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WE DO NOT STAND ALONE
January 10, 2025 2:49 PM
Sweat ran down my face and dripped to the collar of my cleanly pressed uniform as I stood perfectly still in the midst of my platoon. All around me stood the newly minted Marines of Bravo Company, all just as still as me, awaiting an unspoken command. In the distance a man spoke over a microphone to bleachers filled with eager families, and beneath the sound of his voice was the rhythmic beating of drums.
After an unspoken command bid us forward, we began to march in perfect unison, silently stepping to the cadence of the drums. Each Marine moved together as though we were a part of a well calibrated machine, not one of us fell out of step, but we all moved forward with a singular purpose. In each of us was ingrained a knowledge of exactly what we were supposed to do, exactly where we were supposed to step, and exactly when we were supposed to stop.
When eventually the first platoon marched past the bleachers the crowd erupted in applause, but not one of our heads turned to look. Our eyes stayed forward, and our steps remained steady. Each of us itched to turn and look, but the discipline that our drill instructors had drilled into us told us to stay focused on the task at hand. All that mattered in that moment was the rhythmic count of the drums that our feet followed.
Once each platoon hit a predetermined point we stopped and stood still once again awaiting our next command. With a flourish the drums stopped beating, and a loud command rang out stark against the sudden silence “Left Face!” In one moment three hundred Marines turned and faced the bleachers. Our families all stood there, many held signs and waved as they recognized their sons and brothers, and I watched as children eagerly jumped up and down when they recognized their fathers.
I can tell you that in that moment the urge to leave formation and run to my family was almost overwhelming. For thirteen weeks I had marched, run, climbed mountains, and crawled through mud to earn the title of Marine, but in that moment the things I had undergone meant nothing in the light of the joy that I saw right in front of me. However, I knew that I had not yet been released, and so I waited, back straight and eyes forward, listening for the command that would set me free.
Standing in the center of all the formations the company first sergeant called out a loud order to the drill instructors under his command. My heart beat faster with excitement and I tensed in expectation of the words that came next. In his loud, deep voice my senior drill instructor called out the most welcome command I had ever heard, “Platoon 1029, dismissed!” With passion filling our voices, me and my fellow Marines shouted in response “Dismissed, aye aye Staff Sergeant!” In unison we each took one step back, did an about face and sprinted to our families.
Seeing my family waiting for me was one of the greatest joys of my life, and something that I will remember until I die. I had completed my lifelong goal of becoming a Marine and was now able to celebrate with the people I loved dearly. Standing there in my uniform and hearing my father say how proud he was is something that I will never forget and is a memory that I will cherish until the day that I die. But that moment is not something I was able to bring about by myself.
I give much of the credit for my success in becoming a Marine to the men who trained alongside me. I have no doubt that had I undertaken that training alone I would have failed, but at every turn I was supported by men who all pursued the same goal as me. If I faced a need, my brothers would come alongside me to help encourage me and push me onward toward the completion of our goal. As a result of this sense of brotherhood, many men who began boot camp as scared, weak, or incompetent ended boot camp as completely different people. It was the trials that we helped each other overcome that helped us work together as a cohesive unit. In order to stay in step with each other, we had to learn to work together.
Earning the title of U.S. Marine comes with a certain lifelong guarantee that you are an inalienable part of a brotherhood that will be with you until you die. As Christians we are given a similar guarantee, and one that carries a much deeper value. Becoming a servant of Christ means that you become a part of a family that will last not only until you die, but for the rest of eternity. You are a part of a something infinitely more valuable than any title or accomplishment that you could ever earn, you are a part of the family of God.
As Christians, we are called to come alongside each-other and march forward towards a common goal, the glorification of Christ. Though we are each fighting individual battles it is imperative that we do not fight alone. The epistle to the Ephesians is home to one of the most powerful passages ever written about the Christian’s battle against sin. In imagery that leaves no doubt about the war we each fight in, Paul teaches about the armor of God, six tools that every Christian has to resist the enemy (Ephesians 6:14-17). However, long before he goes about equipping us for battle, he emphasizes the need for Christians to be united with each other.
Though Ephesians 6 gives us an image of the Christian soldier, that is only a small portion of the epistle. In fact, for the majority of the letter, Paul emphasizes the importance of unity amongst believers. I do not believe that it was a mistake that Paul emphasized the importance of the unified church before he expounded on the walk of the individual. If Paul thought it was important to use the imagery of a soldier to describe the individual Christian, then it is not a stretch to say that as a unified body, we are an army.