“In the aftermath of the murderous assassination of Charlie Kirk…there are a number of things that still need to be said.
“This is a sea change moment. People had already noticed a vibe shift recoil that was starting to develop, resulting in lesser things like Brexit or the reelection of Donald Trump. But all of that was chump change compared to what is quite possibly going to be happening now. We have before us the prospect of making the vibe shift permanent. I believe that history will show that Tyler Robinson, if he is convicted of firing the shot that killed Charlie Kirk, will also be revealed as the man who put a bullet in the neck of progressive leftism.
“But only if . . .
“One of the most important principles of war is pursuit. General Meade was the capable Union general at Gettysburg, whose leadership there secured a victory over the Confederate forces. But because he failed to pursue, the war went on for two more years. He won the battle when he could have won the war…” – Doug Wilson
"And Gideon came to Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men that were with him, faint, yet pursuing them." – Judges 8:4
"Only pursuit of the beaten enemy gives the fruits of victory." – Carl von Clausewitz, Principles of War
"Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ." – Acts 5:42
In his biography of Field Marshall Viscount Allenby of Megiddo and Felixstowe, General Sir Archibald Wavell gives a very clear picture of the problems of pursuit:
“To the uninitiated, pursuit seems the easiest possible form of war. To chase a flying, presumably demoralized enemy must be a simple matter, promising much gain at the expense of some exertion and hardship, but little danger. Yet the successful or sustained pursuits of history have been few, the escapes from a lost battle many. The reasons are partly material, but mainly moral. A force retreating falls back on its depots and reinforcements; unless it is overrun, it is growing stronger all the time, and there are many expedients besides fighting by which it can gain time: bridges or roads may be blown up, defiles blocked, supplies destroyed. The pursuer soon outruns his normal resources. He may possibly be able to feed himself at the expense of his enemies or of the countryside; he is not likely to replenish his ammunition and warlike equipment in the same way.
“But the chief obstacle he has to overcome is psychological. The pursued has a greater incentive to haste than the pursuer, and, unless he is demoralized, a stronger urge to fight. It is only natural that the soldier who has risked his life and spent his toil in winning a battle should desire relaxation in safety as his meed of victory, and that the general and staff should feel a reaction from the strain. So that while coolness in disaster is the supreme proof of a Commander’s courage, energy in pursuit is the surest test of his strength of will. Few have carried out pursuits with such relentless determination as Allenby in 1917 and 1918.”[1]
The spiritual war is not much different. If the principles of war were applied by a body of believers in any given locality, I believe there would be a great spiritual victory. The battle would be won and there would be many spiritual conversions to Jesus Christ. However, once a breakthrough for Christ is achieved, we tend to relax, as though the fight were over.
Consider Gideon’s rout of the Midianites. In Judges 7, we find that for the battle three hundred men were all that were needed to make the breakthrough. But once the battle was won and the Midianites were fleeing, Gideon called for the men he had previously sent home; three of the four tribes joined in the pursuit. He also called out the tribe of Ephraim to cut off the fleeing Midianites by seizing the fords of the Jordan.
“And Gideon came to the Jordan and passed over, he and the three hundred men who were with him, faint yet pursuing” (Judg. 8:4). The fact that 120,000 of the enemy were already slain, that Gideon had won the battle, and that he and his men were tired and hungry did not stop his pursuit. By this time, only fifteen thousand of the enemy remained:
“And Gideon went up by the caravan route east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and attacked the army; for the army was off its guard. And Zebah and Zalmunna fled; and he pursued them and took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he threw all of the army into a panic. Then Gideon . . . returned from the battle” (vv. 11–13).
In physical warfare, the fruits of victory are conserved by pursuing the beaten enemy. The victors cannot relax or just follow up the prisoners of war. The pursuit will bring many prisoners in a short time, but if it is delayed, another major battle will ensue, because the defeated enemy will have time to regroup its forces.
In spiritual warfare we must think beyond the converts made in the immediate battle. We must pursue the many non-Christians who are “fleeing” in conviction of sin, but who as yet have not surrendered to Jesus Christ. In other words, we as Christians ought to consider the principle of pursuit to be as important as follow-up of the new Christians after a spiritual breakthrough. The victory has prepared many people almost to receive Jesus Christ.
