To Battle We Go: Wet and Sandy
The Armed Forces School of Music I first attended way back in the spring of 1980 is located on the Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Also located on this base is something called the Naval Special Warfare Group Two, which is military-ese for U.S. Navy Seal Teams 2, 4, 8, and 10. Navy Seal Teams are famous for the rigor of their training, their success in carrying out very dangerous military operations, and their close-knit communities. According to Wikipedia, over 20 feature films have been made about Navy Seals and countless television movies and shows. Sadly, as far as I know, no movies have been made about military musicians.
The pairing of musicians and Seals on a single base struck me then and now as somewhat comical. While we military musicians in training were on one end of the base practicing our instruments, learning music theory, and drilling in marching band, the Seals were on the other end of the base running 10 miles on the beach every morning, undergoing “drown proofing” training (simulated drowning) in their pools, and working with underwater explosives. Maybe that’s why they make movies about them!
If you know anything about initial Seal training, called BUDS, you’ll know that the training day begins with getting “wet and sandy,” that is, everyone is required to jump in the ocean and then roll in the beach sand. Doing this shows each Seal candidate’s complete commitment to training for the mission by getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. Everyone starts the day wet, cold, and covered head to toe with sand. Sound fun?
We Salvationists have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable too if we’re going to accomplish our mission. We will sometimes have to do things we don’t like to do, with people we wouldn’t necessarily choose as ministry partners, and minister to people who aren’t like us or whose conduct or lifestyle make us uncomfortable. This loss of our preferences, if it can be called suffering at all, becomes, as the Apostle Paul said in Romans 8, “not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” Brother Paul was definitely a Navy Seal type.
What makes us uncomfortable will be different for each of us, but we need to show a persistent willingness to get personally “wet and sandy” for the sake of others. The payoff, like for the Navy Seals, is mission success: truly meeting human need and influencing others for Christ. And, also like the Seals, another benefit will be the close-knit spiritual bond between you and your ministry partners, even those you thought you didn’t like, the kind of community that only serving the Lord together can provide.
If you’re feeling a little queasy about getting out of your spiritual comfort zone, cheer up. You probably won’t have to actually get wet and sandy unless you’re involved in beach ministry. And, thankfully, you won’t be simulating drowning and handling explosives!