I paid a visit to a brother of mine who had then graduated from the military academy. I asked him a question about what, in his view, would be the most interesting command or quote at the Military Academy. His response was this: ‘in the army, when a superior asks a junior rank officer any question, the answers are just two; they are YES SIR or NO SIR.’ According to him, one must always have any one of these two responses when you are asked a question or when a command is given.

According to him, in the military, one must always OBEY BEFORE COMPLAIN. You do as you are ordered or commanded. The church of God as an army of God also has this command, OBEY BEFORE COMPLAIN. The Commander-in-Chief of the church is our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The church of God exists primarily to fulfil the orders and the commands of the Master, who is also the Commander in Chief. The last command of the Commander in Chief is “go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the father, Son and the Holy Spirit’’ (Matthew 28:19 NKJV).

The church is the army of God because the church has a commander in the person of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Yes! He is the head of the church, Hallelujah! Again, the church is the army of God because the church exists to take territories (offensive operations) for Christ and also protect their own (defensive operations) so that the enemy will not come in, steal, kill and to destroy (John 10:10) through dubious means. As soldiers in the army of God, we have no option but to obey the commands of the Commander of the Army, which is to go out and preach the word to all. Indeed, His last words should be our topmost priority: OBEY BEFORE COMPLAIN!