Fathers and Sons
Pete Payne
Synopsis
In the most memorable scene in the movie We Were Soldiers, Lt. Col. Hal Moore uttered these incredible words: "I will not leave the battle. I will not leave my men." Why is Moore's bold declaration incredible? The context. Moore's unit, the U.S. Army Seventh Cavalry, was surrounded by the North Vietnamese Army, an outfit that outnumbered Moore's troops by a 5-1 ratio. Yet Moore provided an astounding example of selfless leadership for his men by standing his ground in the face of staggering odds. Moore vowed to be the first man on the battlefield and the last to leave it.
For Pete Payne, raising sons biblically requires blood-and-guts leadership in the Moore mold. Payne reminded men at The Pursuit Conference that both fathers and their sons face a deadly spiritual enemy, one who has been pursuing a search-and-destroy objective against God's people since Eden.
"I wake up every day on a battlefield with my sons, with my own life, and I want to think of it in those terms," Payne said. "Our objective is clearly defined. As fathers and sons we have differing roles. We have non-commissioned officers as fathers and recruits as sons...And there is much we must do as leaders in this great battle."
To succeed, Payne said fathers and sons must march into the fight of faith beneath a banner adorned by five assurances:
- That they are enlisted, that they are bonafide members of Christ.
- That they are strong in the Lord.
- That they are well-armed with the Sword of the Spirit.
- That they know who the enemies are: the world, the flesh and the devil and that they are experiencing some measure of success against them.
- That they are passionately pursing the ultimate objective of the glory of God.
Pete Payne has served as a pastor with Sovereign Grace Ministries for many years in Denver. He presently serves as a pastor of the newly-planted Grace Church in the Dallas metroplex area. This message was delivered at the November 2007 Western Regional Men's Conference of Sovereign Grace Ministries.