It is very important to take care of prisoners of war, but it takes a minimum of men to tend disarmed prisoners. In spiritual warfare the prisoners are the converts to Jesus Christ. They are not only disarmed, they are now on our side. It should take fewer people to follow through on the new converts than are needed to pursue the great numbers who have been defeated but who have not yet surrendered to Jesus Christ. Sometimes after a major spiritual victory, follow-up is not even attempted. Still worse is the failure to press the pursuit of those who are running away from Jesus Christ.
The most effective way to pursue the beaten enemy in physical war is to hit him from his unprotected flanks. If a direct pursuit is carried out, the victors run into the deadly sting of the rear guard and into many roadblocks and blown bridges, and so the retreating enemy gets away. To avoid these, the victors should travel a parallel path, outrun, and intercept the retreating enemy. To continue direct pursuit after the battle is won is to lose the retreating enemy. In order to effect an interception in the pursuit, mobility is needed. If immediate pursuit is undertaken, as many more captives as were taken in the battle can be secured.
Prior to the Megiddo battle in September 1918, Allenby promised his cavalry thirty thousand prisoners of war. His staff thought he was presumptuous. In reality he ended with fifty thousand prisoners, having reduced the Turkish Seventh and Eighth armies to a few columns.
Let us consider how to carry out spiritual pursuit. First, we must be convinced that many people are ready to receive Christ and will receive Him if they are cut off and confronted with their sin and the Savior. When a man begins to run away, he is ready to be captured. This does not mean that he will not put up a last desperate struggle or will not continue to run. Thus it is important to cut off his retreat.
To outrun fleeing, convicted sinners, God-directed mobility is required. As in Gideon’s case, it might take a small, well-disciplined, courageous group to make a breakthrough in the spiritual conflict for souls. Once the breakthrough has been made and many have received Christ, many others will be convicted of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and will begin to flee. Then we will need more than our hard core of trained men. We will need, like Gideon, all of the Christians who were not prepared for the battle but who are necessary in the pursuit. If we depend only on the core of Christians who seek to follow hard after Christ, we will win many battles, but there will be no complete rout. There will be successful evangelistic campaigns, but no awakening. If pursuit is practiced, every successful evangelistic campaign is a possible prelude to a general awakening.
If we study spiritual awakenings from Pentecost to the Welsh Revival of 1901 and the Korean revival of 1905, we notice the battle and the breakthrough centered around one man or a small group of men. This was only the start. After that, many Christians witnessed and testified of saving grace, and more people were converted. Christians got right with the Lord and entered the chase. The whole church was in the awakening. Evan Roberts was not responsible for the seventy thousand new Christians in Wales; he was only the leader. God’s revivals may start with God-picked people, but they continue only if every Christian, weak or strong, joins in the pursuit.
It is the responsibility of the leader not only to make the breakthrough in the battle with his picked men, but also to call in all of the reserves for the rout. Our greatest mobility is in the quantity of Christians who can testify of the saving grace of Jesus Christ. At that time, every Christian should testify to everyone he or she meets.
Another means of mobility in pursuit is literature distribution—booklets, tracts, books, and Scripture portions—all of them on the judgment and love of God. The literature may be offered without charge and distributed at meetings, through personal contact, by direct mail, through the internet, or via podcasts and other new media.
A third factor essential to effective pursuit is the manner and content of our appeal. In preaching Christ to the people just prior to the breakthrough, it is possible to be somewhat removed from one’s audience. But in pursuit, we must be clearly identified with the people. Let there be compassion and understanding in our approach.
Furthermore, an ultimatum should be used in our message, citing the judgment of God on the unrepentant. This is the only effective means that will cause a fleeing man to surrender to Christ. Judgment is the reality he cannot escape if he persists in fleeing from Christ, and therefore, it has great force in causing a fugitive to stop in his flight. Yet our warning should be given in love and joy.
The church in Thessalonica witnessed to their countrymen in the true sense of pursuit. True, they were not established Christians like those of Ephesus. They did not have two years of Bible school with Paul as the teacher. They had heard the gospel only three Sabbath days. Nevertheless, Paul writes to them a few weeks later, “For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing” (1 Thess. 1:8).
Will we follow their example? We must if we are to win!
This post is an excerpt from Principles of War: A Handbook on Strategic Evangelism by Jim Wilson.
[1]
Sir Archibald Percival Wavell, Allenby, A Study in Greatness (New York:
Oxford University Press, 1941), 217–218.
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