Odd Lots

The kingdom of God is made up of odd lots. This is evident in the strange assembly that made up David's heroic army in the wilderness.

"David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him. And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became captain over them. And there were with him about four hundred men" (I Samuel 22:1,2 ESV).

There is an interesting parallel in Jesus description of those who are invited to the wedding banquet.

"Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, 'Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame'" (Luke 14:21b ESV).

In the passage from I Samuel several things stand out. First, David's brothers, including the oldest Eliab, who upbraided him for impertinence over the matter of Goliath (I Samuel 17:28), now follow him to the stronghold in the wilderness. Second, those who gather to him are an odd lot, the distressed, the debtors, and the discontented. This is matched in the New Testament by the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame. Of such is made up the warriors of the kingdom of God. St. Paul says, "But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God" (I Corinthians 1:27-29).

We are at best strange traveling companions, odd lots, and an army of misfits being fitted together by the grace and mercy of the God who has called us. He trains our hands for war and our fingers for battle (Ps. 144:1). It may be that you object to being classified with the rest of us. Let me remind you that He came for those who are needy, not for those who are self-sufficient. Self-knowledge is essential for spiritual growth and self-knowledge brings with it the discovery of our human limitations and the overwhelming grace of God.

Such an army is not without its developmental problems. Among David's army are Joab and his brothers who even David refers to as severe men (II Samuel 3:39) "avenging in time of peace . . . blood that had been shed in war" (I Kings 2:5). God's new army has to be carefully taught and trained. God's warriors are called to be discipled by the Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ.

There is need for careful balance especially in times of conflict and change in the larger church. Spiritual warfare always brings with it the problems of wildfire. There is a contrast between fleshly enthusiasm (wildfire) and zeal, fire in the soul for God. Both George Whitfield and John Wesley commented on the problem of wildfire. Whitfield said, "I have been too bitter in my zeal. Wildfire has been mixed with it, and I frequently wrote and spoke in my own spirit, when I thought it was by the assistance of the Spirit of God." Wesley makes a similar remark, "I would willingly have none of my wildfire mingled with the sacred fire that comes from God's altar." Wildfire in the soul leads us to overstate our positions and act with oblivious lovelessness. Spiritual warfare must be tempered by love and self-knowledge, but remains warfare nonetheless. In citing the danger of warfare I speak only to the willing warrior. There is in the contemporary church the greater danger of failure to act in the face of the real challenges to the truth of Scripture. The warriors, the odd lots, need to understand that they are called into the army of the Lord for the inevitable spiritual warfare that faces every child of God. We are not called into the army of the Lord to look good in our armor!

~ Father Rob +

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