The Greatest Commission (Part 2) 

…I walked out of the Marine Corps Museum (March 2015) as a newly commissioned Second Lieutenant (2nd Lt.), and a world of new beginnings lay before me. First stop would be the Basic School (TBS) in Quantico, VA. Unless you’re married, you live in the barracks with your entire company. Our company consisted of over two hundred new Lieutenants. It’s two to a room and very similar to a college dormitory/frat house, just kept to higher standards of cleanliness. You’re assigned a roommate on day one, and the remainder of your company and platoon-mates live right down the hall. As far as getting assigned a roommate, I was fortunate. My roommate turned out to be one of my closest friends. Normal days started with formation at 0600 and ‘usually’ ended around 1700. We would have classes, training exercises and some weeks we would be in the field. When we were not in the field, the days would end up having random breaks throughout. We would find ourselves in the barracks with an hour here or an hour there without anything to do. It wasn’t enough time to go off base, and so a lot of times guys would “study,” chill, play video games, watch a movie, or do various other activities.

During my time at TBS, I was involved in a ministry called Tun Tavern Fellowship. This ministry’s purpose is to present Christ in and around the Marine Corps by obeying the greatest commandment and following the greatest commission. With leaders like Mike West, Dave Pedraza and several others, I was being encouraged and built up each and every Saturday morning. How can I be like Christ? How can I minister to those around me? When I was working in full-time ministry, I had weekly scheduled hour-long meetings with students (1-on-1 or 3-on-1, etc.). I wanted to do something similar with a group of my peers at TBS, but our schedule wasn’t always conducive to that plan. I brainstormed, and it seemed like God wanted me to pray for the guys I was working with. When these breaks or gaps in time started popping up, I would keep my door open and ask if anyone needed or wanted some prayer. Let’s be honest; not many people came by. A handful of guys would stop in from time to time. We would chat, and then they would share some prayer requests. What surprised them was that I was planning on praying with them on the spot and aloud. It took some by surprise, but nonetheless we prayed.

Over time, it was consistently three of us. OB was my roommate, and Large was just down the hall. We became very close over our time in Quantico. It was almost a daily occurrence in the barracks or in the field that we just prayed. We ended up doing some impromptu Bible studies. It was fruitful and it was fun. About six weeks before graduation, the three of us were hanging out in the room, and Large started talking about wanting to get baptized. As he shared this, OB said, “I’ve been thinking about the same thing.”  I was blown away. From past experience, it always seemed to take way more time for someone to get to that point – the point where they were ready to go public with their faith. In reality, the Lord had been preparing OB, Large and me well before TBS, and we were all watching His plan come together in the midst of our training. The three of us talked about baptism, prayed about it and felt confident this was what the Lord was leading them to do.

On the day of our graduation, the three of us plus another platoon-mate went down to Beaver Dam run just inside the tree line and baptized those two Marines. It was an amazing day. Not only had we finished TBS, but we had seen God work in our midst despite how busy we seemed to be. I didn’t feel like I had much or gave enough, but God used what little we had.

I want to be clear: these guys were not my project; they were and are my brothers. Too often well-intentioned Christians make someone their project. That’s not how it works. People know when they are a project, and this attitude about someone is condescending and ineffective when trying to share the love of Christ. As we walk with Jesus, look around and see if someone wants to join you. People want to be a part of something, not your project.

In my next post, I’ll conclude with part 3 and my time in Meridian.

Chris House

16 December 2017