No Discharge In This War

Episode 47:  Mail Call

Hawkeye:  Was it something I said?

Trapper:  I’m gonna grab a jeep, drive to Seoul and catch the first 

          plane home.

Hawkeye:  Right after they shoot you for desertion and book you for 

          drunk driving.

Trapper:  I gotta see my daughters... 

Hawkeye:  Trap, leaving a war in the middle is very upsetting to 

          those who invited us.

Trapper:  Hey, listen.  I don’t like a movie, I get up and leave. 

          I don’t like the war.  I’m going.

Hawkeye:  Oh, come on Trap, you gotta stick around to see how it 

          ends.

Trapper:  Oh, but it doesn’t end. It’s continuous. When it finishes 

          here, they take it on the road. I can catch it anytime anyplace.

A mail call from home causes Henry to be up to his neck balancing his wife’s check book, Klinger to invent another family heartache story in want of a discharge, Frank to be obsessed about his stock portfolio and Trapper to get drunk and attempt desertion because he can’t see his daughters.

Leading from deep within the trenches of business, politics, community services or church based mission can leave one feeling overwhelmed by the pressures and demands of leadership on the frontline.  When engulfed by what seems to be a raging battle at times, the ‘fight or flight’ responses of human beings are manifested.  Some leaders have the resilience to stand firm and the resources to fight through the conflict, while others choose to resign and retreat from the battle.  While these are quite normal and maybe even appropriate responses to our environment, the mark of an effective leader is to confront the challenges of frontline leadership with a resolve to stay the course and complete the mission!  In his one volume history of The Salvation Army, No Discharge In This War, General Frederick Coutts writes, “The only truthful conclusion is that there is no conclusion. There is no discharge in this war. One generation of the Salvationists may succeed another, but the work of the Army does not cease because human need does not cease.”  Whatever your frontline, there is no discharge in this war until the mission is complete.

The Battle is Not Mine

Episode 3:  Requiem for a Lightweight

Hawkeye:   What does mean mean, mean means nothing. It’s skill that counts. Big and mean has nothing to do with fighting ability.

Trapper gets conned into competing in an inter-camp boxing match as a favour to Henry Blake, to win back a nurse who is being transferred out. When the boxer from the opposing camp arrives the 4077 doctors are intimidated by his size and reputation.

As leaders we are often confronted by various forms of opposition that can seem overwhelming and intimidating at first appearances.  One doesn’t have to stand in a boxing ring to feel like you are going a couple of rounds with a sparring partner.  The kinds of fights confronting leaders are usually in the form of criticism, conflicting agendas, personality clashes, or unrealistic expectations.  These battles that seem so overwhelming at first can be right sized when given a bit of perspective:  “The battle is the Lord’s” (1 Sam 17:47), “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit” (Zech 4:6), “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood” (Eph 6:12).  As a Christian leader I have the knowledge that the battle is not mine and that God’s wisdom and strength empowers me to overcome!