"Only pursuit of the beaten enemy gives the fruits of victory".
-Clausewitz
"Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ". Acts 5:42
In his biography of Field Marshall Viscount Allenby of Megiddo and Felixstow, General Sir Archibald Wavell, K.C.B., C.M.G., M.C., gives a very clear picture of the problems of pursuit:
To the uninitiated, pursuit seems the easiest possible form of war. To chase a flying, presumably demoralized enemy must be a simple matter, promising much gain at the expense of some exertion and hardship, but little danger. Yet the successful or sustained pursuits of history have been few, the escapes from a lost battle many. The reasons are partly material, but mainly moral. A force retreating falls back on its depots and reinforcements; unless it is overrun, it is growing stronger all the time, and there are many expedients besides fighting by which it can gain time: bridges or roads may be blown up, defiles blocked, supplies destroyed. The pursuer soon outruns his normal resources. He may possibly be able to feed himself at the expense of his enemies or of the countryside; he is not likely to replenish his ammunition and warlike equipment in the same way.
But the chief obstacle he has to overcome is psychological. The pursued has a greater incentive to haste than the pursuer, and, unless he is demoralized, a stronger urge to fight. It is only natural that the soldier who has risked his life and spent his toil in winning a battle should desire relaxation in safety as his meed of victory, and that the general and staff should feel a reaction from the strain. So that while coolness in disaster is the supreme proof of a Commander's courage, energy in pursuit is the surest test of his strength of will. Few have carried out pursuits with such relentless determination as Allenby in 1917 and 1918.
The spiritual war for men is not much different. If the principles of war were applied by a body of believers in any given locality, I believe there would be a great spiritual victory. The battle would be won and there would be many spiritual conversions to Jesus Christ.
However, once a breakthrough for Christ is achieved, we tend to relax, as though the fight were over.
Consider Gideon's rout of the Midianites. In Judges 7 we find that, for the battle, 300 men were all that were needed to make the breakthrough. But once the battle was won and the Midianites were fleeing, Gideon called for the men he had previously sent home; three of the four tribes joined in the pursuit. He also called out the tribe of Ephriam to cut off the fleeing Midianites by seizing the fords of the Jordan.
And Gideon came to the Jordan and passed over, he and the three hundred men who were with him, faint yet pursuing (Judges 8:4, RSV ).
The fact that 120,000 of the enemy were already slain, that Gideon had won the battle, and that he and his men were tired and hungry, did not stop his pursuit. By this time only fifteen thousand of the enemy remained:
And Gideon went up by the caravan route east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and attacked the army; for the army was off its guard. And Zebah and Zalmunna fled; and he pursued them and took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he threw all of the army into a panic. Then Gideon... returned from the battle... (vv. 11-13, RSV).
In physical warfare, the fruits of victory are conserved by pursuing the beaten enemy. The victors cannot relax or just "follow up" the prisoners of war. The pursuit will bring many more prisoners in a short time, but if it is delayed, another major battle will ensue. The defeated enemy will have time to regroup its forces.
In spiritual warfare we must think beyond the converts made in the immediate battle. We must pursue the many non-Christians who are "fleeing" in conviction of sin, but who as yet have not surrendered to Jesus Christ. In other words, we as Christians ought to consider the principle of pursuit to be as important as "follow up" of the new Christians after a spiritual breakthrough. The victory has prepared many people almost to receive Jesus Christ.
Although it is very important to take care of prisoners of war, it takes a minimum of men to take care of disarmed prisoners. In spiritual warfare the prisoners are the converts to Jesus Christ. They are not only disarmed, they are now on our side. It should take fewer people to follow through on the new converts than is needed to pursue the great numbers who have been defeated but who have not yet surrendered to Jesus Christ. Sometimes after a major spiritual victory, follow up is not even attempted. Still worse is the failure to press the pursuit of those who are running away from Jesus Christ.
