Bright Spot: Lord's army should be more like Navy SEALS

The elite team of Navy SEALs that killed Osama bin Laden on May 1, 2011, is still a secretive subject. But in The Wall Street Journal, Eric Greitens, a former Navy SEAL, pulled back the curtain. Successful SEALS need the ability to think about other people and a higher purpose. Here are excerpts:

“The rigors that SEALs go through begin on the day they walk into Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training in Coronado, California. It’s universally recognized as the hardest military training in the world. BUD/S lasts a grueling six months. Out of the elite selected for SEAL training, only 10-20% pass.

“The pinnacle of that six months is Hell Week, seven days of drills designed to push men to the brink – physically, emotionally and spiritually. They average 2-5 hours of sleep per night. What kind of man makes it through Hell Week? I do know, generally, who won't make it … the weight-lifting meatheads who think that the size of their biceps is an indication of their strength, the kids covered in tattoos announcing to the world how tough they are, the preening leaders who don't want to get dirty, and the look-at-me former athletes who have always been told they are stars but have never have been pushed beyond the envelope of their talent to the core of their character. In short, those who fail are the ones who focus on show ….”

Show vs. substance was the pivotal reason Jesus rebuked the fig tree that was all leaves, but no fruit, just like the religious leaders of his time (Mark 11:13-14).

Even though I come from a peacemaking tradition, I’m thinking out loud how our training of soldiers in the Lord’s army, the Church, should be more like the Navy SEALS.

“Some men who seemed impossibly weak at the beginning of training made it. Some men whose teeth chattered just looking at the ocean also made it. Some men who were visibly afraid, sometimes to the point of shaking, made it too.”

Almost all the men who survived possessed these qualities:

1. Think about others

2. Focus on a higher calling

3. They train tough

Sounds like Jesus’ requirements and recruitment methods:

“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends … Set your mind on things above … If any man would come after me he must deny himself ….” (John 15:13; Colossians 3:1-2; Luke 9:23)

Rick Sams is pastor emeritus of Alliance Friends Church.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Here's why Lord's army should be like Navy SEALS