“They Were All Out of Step But Jim” by Irving Berlin.
If you haven’t heard of this old song, I’m not surprised. My dear departed mother told me of this song that was popular in her childhood, and I was amazed when I recently found the sheet music for it quite by accident in an antique store. It’s a 1918 World War I ditty that tells the story of a young soldier, a doughboy, whose proud mother could see only what she wanted to….that her uniformed son was marching in step and that the entire military parade around him was not. Certainly a mother’s perspective.
I’ve never been in the military, although I did scare my mother to death by having an Army recruiter come to the house to talk to me my senior year. I soon discovered that for all those snappy uniforms, all that marching and I would never get along.
Why is marching such a big deal anyway, and why does the military place such emphasis on it? Marching is not for the benefit of the brass in the reviewing stand. Marching is for the soldier’s benefit. It is an aid to discipline. The soldier must learn to listen and obey. One man calls cadence and the entire company marches, turns or halts upon his command. Soldiers are even instructed which direction to look while marching. It involves setting aside your sense of self to become a unified body. An unruly bunch of recruits soon learn that if they ever want to make it out of boot camp, they have to march, to listen, and be ready to obey.
Some struggle more than others with marching. I’m told some young recruits don’t even know their left from their right when they first enter service. In some cases they may have a rock plunged into their left hand and be told, “The foot that’s on the same side as the rock, put that foot down first.” You would think knowing left from right is elementary, but apparently not.
Some marches require full battle gear. The soldier may march for miles with a rucksack on his back weighing upwards of seventy pounds. It’s heavy and it’s hard. I can’t imagine walking around the block with that kind of load, much less for miles. Yet this kind of training is essential in preparing soldiers for conditions they may face in wartime.
So, if the sun shines, they march. If it pours rain, they march. If the mud is ankle deep, they march. If the wind is fierce and cold, they march. They march until their commander says they’re done.
We have all seen the characterization of the stern-looking old gentleman dressed in red, white and blue, his finger pointed in our face as he beckons that “Uncle Sam” wants us. I can’t pass that sign without feeling a bit intimidated. I guess that’s the whole idea.
Friends, we have an enemy. I Peter 5:8 admonishes us to “Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour.” The Holy Spirit bids us to come join the Lord’s army. We are not drafted. We must enlist. It is our choice. Those who do enlist are issued a uniform, a garment of salvation, according to Isaiah 61:10.
We begin our march in the Lord’s army as new recruits, ill-prepared for the battles that lie ahead. That’s why God commands us to put on the whole armor of God that we may be able to withstand in the evil day. And although “full battle gear” may seem cumbersome at times, it is for our ultimate preservation.
Just as the soldier must keep in step, our Lord commands us to walk in unity. Can you imagine the chaos that would ensue if each soldier just marched to his own drummer and did whatever he chose? There is no room for division in the ranks and the Lord commands that everything be done decently and in order. We are not to break rank…not so much because a soldier out of step or lagging behind ruins the appearance before the viewing stand, but because stragglers are easy “pickins” for the enemy.
Our Commander directs our eyes to “Look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2) Our eyes need to be fixed on Christ and our ears open to His every command. We must listen for the voice of one, our Leader, for we are accountable to Him and unless He directs, we are not to turn to the left or to the right. (Deut. 5:32)
There may be times when we struggle with confusion in the march, but it is at those times we need to remember to hold on to our rock, The Rock, Christ Jesus, for He has promised to guide our feet.
We are to march whether life seems good or whether the storms have bogged us down in the mire of circumstance. We are to march even when life’s burdens seem too heavy and all we want to do is lay them down. We are to march when friends turn a cold shoulder to us and when this world’s winds of hatred blow hard. We must march until our Commander says it’s enough and we take our permanent “leave” of this old world to stand before God’s great reviewing stand.
I don’t know about you, but I want to make sure I’m in step all the way.
Janice
