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How to Preach Like a Combat Medic

There is scarcely a more important man of greater importance in the battle than the combat medic. Whether it is a Navy Corpsman aiding Infantry Marines or an Army Medic, their presence in the fight is essential. By sharp contrast, the day-to-day routine in garrison in times of peace, while valuable, is at times of far less pressing concern. Their primary mission in garrison is reduced to dispensing Motrin for almost every common training injury or headache. In fact, it is used so frequently for such an array of ailments that it is known affectionately as “vitamin-M” by military members.

Pastor, our people are in combat, not garrison. The value of our sermons hinges upon our recognition of the war we are in. People come into the worship gathering every week with countless invisible wounds. They need a combat medic, not more vitamin-M. They battle physical sickness, job loss, family struggles, abuse in their lives, wayward children, and more. Some of the wounds are caused by friendly fire in the battle for our people’s souls. We also need to challenge our people with regard to gossip, backbiting, judgmental spirits, and other infighting in the Church.

As I have always served churches in transition where the fallout of recent battles are all around, I have had to dress more than a few wounds, challenge more than a few Christians to aim their rifles in the direction of the enemy, and in the process I have learned more than a few lessons the hard way about preaching like a combat medic.

1. Wear Your Battle Armor. When the combat medic is at work on the battlefield, his weapons are bandages and sutures. He can’t always defend himself in the battle.  Be aware that non-combatants still get wounded. Pastors who preach like combat medics may address some wounds in people’s lives that they would prefer to pretend don’t exist. The pain of exposing those wounds could lead to the medic being attacked by his patient. It is also guaranteed to lead to the enemy taking more careful aim on the medic. Our enemy would much more greatly prefer that our people are wounded and infected than that they were destroyed altogether or that they are healed.

It is common knowledge among militaries that a wounded man in the enemy’s camp is better than a dead one. A wounded man needs help from his fellow soldiers. When others come to his aid they are taken out of the battle as well. The enemy will do anything that he can to stop a preacher who addresses actual battlefield wounds in the lives of Christians and the Church. He prefers to have us crippled. Limping along in the battle, we don’t make very good pictures for recruiting posters, and evangelism fails. Staggering through the battle, we become discouraged, and our discouraged attitude destroys the fervor of fellow soldiers.

Preachers who preach like combat medics need to keep their armor tightly fastened in the battle because they are high on the enemy’s target list. (Ephesians 6:10-20, James 3:1)