Adam Mallette

A Few Good Men?

Originally posted January 2016 at markdance.net

 

It’s 0043 in the morning, and I’m staring at the blank page of a Word document wondering what I might say to pastors and those in positions of ministry leadership.  If I could convey one message it would be this: CRUCIFY THE MARINE.

Three years ago after leaving the Marine Corps to follow the Lord’s calling to preparation for ministry at Southwestern, I believed I had it all together. I had been a Captain in the Marine Corps and led Marines in combat.  I had a Masters in International Relations and was an effective administrator. I could see organizational inefficiencies with little effort, and could take decisive action to remedy the problem.

I, I, I, I.

The Lord has shown me my ignorance over these last three years. Ninety-one credit hours later, I finished up my M.Div. this December.  And the professors at Southwestern have wonderfully pressed into my mind more than I thought possible. Yet, for all that the M.Div. has taught me, its greatest lesson has been in exposing how very much I don’t know. Throw in the residential experience of a family of six in student housing, the pressures of living on less, and the strain for time, and you have the perfect concoction for being humbled. And that’s just what the doctor ordered and what the Lord knew my heart needed.

Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”  It is clear that our salvation is the great gift and act of God reaching into our decay (Ephesians 2:1-3).  Continuing on, verse 10 says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, that God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” We see in the text a natural flow from being to doing. That is, the works we are created for in verse 10 come from an overflow of our relationship to the Lord. Our calling is to BE before it is to DO; a call to be His. Ours is a call to commune with the Lord in repentance, faith, confession, suffering, giving, utter dependence, and trust. Our identity is not in a title, or the kingdom usefulness of our talents.

If there is any hope of being used in ministry, we have to crucify the Marine.

We are not God’s 911 force in readiness. We have to let go of the guy who twists his abilities with his usefulness; his rank with his importance. We must keep from letting the guy who is ten feet tall and bulletproof have his way. We need to give up the thought that we have it all together, know it all, and that God is counting on us to achieve His ends. And for those times when the square peg needs to be forced into the round hole, don’t call on the Marine; call on the Lord.  If I can do it all, there is no place for the Lord.  And the reality is I can’t do it all; and neither can you.  The Lord doesn’t need a guy that has it all together. He needs a guy that desires Him altogether.

I won’t stop calling you all civilians or wondering why you don’t call me sir. I’ll continue to prefer my coffee more tar than tea. I’ll shave my face, keep my hair short, and expect you to as well.  I’m not saying the Lord can’t use those lessons or disciplines learned in the Corps; he has and is. He will bring to bear all of your experience and giftings too. But before you turn to the Marine to resolve the crisis, turn to the Lord.

He doesn’t need a Few Good Men, He just needs you.

Adam Mallette

Retire the Colors

Each day, we use signs to make a claim about what we believe.  As a husband, the ring I placed on my wife’s finger is a sign to the watching world that I am hers and she is mine.  As a society, we use specially marked signs, nearest to buildings, as an explicit claim that we believe those with disabilities should have greatest ease of access.  As a Marine, I would render a salute to a senior officer as a claim of my subordination and a sign that I stood ready to execute his orders.  Signs say something about what we believe.

One sign, common throughout our land, is the Flag of the United States.  It features fifty white stars, over a field of blue, symbolizing the states in our union.  The thirteen alternating red and white horizontal bars symbolize the colonies that declared their independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. These symbols characterize much of our history and what it means to be an American.  But make no mistake; the flag, in its totality, is a sign which claims the sovereignty of the United States of America.

As a rule, the US Flag takes a back seat to no other.  Title IV of the US Code brings clarity to the flag itself, regulating everything from manner of construction, to proper handling and appropriate display.  In a marching formation of troops, it is to be carried at the front right of the formation – the place of honor.  If posted alongside other colors, it will be in the center.  If hoisted to the top of a flag-pole, with multiple flags, it should be at the top.  Regarding the display of the flag on a speaker’s platform, the US Code states, “the flag of the United States of America should hold the position of superior prominence, and in advance of the audience, and in the position of honor at the clergyman’s or speaker’s right as he faces the audience.”[1]  In fact, there are only two situations in which another flag may be flown in a place of higher importance.[2]  The first is at the United Nations Headquarters, in New York, which provides for the display of the UN Flag in a place of prominence relative to its member nations.  The second is during a worship service conducted at sea by a Navy Chaplain.  In such cases, the church flag may be flown above the US Flag during the conduct of the service.

Here is the argument that I would like you to wrestle with in the context of your places of worship:  It is visually impossible to fly the US Flag correctly while still claiming that we are first Kingdom Citizens.  Since we are not at the UN, nor at sea in chaplain led services, there is no provision for the US Flag to take a position of lesser importance, to say, the Christian Flag.  Yet, week after week we continue to visually depict a hierarchy within our worship centers that places the US Flag above a flag representing our Christian identity.  I’m not championing the Christian flag as an emblem.  Rather, I’m addressing our infatuation with posting the national ensign in our places of worship.  Some may wish to respond by placing the Christian flag to the speaker’s right (the place of superior prominence).  Yet, this isn’t permitted in the US Code.  If you are the type of person who cares about flying the flags, then my hunch is that you are the type of person who cares about doing it right.  Still others may wish to respond by claiming this is merely an unimportant matter of protocol.  However, if we understand the church as an outpost in the larger world, or as Dr. Jonathan Leeman describes it “an embassy,”[3] then our local church is the sovereign territory of our Lord.  It would be scandalous to fly the flag of another country atop the White House.  So why would we allow another standard to fly at our Lord’s Embassy?

Removing the flag isn’t an issue for dogmatism or the breaking of fellowship.  I understand that the flag likely made its way into worship centers in response to anti-American sentiment in popular culture.  Yet, this post is written after a year in which I fear many Christians prioritized political discourse to the detriment of Kingdom witness.  The fundamental petition of this post is that we prioritize our claim of being Kingdom citizens first; to unify around the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Let us verbally and visually declare that Jesus is Lord!

The root of the word patriot is the Greek patēr, or father.[4]  To be a patriot is to love, support, and defend the land of one’s father.  I do love and support our country, and actively defended it for ten years, so please don’t confuse this post or its writer as unpatriotic.  I have been blessed by the many freedoms being a citizen of this country has afforded.  And I love our flag.  I’ve saluted it a thousand times in uniform, and one day, it will drape my casket.   I pray earnestly that the Lord will bring revival to our country; for the glory of the Father more than the fatherland.  My patriotism belongs first to my King before my Country.

Tomorrow, as we recognize our military veterans, let us give thanks to God for their service and the freedoms they helped protect.  Take the time to tip your cap to the red-white-and-blue at the ballgame or on your front porch.  Thank a man or woman in uniform for their service.  Pray for a gold star parent who lost a child fighting for their country. But the task of healing the brokenness of our land can only be accomplished by introducing King Jesus to our land.  This remains the greatest need of the hour.  Perhaps as we seek to turn the page on 2016, and as a sign of our Kingdom Citizenship, it’s time to reconsider flying Old Glory within our churches.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

 Adam Mallette is a PhD student at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and serves as the Director of Student Services.  He is a former active-duty Captain in the Marine Corps and combat veteran of Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom. 

 Photo: Neuestock Photos  

[1] Title IV, Section 7, Paragraph (k) of the United States Code.

[2] Title IV, Section 7, Paragraph (c) of the United States Code.

[3] Leeman, Jonathan.  Political Church:  The Local Assembly as Embassy of Christ’s Rule.  Intervarsity Press Academic, 2016.

[4] The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition, (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016), adj. “patriot.”