Battle Drill #19:

Give an Honest Report!

Proverbs 12:13-20 (NAS95)

Today, we are going to walk through the four action steps of a soldier’s training routine to learn the next battle drill – “Give an Honest Report!”

In the military, reporting is critical to the mission success, whether it’s your location, an update on your situation, or a description of enemy activity, giving an honest and accurate report is an essential task for every soldier. For example, reporting your accurate location, on time every time, saves lives because when artillery or close air support is called in, or when friendly forces are moving into your area of operation, your location being properly posted on the map is a life-or-death reality. A false report easily leads to confusion, friendly fire, and even death. The same is true within the Church of Jesus Christ in our mission to seek and to save the lost.

Action Step #1) Know the Field Manual.

The battle drill we are going to learn and apply this week is from Proverbs 12:13-20:

An evil man is ensnared by the transgression of his lips, but the righteous will escape from trouble. A man will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his words, and the deeds of a man’s hands will return to him. The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel. A fool’s anger is known at once, but a prudent man conceals dishonor. He who speaks truth tells what is right, but a false witness, deceit. There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Truthful lips will be established forever, but a lying tongue is only for a moment. Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but counselors of peace have joy.

To better understand how I am applying this Scripture, you need to hear these verses in their context, as a part of the whole of Proverbs 12. Read from the Bible. This is what the Field Manual says, let’s now take the second action step to learn how to apply today’s battle drill to our everyday lives as good soldiers of Jesus Christ.

Action Step #2) Train together as one unit.

Psalm 133:1 proclaims, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!” Paul teaches in Ephesians 4:1-3 that there is a way for the body of Christ to dwell together in unity:

Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

We must, each one of us, walk in a manner worthy of our calling as soldiers of Jesus Christ – we are fellow members of the one body of Christ (Romans 12:4-5). For us to grow into maturity, Paul further teaches in Ephesians 4:11-16 that we must give an honest report to one another by speaking the truth in love, and he makes it very clear that it starts with the spiritual leaders:

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

To give one another an honest report is to speak the truth in love. This is how the body of Christ matures in Christlikeness. In John 1:14, Jesus is described as coming to us, “full of grace and truth.” We must go to others as Christ came to us – full of grace and truth, not full of grace and, most of the time or only when it feels comfortable, truth. And not full of truth and, when we feel like it, grace. Jesus was full of grace and full of truth. It seems to me that very few of us find this balance of doing both. It boils down to fear and trust. A fear that grace is the same as complicity. A distrust that truth will be received well. I find this tension within myself.[1]

I, and my fellow leaders, are to teach you the Word of God “until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God.” Paul teaches us in Galatians 6:1-2 that we must be careful in how we do this, “Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.” Our logos of truth must be expressed in the pathos of grace so that the ethos of the gospel is love.

Our hearts must be aligned with our minds. We must live what we know is the truth. There is a prescribed way to go about giving honest reports to one another (accountability) and to avoid giving honest reports about one another (gossip). This is taught in Matthew 18:15-20:

If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.

This passage ends with a very popular promise – the promise of Jesus’ presence. We often forget that it is given within the context of loving confrontation and accountability. It’s not talking about worship or prayer times. Jesus is present during loving confrontation, and that should shape our conversations. Whereas Matthew 18 has been used to justify blacklisting people and shaming people for their decisions, that is not what God intends for us. It is to the glory of God and the good of His people that we do all things His way, which is why we now turn to action step 3 to see how we are to do this.

Action Step #3) Seek the Commander’s approval.

The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.

Let’s look at what it means to be LEADERS when it comes to applying today’s battle drill:

Lead by example; follow Jesus and the standards He has set for us in faith and practice. First and foremost, leaders live lives that are examples to imitate (Philippians 3:17; 1 Timothy 4:12; Titus 2:7-8; Hebrews 13:7; 1 Peter 5:1-3).

Evaluate the situation; start the process at the lowest level possible (brother to brother, sister to sister), just as Matthew 18:15 commands.

Approach the person prayerfully, with gentleness, humility, and in a timely manner, just as Galatians 6:1 teaches.

Discuss, discern, and decide the next steps with God in prayer, and with the person face-to-face, whenever possible. Pastors and elders must be prayerfully ready to uphold the holiness of the Lord in the body of Christ if we get to the final step of Matthew 18, which is for the purpose of loving the person back to a full fellowship with God, and then the church.

Empower the congregation before, during, and after the process to be a people who love well, relate as brothers and sisters in Christ, revere God, seek a holy life, and live a life as fellow members of the body of Christ according to 1 Corinthians 12-13.

Respect confidentiality; avoid all gossip, dissension, or unnecessary public exposure by walking in the Spirit through the process (Galatians 5:1-26).

Submit to and support your leaders. Trust that God works through God-fearing, Christ-exalting, Bible-teaching leaders, especially when you may not have all the facts (Hebrews 13:17).

When we each follow these seven steps as LEADERS, then we are living on mission in how we are conducting ourselves as His body in speaking the truth in love. This is how we are to give an honest report and that takes us to the fourth action step.

Action Step #4) Live on mission.

Follow up praise report for Backyard Bible Club (Davisson’s). Then, call up the DR short-term mission team to pray over them as they “go” to live on mission, taking the love of Jesus.

By training ourselves to deal with one another in love and according to God’s Word then we will not only give an honest report to one another, but our public witness will be an honest report that we belong to God and are proclaiming His gospel, in word, deed, and in how we do relationships. As a church leader expressed to me this week on this very point:

Many outside the church know the story of Jesus. They have heard the gospel. But they don’t believe it, or don’t want to associate themselves with it because of how they see the people within the church hurting each other, or hurting those outside the church, in the way they do relationships. Yes, the gospel is the uncompromised core of who we are and why we do what we do, but if our relationships, which are the thing that is the most relatable and most visible, are not loving and healthy, then we cannot hope to draw people to the Jesus we serve.[2]

You can listen to the message here:

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FOOTNOTES:

[1] Informed by my email conversations with both Curt Ferrell and Emily Hurst.

[2] From an email conversation with Emily Hurst, June 28, 2022.