No man wants to fail at anything, much less at the mission he is assigned to accomplish by Christ. In Mark, the twelve are gathered together by Jesus to discuss their upcoming mission. He delegates to them enormous spiritual power and tells them to go out to proclaim the kingdom of God. As responsible men, the disciples must have been mulling over what provisions they needed to make for this trip to the nearby and far away villages of Galilee. Jesus seems to have read their mind. Here is Mark’s account:
And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts—but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics (Mark 6:7-8.)
Jesus’ message to them concerning the necessary provisions was, “You DON’T NEED a cooler full of food, a duffel bag with your personal items, or even some extra money. But there is one thing you DO need. YOU DO NEED A BROTHER.” He did not send them out by themselves, but two by two.
Later, Jesus sent the seventy-two out two by two to demonstrate and proclaim the message, “The kingdom of God has come near.” The fact that Jesus saw this ministry as engaging in spiritual warfare is revealed after the seventy-two returned. Luke records, The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” (Luke 10:17-18).
Jesus’ mission was to recover Adam’s kingdom from its slavery to the triumvirate, Satan, Sin, and Death, and inaugurate the kingdom of God, i.e. begin the process of fixing everything that has been broken by sin and making it RIGHT. That is why Christ-followers are told, Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness (Matt 6:33).
This blog/podcast is rooted in the biblical understanding that our mission is the establishment of Christ’s kingdom of righteousness in every sphere of our lives (only by the power of the resurrected Christ). The beginning of the restoration of that kingdom of rightness in my life begins with my heart—loving Christ with all of my heart. That kingdom is then established in my heart attitudes as I become like King Jesus (and Adam, before the fall.) Then, it is working for righteousness, i.e. justice, rightness, in every sphere of my life because as Dutch theologian Abraham Kuyper reminded us, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!”
Although the apostles were uniquely empowered to heal, raise from the dead, and cast out demons to validate the authority of their teaching and writings, and the seventy-two were uniquely empowered to demonstrate a foretaste of the conquest of Christ’s kingdom, they were engaged in an earlier phase of the same mission that is assigned to all Christ-followers—the overthrow of the kingdom of darkness and establishment of Christ’s kingdom of righteousness. In Jesus’ mind, this mission cannot be accomplished without having a brother beside you, helping you fight.
Four Reasons Every Man Need’s a Battle Buddy
1. The mission Jesus has you on matters. Your place in your immediate family, your extended family, your church, your workplace, your neighborhood is not accidental. That is where you are to live out the upside town values of Christ’s kingdom and work for kingdom righteousness. Your impact matters eternally, says Jesus, By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples (John 15:8).
2. Your mission is tough. Your commission is not just beating your best time in the relay, or overcoming the challenge of a tough exam by getting an A, or getting the most “likes” on Facebook, or having the best looking yard in the neighborhood. You must fight a three-front war with your sinful nature that relentlessly tries to overpower you, the fallen world that seeks to entice your heart, and Satan’s minions who hate you and know precisely how to temp you. And Satan is lying in wait for your brother too, who may not realize that God never designed men to fight their spiritual battles alone.
3. Your blind spots will hurt you. Every day, Christian men fail morally, relationally, spiritually, and financially not because they didn’t try hard, but because of their blind spots. Robert Lewis of Men’s Fraternity observes, “One of the significant downsides of isolation for a man is that he ends up with a warped perspective on life. One of the worst things a man can do is only deliberate with himself because it is easy for him to lose perspective and reach the wrong conclusion.” Poor is the man who has no friends close enough to challenge him. Proverbs 27:6 understands real friendship when it observes, “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.”
4. You probably get too down on yourself because of your failures. It is true that occasionally a brother will be rationalizing his sin and need some tough love in the form of confrontation. But most of the brothers I know need more help feeling and knowing they are forgiven and deeply loved by a holy God, despite their repeated sin. Most of us get down, emotionally, when we fail. How easy it is to remain down. We need a Barnabas—a son of encouragement—who picks us up, treats our bruised self-esteem carefully, and breathes confidence into our windless sails, helping us get back into the fight.
I wrote a whole book called Got Your Back to help men forge the brotherhood connections in the Body of Christ that they need. But here is just one simple principle for moving friendships towards becoming battle buddies. Link your prayer time to the spiritual battles you are fighting. In a men’s Bible study, don’t just take prayer requests, ask, “What spiritual battle can we help you fight?” A man will only be as personal in sharing that battle as he feels comfortable being, which is perfect. It is a start. And remember—that is our mission--battling against the kingdom of darkness for rightness, in each sphere of our lives. If you are an elder who has lunch with a man in your care group, finish by saying, “What spiritual battle can I help you fight during the next month by praying for you?” Then, remember to battle beside him and for him!
For Further Thought: Two questions that you might want to pray over:
1) What do you need to do to move towards having your own battle buddy?
2) What can you do to help Christian men who don’t even know they need a battle buddy?
