one-man armies blazing and kicking across the movie screens. The first two that I remember distinctly were Bronson and Eastwood. Maybe memory has just blurred all the movies together, but I only remember one plot;- Good guy’s family is killed by bad guys,
- Good guy looks sad,
- Good guy single handedly destroys entire crime syndicate.
I think they usually turned in their badge first.
The second wave of cinematic memories came along during my high school and college years … Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Segal, Gibson, Van Damme and Willis. Some were decent actors … and some had muscles. Some learned to act along the way … and then there was Chuck Norris. Thespian or not, they were all tough and they all took on the world … ALONE.
Though the Bible has its Action Hero moments (David vs. Goliath or Samson vs. a thousand) the preponderance of the Bible’s victory stories happen in community. Even where one figure stands out so predominantly, like Moses for instance, if you read carefully you will find a list of men and women that God sent just when their support was needed (Aaron, Miriam, Jethro, Phineas, etc.). Even though God plus one is a mighty army, He did not design us for isolation. Faith is best lived out in community. The Lord Jesus taught us to pray in the plural. The majority of the New Testament is written to the tight-knit organism called ‘The Church’.
And in him you (plural) are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. Ephesians 2:22
Come in from the cold Rambo … spiritual warfare is not a one-man battle.
