No Retreat

(Latin) aut cum scuto aut in scuto
(English) either with shield or on shield -- do or die, "no retreat"; said by Spartan mothers to their sons as they departed for battle.

I don't know about you, but this phrase stirs me up within. It awakens within the reality of life and the battle before me every day. The very idea of "no retreat" makes my eyes flash with determination. I'm in this fight until my last breath. I'm in this battle until my body is left lifeless. I WILL be victorious, whether I go home today alive or I'm struck down - victory is assured. All this because I follow Jesus Christ.

To escape the traps laid by our adversary is not cowardice, rather it is another defeat of him to our credit - a victory only possible through our Lord. To avoid sin, to escape the surety of death to one's soul, to win over satan by keeping oneself from sin - however that comes about - always, always results in victory over our adversary. If we sin, he wins. It's that simple.

I've mentioned before that there is no shame in retreat. This is false, and I ask forgiveness for my ignorance. Upon further study, I cannot find evidence of a case where retreat was ever the solution (perhaps I've missed an instance or two; if so, I ask someone bring that to my attention). Retreat is not a tactic of the soldiers of Christ; we never retreat, we never back down, we never run from war. We engage.

What do I mean by this? Here's what I see from scripture:

• Resist satan (Jms.4:7-8)
• Flee/Escape sin (Joseph; 1Cor.10:12-13)
• Stand opposed to error (Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-Nego; 2Tim.4:1-4)
• Face your enemy head on through God (Caleb & Joshua, David, Elijah, Jesus, Paul, etc.)

What I see from the text is that we don't run, satan does. We don't retreat, we press forward and we route our enemy. We don't "admit defeat" and leave the battlefield to "fight another day". Friends, to do these things IS cowardice. To leave the fray, to walk away from the fight, to sit on our hands and do nothing is to be defeated.

The very idea of retreat runs counter to all that we are and that our Savior is. For to retreat is to assume that, if we were to charge forward, we would be consumed. That is not true because with God we can surely overcome anything satan throws our way. With our Lord, we will win every battle, every time.

Look to Jesus as our example (Matt.4). When Jesus was tempted by satan in the wilderness we don't see Him run, retreat, or slink away. Jesus met satan head on, our Savior showed us how to defeat our enemy. Stand your ground, resist him, appeal to God's word, and this will make him leave. This does not mean that he won't try another attack, but in that instance you will win, so we are told to be watchful because be is lurking about (2Pet.3:8-9).

The Latin expression above is very fitting for our role as Christians. The sentiment expressed is the equivalent of Revelation 2:10 "...be thou faithful unto death..." which means faithful until the end of our life here - faithful up to and including death. Our spiritual ancestors attest to the fact that serving God faithfully will require all that we have, even requiring the ultimate in the very giving up of our mortal breath and existence. So the expression above means to either come home from battle with your shield, or on your shield. Fight to the death! Fight, Christian, fight!

Friends, too many of our fellow soldiers are becoming like the 10 spies who gave the bad report of the promised land to the children of Israel - "We cannot do it! There are giants! We're doomed!!!" Too many defeatists in our time, not nearly enough valiant (real) men standing up like Caleb and Joshua saying, "We are well able, God will deliver!" I guess this has always been the case and always will be, but we don't have to let it be true of us - we can choose to be like Caleb and Joshua and take that narrow way (Matt.7:13-14).

Do we see the land of promise (Heaven) before us? Will we be the few who shout "We are well able!" and charge forward knowing that with God you can surely defeat the enemy before you - no matter his fierceness, no matter his stature, no matter the difficulty, no matter the personal cost - and then lead others to victory? Can you, will you, do this?!

See, for the Christian, even death is a victory for we reap our reward of heaven. So whether we end this day by keeping from sin with our lives in tact, or we keep ourselves free from sin and pay with our life - either way, we are victorious.

I will come home today either with my shield or on my shield - aut cum scuto aut in scuto - no retreat, it's do or die. I will serve my Commander, my Lord, my King all the way to the grave. No retreat, no defeat - charge forward, slay the enemy. Either way, the battle belongs to the Lord.  Get your game face on Christians, the battle is raging - where will you stand, how shall you fight?!

aut cum scuto aut in scuto