A Band of Brothers

And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,

From this day to the ending of the world,

But we in it shall be remembered-

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;

For he today that sheds his blood with me

Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,

This day shall gentle his condition;

And gentlemen in England now-a-bed

Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,

And hold their manhoods cheap while any speaks

That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

From what I have read the first quote of the term comes from William Shakespeare in the play Henry V. Then there was the famous series by the same name. This is the true story of a single paratrooper company making their way through the last year of the war (WW2) in Europe. 

So the term was recorded in History and Literature, and film. ... Yet we understand here that this "band of brothers" is a martial group, dedicated and loyal. The spilling of their blood, mixed together in desperate battle, makes them a family as close as any blood tie can make them. Wow what a quote and testimony.  Are we part of A Band of Brothers?

In my previous post I spoke about the armour of God, let's take a closer look.

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

Ephesians 6:13‭-‬18 NIV

The first thing I noted is that the armour is all designed for facing forward in battle, nothing covers the rear. 

(by the way I don't advocate putting on this armour as a ritual of prayer of putting it on each day, unless you live with the principles as a daily habit. That is to be righteous in your daily walk with God, not your own but of Jesus. To be truthful, to apply salvation and continuous renewing of your mind. To really be prepared in the gospel and peace, to share your testimony. It should be a lifestyle of practice, not an empty ritual.  I often so called applied the armour when I felt under threat, yet was often taken down, because it was Not a lifestyle of practice, neither the enemy or God is easily fooled. Remember you reap what you sow)

Right back on track, so we find that nothing protects the back, have you heard the term " Who's got your Six"? It's a military term and relates to in battle your facing 12 (as in a clock face) straight ahead, but 6 is the behind you, where you are potentially exposed. In the posts prior to this one, I related to the struggle and war, that we do indeed face. The enemy is out to destroy the "sons" of God in anyway possible.  That is the reason that accountable community of discipleship is crucial to each of us. We need to establish covenantal relationships to cover our brothers backs and someone to cover ours.

I wondered if there was a biblical context to the idea of a covenantal friendship. This type of friendship is found in David and Johnathan.

And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself.

1 Samuel 18:3 NIV

Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you.  This is my blood of the  covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Matthew 26:27‭-‬28 NIV

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

John 15:12‭-‬13 NIV

There is certainly a biblical precedent for this this type of friendship, the prime example is Jesus, and demonstrated by Johnathan and David.

Covenant love is contrary to popular definitions of love; it is care propelled by and rooted in something other than the object of that care. It might seem strange to say that the object of one’s love is not the driving force behind that love, but this is actually good news. It is a love that isn’t earned. This is the very love God extends to us. Stephanie Smith from her blog Morning by Morning.  She points out that faithfulness of God is’t motivated by the loveliness or faithfulness of his covenant people, and more in often despite of ....

This is true Love, and based on the the faithfulness, grace and mercy of God the Father, Agape type and we need to keep this in mind in our pursuit of friendship. 

Friendship takes on a whole new meaning when it becomes covenant friendship—faithful and selfless care rooted in the compelling example of our God.

So biegn part of A Band of Brothers requires us to concider the Body of Christ when taking communion, which is the hallmark of Christian covenant instituted by Jesus himself and continued and warned about by Paul in his epistles to do it with respect and consideration of each other when partaking. It is not to be taken lightly and carelessly. It calls for the recognition of the individual and corporate parts of the Body of Christ, which are are part of. 

To this end I am privileged to belong to a group of men that meet every week, and have committed to uphold the faith and walk and journey of life. To encourage and pray and stand together and cover each others backs, and stick with them through the fire and trials of life, not to abandon them to despair and hopelessness. We are committed to uplift and challenge in equal measure. 

The point of discipleship is to continue, learning and exhorting each other until Christ is formed in us and to take others in community to do the same.