How Christ Built an Army Without Weapons

I've always been moved by the reflection Napolean Bonaparte gave to Christ during his exile on the Island of Saint Helena. Considering his accomplishments as a man and a military leader, and comparing himself to Caesar and Alexander the Great, Bonaparte settles on Christ as the most inspiring of men. What is so wonderful about his reflection is that it reminds leaders of the insufficiency in grandiose posturing and bravado, and settles upon the greatest motivation: Love.

We don't  think of love as a strength, but as a compromise of strength. And we certainly don't  think of the value of love in affecting mass, social change, and yet Napoleon realizes he and his work will be forgotten and other leaders will flicker and fade while the work of Christ carries on. And why? Because Jesus loved his men, and charged those men to take his message of love to the ends of the earth. I am wondering whether or not we think of the great commission as a duty, a charge, or a joyful expression of love?

Not only this, but Christ charged these men not to kill but to die. And he offered them no sure land or right or dignity or position in the afterlife. They were fueled by a promise to simply be with Him, the one they loved. Napoleon's armies would kill for him and for France, but Christ's friends would and do die for him.

Napoleon forgets the work of the Holy Spirit in this process, and also the eternal nature of the Kingdom Christ represents, and yet I'm amazed that even he, a man who fought and killed, would reflect on the gentle nature of Jesus as a more powerful force than his own canons.

And so when I read Napoleon's reflection, I am reminded the movement we are in is, first and foremost, a movement of love. And I am reminded that love is a force, the most powerful of forces. We shouldn't think of it in weak terms any longer. We have to get that association out of our thinking.

How insufficient a choice is it, then, to replace love with leadership techniques, which so often amount to worldly manipulation?  And how insufficient is it for us to love  as a way of leading, but not lead others to the source of that love?

Here are Napoleon's reflections from exile:

"What a conqueror!–a conqueror who controls humanity at will, and wins to himself not only one nation, but the whole human race. What a marvel! He attaches to himself the human soul with all its energies. And how? By a miracle which surpasses all others. He claims the love of men–that is to say, the most difficult thing in the world to obtain; that which the wisest of men cannot froce from his truest friend, that which no father can compel from his children, no wife from her husband, no brother from his brother–the heart. He claims it ; he requires it absolutely and undividedly, and he obtains it instantly.

Alexander, Caesar, Hannibal, Louis XIV strove in vain to secure this. They conquered the world, yet they had not a single friend, or at all events, they have none any more. Christ speaks, however, and from that moment all generations belong to him; and they are joined to him much more closely than by any ties of blood and by a much more intimate, sacred and powerful communion. He kindles the flame of love which causes one's self-love to die, and triumphs over every other love. Why should we not recognize in this miracle of love the eternal Word which created the world? The other founders of religions had not the least conception of this mystic love which forms the essence of Christianity.

I have filled multitudes with such passionate devotion that they went to death for me. But God forbid that I should compare the enthusiasm of my soldiers with Christian love. They are as unlike as their causes. In my case, my presence was always necessary, the electric effect of my glance, my voice, my words, to kindle fire in their hearts. And I certainly posses personally the secret of that magic power of taking by storm the sentiments of men; but I was not able to communicate that power to anyone. None of my generals ever learned it from me or found it out. Moreover, I myself do not possess the secret of perpetuating my name and a love for me in their hearts for ever, and to work miracles in them without material means.

Now that I languish here at St Helena, chained upon this rock, who fights, who conquers empires for me? Who still even thinks of me? Who interests himself for me in Europe? Who has remained true to me? That is the fate of all great men. It was the fate of Alexander and Caesar, as it is my own. We are forgotten, and the names of the mightiest conquerors and most illustrious emperors are soon only the subject of a schoolboy's taks. Our exploits come under the rod of a pedantic schoolmaster, who praises or condemns us as he likes.

What an abyss exists between my profound misery and the eternal reign of Christ, who is preached, loved, and worshipped, and live on throughout the entire world. Is this to die? Is it not rather to live eternally? The death of Christ! It is the death of a God."

How Christ Built an Army Without Weapons is a post from: Donald Miller's Blog