The most effective way to pursue the beaten enemy in physical war is to hit him from his unprotected flanks. If a direct pursuit is carried out, the victors run into the deadly sting of the rear guard and into many roadblocks and blown bridges, and so the retreating enemy gets away. To avoid these, the victors should travel a parallel path, outrun and intercept the retreating enemy. To continue direct pursuit after the battle is won is to lose the retreating enemy. In order to effect an interception in the pursuit, mobility is needed. If immediate pursuit is undertaken, as many more captives as were taken in the battle can be secured.
Prior to the Megiddo battle in September 1918, Allenby promised his cavalry 30,000 prisoners of war. His staff thought he was presumptuous. In reality he ended with 50,000 prisoners, having reduced the Turkish Seventh and Eighth armies to a few columns.
Let us consider the "how" of spiritual pursuit. First, we must be convinced that many people are ready to receive Christ and will receive him if they are cut off and confronted with their sin and the Savior. When a man begins to run away, he is ready to be captured. This does not mean that he will not put up a last desperate struggle or will not continue to run. This is why it is important to cut off his retreat.
To outrun fleeing, convicted sinners, God-directed mobility is required. As in Gideon's case, it might take a small, well-disciplined, courageous group to make a breakthrough in the spiritual conflict for souls. Once the breakthrough has been made and many have received Christ, many others will have been convicted of sin, righteousness, and judgment and will begin to flee. Then we need more than our hard core of trained men. We need, like Gideon, all of the Christians who were not prepared for the battle but who are necessary in the pursuit. If we depend only on the hard core of Christians who seek to follow hard after Christ, we will win many battles, but there will be no complete rout. There will be successful evangelistic campaigns, but no awakening. If pursuit is practiced, every successful evangelistic campaign is a possible prelude to a general awakening.
If we study spiritual awakenings from Pentecost to the Welsh Revival of 1901 and the Korean revival of 1905, we notice the battle and the breakthrough centered around one man or a small group of men. This was only the start. After that, many Christians witnessed and testified of saving grace and more people were converted. Christians got right with the Lord and entered the chase. The whole church was in the awakening. Evan Roberts was not responsible for the 70,000 new Christians in Wales; he was only the leader. God's revivals may start with God-picked people. But they continue only if every Christian, weak or strong, joins in the pursuit.
It is the responsibility of the leader not only to make the breakthrough in the battle with his picked men, but also to call in all of the reserves for the rout. Our greatest mobility is in the quantity of Christians who can testify of the saving grace of Jesus Christ. At that time, every Christian should testify to everyone he or she meets.
Another means of mobility in pursuit is literature distributionÑbooklets, tracts, books, and Scripture portionsÑall of them on the judgment and love of God. The literature may be offered without charge and distributed at meetings, by the mass of Christians, or by direct mail.
A third factor essential to effective pursuit is the manner and content of our appeal. In preaching Christ to the people just prior to the breakthrough, it is possible to be somewhat removed from one's audience. But in pursuit we must be clearly identified with the people. Let there be compassion and understanding in our approach.
Furthermore, an ultimatum should be used in our message, citing the judgment of God on the unrepentant. This is the only effective means that will cause a fleeing man to surrender to Christ. Judgment is the reality he cannot escape if he persists in fleeing from Christ and therefore it has great force in causing a fugitive to stop in his flight. Yet our warning should be given in love and joy.
The church in Thessalonica witnessed to their countrymen in the true sense of pursuit. True, they were not established Christians like those of Ephesus. They did not have two years of Bible school with Paul as the teacher. They had heard the gospel only three Sabbath days. Nevertheless, Paul writes to them a few weeks later:
For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing (1 Thessalonians 1:8).
Will we follow their example?
We must if we are to win!
Questions:
- Study Judges 8:1-21 and Acts 4:17-41.
- When God gives you conversions, one or many, do you want to rest?
- What determines whether you should spend time in following up your converts or continue in aggressive evangelism?