One of the most outwardly obvious
aspects of our training at ALERT, especially Basic Training, is the discipline
we drill into the men. Discipline is threaded through everything in Basic
Training, from the uniforms to the drill and ceremony to the protocol. Our goal
in all of that is not merely to develop men who are perfect at externals, like marching, but rather we seek to strengthen the men through that discipline. As Dietrich
Bonhoeffer said, "if there is no element of asceticism in our lives . . .
we shall find it hard to train for the service of Christ. When the flesh is
satisfied it is hard to pray with cheerfulness or to devote oneself to a life
of service which calls for much self-renunciation."
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners
run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.” May we,
like Paul, “discipline [our] body and keep it under control,” 1 Corinthians
9:24, 27 ESV.
