ent, too. I prayed that God would for give my lackadaisical attitude and my pride in thinking that all I had to do was live a “good life.” As soon as a lull came in the battle and I had an opportunity to call my men together, I told them what I be lieved—how Jesus Christ had died for each one of them and what He meant to me, and how I had failed them up to this point. I told them that I would not harass them by talking about it all the time, but if they wanted to pray or find out what the Scriptures said, I would be glad to talk or pray with them. This was the beginning of a very fruitful time. We had Bible studies together, and a number of men accepted Christ as their Saviour. I had learned the hard way. There after when I was assigned to a new unit I made it a habit at the first occasion to call my men together to tell them what I believed. I let them know it was my greatest desire to help them before the heat of battle came, when—busy with the duties involving the whole unit —I would not be able to help. When I entered the service this time, I made it the primary requirement for myself that the men who were with me would know that I was a Christian. I did not go knocking on doors to tell them; but I found that there are plenty of “ bull sessions” when what we did be fore being called back in came up for discussion. Here is the opportunity. It’s possible to avoid the issue by talking in generalities, but I found that the most expeditious thing is to state quite frankly and sometimes even bluntly what you are living for. Your statement is bound to be followed by a hush in which everyone looks a little amazed and even embarrassed, but if you follow it up with some such remark as, “ I don’t know what I would have done without Jesus Christ as my guide,” peo ple will be interested. The discussion on my first three nights in the barracks during my present term of service lasted until after midnight as I ex plained what a Christian is and what it means to be one. Never before have I had such opportunities to witness with real freedom and to such attentive ques tioners. Page Seven
Used by permission of Inter-Varsity Fellowship*
I P “ 6.1.” has not already become a part of your daily routine, there is a good possibility that it will very shortly. As you pass through endless “ G.I.” lines, they will throw “ G.I.” clothes at you, you will eat “ G.I.” chow. “ G.I.” can mean lots of things, but in the service it means “government issue.” You will even be called a “ G.I.” yourself and live with other “ G.I’s.” And you will get a “ G.I.” education which will include many things and all prefaced with these two little letters “ G.I.” How you take this “ rough and ready” education depends on you and what you believe. I spent nearly four years in Uncle Sam’s University and have now re turned at his request for a post-grad uate course. In contrasting what I •did when I entered the service the first time with this present donning of Army olive-drab, I see some things that may be interesting to you as you are con fronted with the armed services. As a result of my past experience I believe I have a keener insight into how much one’s conduct counts, and on entering the service this time I have tried not to repeat my previous mistakes. Our Primary Allegiance The basis and principal assumption of all this is that we are “ soldiers of Jesus Christ,” a fact which supersedes even our allegiance to the United States. As a “soldier of Jesus Christ” I en tered the service the first time with the philosophy that “ I would live my Chris tianity, and others would see it, and my life would speak so loudly that I wouldn’t have to talk.” I was quite con vinced that this was the best plan, but J U L Y , 1 9 5 2
as I look back I realize the real situa tion—that I was afraid to do anything else and did not have enough confidence in my Commander, Jesus Christ, to speak forth for Him. If you are talking down the spoken-witness angle, examine your motives honestly to see if your main difficulty is not that you are afraid and ashamed of Christ. I received a reward in the service commensurate with my philosophy of living. The men knew I did not smoke or drink. In fact, I think many of them were frankly puzzled as to what on earth I did do. A negative philosophy will never save sinners. When I left the first company of which I was a member, my company commander said to me, “ I have heard of Christians but I- never met one until I met you.” Actually this was a rebuke, for I had never made an attempt to tell my C.O. what Christ meant to me. I was not shaken out of my “just liv ing as a Christian” until several days of combat had passed. The word was sent up to me that one of my men was dying and was asking for me. The fire was heavy, and I didn’t feel I should leave my men to go to this one man. The messenger finally said, “He wants you to pray for him. Won’t you please come?” That hit me. Apparently I had acted enough like a Christian to make him believe I could help. So I made my way back some yards to the wounded man. He was deep in shock, and I could see that he was about to die. He could say nothing but “ Pray” over and over. I did pray, but he soon slipped out— where I do not know. I prayed for that dying man that moment, but I prayed something differ
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