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Principles of War: Mobility, part 2

 


The British Army was defeated in France in 1940. If it had reached the coast and found that it was immobilized, it would not have suffered defeat only; it would have been annihilated. It was the British mobility at sea that saved the army at Dunkirk. If the Germans had been as mobile at sea as they were on land, they could have followed the British across the Channel. In this case the defenders were mobile, and the victors became immobile.

In World War II, mobility was demonstrated in the existence and actions of the U.S. Third and Fifth Fleets. One component of the Third/Fifth Fleet (Under Admiral Halsey it was the Third Fleet. When Admiral Spruance was in command, it was the Fifth Fleet.) particularly exemplified mobility. This was the Fast Carrier Striking Force, Task Force 38 (or 58, under the Fifth Fleet) under the command of Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher. This force could move hundreds of miles overnight in any direction and strike hundreds of miles farther with the Air Groups. It consisted of fifteen or sixteen carriers and scores of screening ships.

The nuclear submarine and the Strategic Air Command are probably the most mobile of present- day combat units. In the infantry the Army’s Airborne Divisions and the FMF of the Marine Corps are probably the most mobile. One of their characteristics is their ability to strike a decisive blow at any place of their own choosing. The offense could never be mounted in concentration without the ability to move. An army must be mobile.

Jesus Christ said, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). From this command and other texts in the New Testament we, in previous chapters, drew the conclusion that “every creature” is the objective and that preaching and prayer were our two main means of offense. From the same text we see that mobility is a requirement if we are to carry out Christ’s command to “go.”

Within the church, there must be an ability to move to the place or to the people where the offense will take place. We must convey our firepower where it will be used. Securing this mobility is simply a matter of obedience to the command, “Go.”

We can move our firepower in many of the ways that physical weapons of war are moved. We can walk. Philip left Samaria and was, in obedience to God, crossing the desert when he encountered the Ethiopian eunuch. Philip taught Christ to him from Isaiah 53, and the man believed. David Brainerd moved on horseback and led hundreds of American Indians to Jesus Christ. In jungle camp the Wycliffe Bible Translators are trained to move by foot, raft, and dugout canoe. Missionary Aviation Fellowship provides mobility superior to that of the enemy in territory that is otherwise inaccessible.

There are other ways of delivering the Word of God besides taking the messenger to the physical location. One is correspondence. God put His stamp of approval on this means of mobility when much of the New Testament was given to us in letters, this being necessitated in part because the messengers, Paul and John, were immobilized as prisoners. Praise God, His Word is not bound (2 Tim. 2:9).


*Excerpted from Principles of War. To purchase, visit ccmbooks.org/bookstore.

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