Special Forces...

I have, and always will be, a major fan of all things military. If it flies fast, blows up, shoots a long way or can see in the dark....I love it. The thought of flying a fighter jet at mach 2, or decimating an enemy compound with the 12omm cannon of an Abrahms tank just gets me excited. (Im sure I am not alone.)

But I am just as amazed, maybe even more so, by the things our military does that we will never see or hear about. The operations that happen before a war starts, or the missions that get carried out that were never officially carried out. Or the ones that were successful, but credit was given to whole other country.....to build rapport. These are the tasks that are assigned to the Special Forces of our military.....the elite 1% of our military that, until recently, were hardly ever seen. So when a program about these guys comes on TV.... I'm watching; and I just saw an awesome national Geographic special about the Army's Green Berets.

Now this wasn't a "kid-safe" program, due to the video footage and some language, but it was an exceptionally educating program for more than just the military aspect. The interviews and points of view expressed by these soldiers and their leaders was quite fascinating, and I took a few points away that want to share. I couldn't help but draw a few comparisons to church's....so bear with me.

1) Small groups; Green Berets operate in 12 man units. Each man has a specialized field of training that, when combined with the other 11 specialized members, creates a complete military unit. Now since they are so highly trained and highly successful, it begs the question, "Why aren't all soldiers trained to be as skilled as the Special Forces?" And in fact, a ranking General was posed this very question. His answer? "It is almost impossible to instruct, train and educate large groups of soldiers with regard to specific, complex scenarios in the field."

Wait, what? I think I've heard something similar from Andy Stanley..."Its impossible to convey complex information to large groups of people." This is never more evident in church's than when votes take place.

2)Mission first mentality; The end result of their operation is the absolute focus of their efforts. Everything they do during a campaign is centered around completing the mission as quickly, efficiently and safely as possible.

3)Relationship first..force second; This my have been the most intriguing aspect of all. During their time in Afghanistan and Iraq, US Special Forces have spent more time getting to know, gaining the trust, and understanding the culture, issues and concerns of the native people, than planning and executing actual combat missions. This isn't downtime activity, its actually part of a strategic plan. In other words, they made conscious effort to relate to, and be liked by the people. Shockingly, there were no reports of our soldiers becoming Muslim, al Qaeda, or Afghan, and they never forgot what they were doing. Hope someone gets my sarcasm.

My point is this......the most skilled, highly trained, and reliable unit of the US Army already incorporates concepts and processes that are still somewhat "controversial" in church society today. I wonder why we're losing our own war???