“3 For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— 2 assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. 4 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. 7 Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. 8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. 13 So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.” (Eph 3:1–13 ESV)

The right to know: we of all people strive first and foremost to Know Christian counsel, doctrine, example, precedent. We wish to Know deep mysteries of how Christ did things this way and not that, how He prayed to the Father in the mountainside remove, how He accomplished Healings and Forgiveness, Demon-Expulsions and Sanity Checks. We wish to know because we earnestly desire to do the same. We earnestly desire, if so-and-so is not a right proper model and exemplar for us, well then let it be someone else, earnestly desire to be Strong (“Help me”, a prayer of the soldier most harried) for the Hour, as all the world on a countdown timer, as all the world stands on the brink of one eventuality versus another and we… and our Relevance… is wrapped up in the call to Testify here and Now, not tomorrow but here and Now.

To testify beyond simply the response known as Exasperation. Exasperated and completely Refusing to accept God’s choice of just who His people are. Exasperated and coaching others in a wink-wink-nudge-nudge Response: someone has called the anthropological, sociological emergency line with this group-think, with this prescribed Exasperation. Only, patience O soldier… a level-headed reassessment occurs after some days, hours, or weeks. “They don’t Respect me!” is met with “Have you allowed them the chance to apologize and start afresh?”.

As the manifest Destiny of Christ’s Army writ large, we dodge accusation and insinuation to be heart-on-the-sleeve Sincere and still calmly Servant-minded notwithstanding the Nonsense passing as Christian Thought “out there”, in the community, within the nation’s highest offices, even: “Choose me, because the alternative is in no way sufficiently aggressive for the office…”

Farm league versus Pro ball, the litany of smell checks and character tests some go through, it is why we can’t just swoop in and swap one out and another—an untested another—in. Therefore to the secret knowledge: that it is Christ we seek to pin down and grill, quiz around a few topics. Christ who, the enemy in ingenious, devilishly ingenious, fashion, one ups by saying the entire Operation is ill-begotten, and says this long before the truth claim is even advanced. That truth claim indeed that will never be advanced, that somehow our hegemony is all we seek: our supremacy, the advancement of our family name, etc.

The situational awareness in this Operation means Certain confidence and composure around just that notion that all we seek, the only secrets we wish to divulge, are those around a heart-on-the-sleeve Suffering Servant. Yes, and the enemy can work with this as well, calling out “Balderdash! Make Him prove who He is with a few miracles, miracles according to my dictum!”.

Situational awareness has rewarded the one long under tutors and handlers until the date set by his or her Father, with a calmer disposition, no longer ducking under the houses windows while wandering about, no longer fearful or asking the Father of Lights to indulge some ennui, some brokenness, some complaint that He should swoop in and fix things.

Indeed, our gig is up, because Tomorrow’s Hopes, the things each day that we look forward to, the soldier who is eager for theater of battle and the church-goer who is eager for Sunday attendance, none of these things quite can Satisfy: we are forlorn and inconsolable around that awareness of what this life can offer, yet the Awareness too of a stoic, but luscious Eternity. An eternity of kimosabe answer-response to all our metaphysical crying out and need. To all our muttered Prayers. To all the things that This Life cannot offer.

We are forlorn because the war time Spirit we thought we were in league with, well now it is simply depressed: to see the bridges bombed and the people dying, who could have asked for this? Yet the soldier is in a mindset that far greater tragedies and outlays lie around the corner, that he or she needs all the community support they can receive, to steel-up and man-up the Resolve and personal ability to Forgive oneself for errors made in the field. It will be soldier versus his or her own nominal communities back home. It will be insane bouts of Trust Fall or Trust Decision, the soldier automatically Deciding for an entire Nation, to go this way not that, etc. We Believe that we can trust the soldier with so much more than is provable on paper. Indeed, our very survival may depend on it.