Julie R. Neidlinger: Lone Prairie Blog

The watchmen are not to be snipers.

written by Julie R. Neidlinger 0 comments link this post

The watchman is in his tower, watching out for the tactics of the enemy, ready to earnestly sound the needed alarm to the soldiers embattled below. As time has worn on, however, he begins to take a more intense interest in the battle, believing that the soldiers aren't heeding his warning as much as they should. So he sets down his binoculars, convinces himself that the scope of a rifle will provide a better view and, before long, begins to make full use of that rifle, hitting fellow soldiers as often as he strikes the enemy. He's no longer a watchman, but a sniper. And not a very good one because he's been up in his tower for a long, long time.

There are many Christian "watch" blogs on the internet, all proclaiming to be that watchman the Bible speaks of, the one to warn of things false, the one to see what's coming and spread the word and give the soldiers what they need to fight on, the one with the different vantage point. How odd, then, that the watchman seems to quickly pick up a weapon of words. Never content to sound the alarm only, he uses this weapon to take down not only the enemy but believers as well. Maybe it's hard to distinguish between friend and foe so high up in that watchtower, that little rifle scope not giving as full a picture of what's going on as the binoculars did. It's very easy to pop off a shot far removed from the action and the aftermath. The watchtower is a high place.

But you can't stop a watchman-turned-sniper. He is the impossible quarry. He is the one who takes his fight to you or to your blog, who name-calls and throws mud and then, when the tide turns and the holiness of his actions is called into question, scrambles back up his watchtower using a ladder made of prooftexted planks and cries "safe!" Safe, he says, because he is the watchman described in the Bible and therefore, noble and right. He quickly lays claim the mantle of every prophet in the Bible who ever suffered diversity. "I am Jeremiah!" he says. "I am just like him!" He cannot be cornered and he cannot be turned; he is too sure of his rightness and only convinced of it moreso with any parry of his attacks.

This watchtower is often surrounded by a throng of friends who claim he is showing courage in the face of adversity; the more people question what kind of a watchman he is, the louder the cheering they provide. They choose to do battle with fellow soldiers over the watchman instead of against the enemy.

They have all turned, watchmen and cheering friends alike. They have turned their back to the battle, they have turned the watchtower into a pedestal, and they have turned a deaf ear to their own warnings. There are like snarling dogs who are in love with their own snarl.

What kind of courage does it take to hide in a tower, surrounded by like-minded friends, out of the trenches? What kind of courage does it take to fire a round and then cower behind title and noble words when the agression is returned? True courage is the soldier on the battlefield who continues his struggle despite knowing the watchman, a fellow brother, is loading another round into his weapon, a round that is as likely as not to strike him. Wounds from the enemy are expected; wounds from a brother are deadly.

The watchmen should not have weapons. They are there to watch and to sound the alarm. That is all. If you are a watchman, do your job. Sound the alarm and control your tongue, the strongest of balms turned to the most vicious of weapons. And if you must fight, then get out of the safety of the watchtower.

Truly, quis custodiet ipsos custodies?

::This is not limited to a particular "watchman" or "watch blog". I find no more un-Christian talk as far as tone and humility and consideration than I do at Christian "watch blogs." They are not watchmen. They are snipers.::