.

     God knew it would be their ruin, for He was supposed to be their King, and in His mercy, He warned them repeatedly.  He allowed their ill-fated plan to go on for the greater good, for it would show the need for God’s perfect Kingdom and rule, a foreshadowing of Jesus Himself as King of kings and Lord of lords.  Also, it would teach them, and us, that no type of government on earth can resolve human problems or guarantee peace and safety, as long as sinful people still exist.  If all would turn to the Lord and surrender, true peace—that is, reconciliation with a holy God and with each other—would abound, as it will in the new heavens and new earth when sin is no more.  Oswald Chambers put it this way, “The statement we so often hear, ‘Make a decision for Jesus Christ,’ places the emphasis on something our Lord never trusted.  He never asks us to decide for Him, but to yield to Him—something very different.”  How true!  This is precisely why so much of the “church” today is in such pitiful shape.  Often, the truth of the total depravity of humankind and the destructiveness of sin are ignored, opting instead for the unbiblical concepts of self-worth and pride—i.e., no need for a heart OR a life change.  A.W. Tozer wrote, “True faith believes everything God has said about Himself, but also everything He has said about us.  Until we believe that we are as bad as God says we are, we can never believe that He will do for us what He says He will do.  To think that all we need to do is ‘accept’ Him, free and clear of obedience, is spiritual suicide.  That dreamy, sentimental faith that ignores the judgments of God against our sin is more deadly than a drive in the dark across a bridge that does not quite reach the other side.”

     As Saul starts out, all seems to be fine.  In fact, he is the cream of the crop—“a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he.” (9:2) He was also extremely humble—not necessarily a good characteristic in today’s self-absorbed society, but certainly a good attitude as far as God was concerned.  However, it would need to go far beyond words—all of the way to the entire life.  You see, he had been called to be the “captain”—a word that is used over 250 times in the Scriptures, usually referring to the head of the army.  Here, in the text before us, it is a very different Hebrew word, referring to “a commander who occupies the front honorably.”  In other words, he was not to be just a “figurehead,” giving orders from HQ or from the top of a distant hill in safety.  No, Saul was called to be right on the front lines, experiencing it all.  He was called to trust in the Lord, yielded to His every leading.  Was he going to just sit back and expect others to be in the battle for the glory of the Lord, or was he going to be poured out himself?  The call was clear—even from his coronation ceremony—“Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the plain of Tabor, and there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Bethel, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine,”(10:3)—symbolic of the sacrifice of his own life in service to the Lord, the sustenance of the Living Bread that would carry him through, and the sweet wine of the poured-out blood that would cleanse him then and forevermore.

     The question, however, still remained—would Saul be poured out in trust, yielding to the Lord’s will?  Actually, no!  Case in point—one time, Saul was to wait for Samuel to arrive to conduct the burnt offerings before the battle, and when he didn’t show up as soon as Saul thought he should, the king did it himself.  He took a place that was not his, and where is the trust in that?  In a later battle, Saul was instructed to annihilate every living thing as a sign of purity and obedience, but he decided that saving out some of the animals for the upcoming sacrifice made more sense.  Yielded to the ways of God?    Hardly!  Oh, he thought he was—all he was doing was for God, but according to his own standard, in his own strength—a tragic error so many make in the church today.  Years later, he went into crazy fits of jealousy over David, who was to become king in his stead, even trying to kill him.  In the end, God’s Spirit left him and evil spirits possessed him, he consulted a demonic fortuneteller for direction, he committed suicide due to pride, and he, with his sons, were beheaded and nailed to a wall—headless trophies of darkness!  Captain Courageous?  No!  Captain Crazy?  No, far worse than that!  How about Captain Cowardly, for, indeed, that is what he was?  True courage seeks to be led every step of the way by the power of God’s Spirit, while the coward endeavors to do it his own way.  The world says just the opposite, but who are you going to listen to—the world or God?  Oh, godly courage had been offered to Saul, for the Lord always equips His people for their call, but it was not received and not obeyed.  If we are going to be “onward Christian soldiers,” as the hymn states, we must desire for God’s true “captain” to live within.   Hebrews 2: 9-10 reads, “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man.  For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.  For both He that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren.”    The Greek word used here for “captain” reveals Jesus as the originator, founder, leader, and yes, even the beginning—the author and finisher of our faith.  He doesn’t just point out the way in the very beginning and let us go.  He is the Way every minute of the day!  (John 14:6)

     How is this possible in that He is God and we are not?  Oh, this is the glorious mystery of which Paul speaks—“Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Col. 1:27)  Andrew Murray put it this way: “The difference between us and Jesus is great, but our oneness with Him is greater,”—and all through trust that yields the entire life to the power of the Holy Spirit.  Oh, praise God—there is only one super-hero worthy of our worship and adoration, and He didn’t wear a cape.  He wore a crown—a crown of thorns that led Him to a crown of glory—King of kings and Lord of lords.  Yes, even the Captain of our salvation.  He went to the front line of the battle and fought for you, defeating forever Satan and the bondage of sin—not just to free you from Hell, but from Satan’s power to enslave you today.  And all of it was out of love—His love for you, not because you are so lovable but because He is love.  Courageous?  Crazy?  Cowardly?  Which was He?  Which are you?  Which will you be?