Alexander, one of the greatest military commanders in history, inherited the throne of Macedonia from his father Philip in 336 bc and proceeded to conquer Asia Minor, Egypt, and Persia right to the borders of India. He fought great battles at Granicus, Issus, Gaugamela, and Hydaspes. What is seldom realized is he fought most of his battles outnumbered by his enemies. But Alexander had one considerable advantage: he understood the principles of combined arms.
Combined arms refers to using all the different types of forces you have in a unified manner. Before Alexander, cavalry fought cavalry, light infantry fought light infantry, and then the heavy infantry fought heavy infantry—and decided the matter. Alexander learned to use all of his forces together. The light infantry would hold the flanks and pin down the enemy infantry along the front. Then the cavalry would batter a hole in the enemy lines, allowing the heavy infantry to pour through and defeat the enemy. Superior numbers were a poor substitute for a general who understood combined arms.
It seems that every generation’s generals must learn the lessons of combined arms over again. Between World War I and World War II a British army Captain by the name of Basil Liddell-Hart wrote a book on the use of tanks as part of a combined arms attack. His book received little recognition at home; only the German General Staff really understood its worth. They fashioned Liddell-Hart’s principles into the Blitzkrieg. The French army had more tanks than the Germans, and their tanks had heavier armor and heavier guns. But in the end the combined arms tactics of the Germans carved through the superior French and British forces in a matter of weeks.
But what does this have to do with spiritual warfare? Why is this important for us? The answer is simple. There are some who think that numbers mean everything, and that a big church will always accomplish more than a small church. True, the big church may have a wider range of programs, but does this always translate into results for the Lord? What if a smaller church really understood the lessons of combined arms? What if we used all of our spiritual gifts in a unified manner to accomplish unified goals? God has given a variety of spiritual gifts to each church (Rom. 12; 1 Cor. 12; Eph. 4; 1 Pet. 4). If the evangelists are all doing one thing and the teachers are doing another and the people with the gift of mercy are pulling in a third direction, what will we accomplish? Very little of eternal value. But if we are working in harmony towards unified goals, with all of our forces (i.e., our spiritual gifts) working together, we will surely accomplish the work of the Lord has set out for us.
How can we achieve such harmony? In some cases our elders will provide leadership towards specific goals. In other cases we as individuals need to be sensitive to the guidance of the Spirit. How will this guidance show itself in a local church? If the evangelists have been used in the salvation of a number of people, the teachers must be ready to teach them the basics of the Christian faith. If a church has seen a number saved in the recent past but the numbers coming to salvation are dropping off, perhaps the evangelists need to devote more of their time to training others for evangelism. But regardless of how the Spirit’s guidance comes, we will accomplish more in the Lord’s service if we seek to use our gifts in harmony with others gifts.
Is the military concept of combined arms a far-fetched idea for us to apply in the church? Just ask Paul who in three of his epistles (Philippians, 2 Timothy, and Philemon) spoke of Christian workers as soldiers. Without question we are in a fierce battle. If we are wise, we will use the gifts of the Spirit in a unified manner.