Feb
21
2012
Never Retreat!
Looking through a musty box of family memorabilia, I recently came upon a brittle, browned letter dated September 24, 1918, sent to his parents by my grandfather, James Oliver Buswell Jr. Grandpa B's years as president of Wheaton College and later as professor of theology at Covenant College and Seminary were well known to me, but I hadn't heard a lot about his experience in World War I. Serving in France as chaplain of the 140thInfantry for the American Expeditionary Forces, he took part in the Meuse-Argonne offensive, the war's largest western front offensive against the German army. That offensive began on September 26, 1918.
I discovered from his journals that Grandpa B wrote this letter somewhere near Verdun, France, at the close of a "cold, foggy day" during which he had baptized more than 100 men, in a pre-battle "revival" among those in his regiment. Those were the first baptisms young preacher Buswell (then 23) had ever performed. Musing in his journal about this overwhelming response to the gospel, he wrote: "The military situation, of course, has something to do with it, but they all seem very sincere about it. When the men respond the way they have lately it makes any possible effort on my part seem cheap in proportion to the reward." For the new converts they built a little dam in a nearby stream, to make a pool where the men could be either immersed or sprinkled, according to their wishes. "I'm afraid it will be rather muddy," Grandpa wrote, "but it's the best we can do."
The brief letter home is all about the coming military offensive, which turned out to be a great Allied success but in which thousands of their troops were killed. Grandpa B's regiment, as he later wrote, was "all shot to pieces." He was wounded in the leg by a fragment of high explosive shell.
But the letter doesn't anticipate all that; it focuses on the offensive about to begin, less than 48 hours after he wrote it. I take time to quote it because of its insistent theme of not retreating---a theme that my grandfather in the letter applies unabashedly to the Christian life. We believers are so afraid of sounding militant these days---and, in one sense, we should be. We too often treat non-believers as enemies to be defeated rather than as fellow sinners to be saved. But the Bible is full of calls to battle . . . to put on our armor . . . to fight our true enemy the Devil and his spiritual forces of evil, until the day when our victorious risen Lord appears.
Until then, it's good to hear the call not to retreat---generation after generation.
**********
Sep. 24, 1918
Dear Father and Mother:
I'm writing just before what will probably be the greatest military activity the world has ever seen. There are lots of interesting things might be told, but I'll tell you all about it when I get back home! One thing that would be very significant in religious work, and it is an order that's scattered everywhere so every private and orderly knows it, is that anyone who at any time orders any kind of retreat or retirement, is to be shot down at once by an officer. If no officer hears it, the enlisted men must take the offender to the nearest officer to be shot.
We're going forward, and no orders to retreat can possibly be official. Germany has repeatedly sent men into the Allied ranks perfectly disguised as Allied officers, speaking English or French perfectly, to order a retreat, just as the Devil sends the same kind of people into the church. The only way to overcome it is to have it understood that our forces never retreat!
This is going to be a great fight! But the fight for Christianity in our forces is the one which includes all other great causes. You don't know how glad I am that I'm in that fight primarily.
Don't worry about me even if you hear our regiment has been 'in it.' I'm in the Lord's hands.
Much, much love,
Oliver
11 Comments
Perhaps a good test for false teachers is that they encourage compromise, retreat, and withdrawal, whereas God is leading us onward and upward, and the very gates of hell will not withstand his church.
Kathleen—What a treasure of truth and gospel priority in your grandfather's words. And what a gift to have such a godly heritage. I can almost picture the muddy water and 100 men lined up to be marked by it and I am moved by the generosity of Jesus to save all who will turn to him.
Thank you very much for sharing this. I did not know anything about your grandfather being a soldier until I read your post. My grandfather fought in WWI with another regiment. He was wounded and evacuated to England, and then home. My father served in both theaters in WWII. I served in both Vietnam and Iraq. The division I served with from 1989 until my retirement in 2010, the 28th Infantry Division, was in the same battles with your grandfather and mine, and earned the name "Iron Division" from GEN Pershing.
Some years ago I was given a copy of your grandfather's Systematic Theology by a pastor friend. I have valued this gift, have come to appreciate your grandfather through it, and profited from it many times over the years since. In my opinion it is unique in several respects among the many systematics I am familiar with. I think F. F. Bruce was correct in his assessment that "Dr. Buswell could not be dull even if he tried..."!
My grandpa B. (Baker) was also there in Verdun during WW1. He was a medic. Perhaps he knew your grandfather. Who knows, he may have even treated his wound! My grandpa 'went forward' at a Billy Sunday tent meeting perhaps before WW1 (not sure). His background was Dutch Reformed. Thanks for sharing about the revival of the soldiers before that battle. Quite interesting! And I think you are right, that we are often too quick to retreat when on the spiritual battle lines. It takes spiritual guts not to back down when confronting Satan's territory...especially when he gains a foothold among the pastors/leaders of a Christian church. This is occurring with great frequency in these times, and I'm finding myself on this front line myself....and it is a battle. Thanks for the good word!
Thank you for sharing that letter with us, Kathleen! It reminds me of the cloud of witnesses mentioned in Hebrews 11. Also, I am currently reading through your Bible Study on Nehemiah, am am very much enjoying it.
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Kathleen,
thank you for this post.
This morning I saw this news headline:
"Riot police swarm mall in preparation for release of new Nike shoe." And there, on the screen, were many police officers
on horseback, patrolling in cars, etc.,. for crowd control.
It saddened me to see those...who sought out a "shoe"...or "anything"....to give their lives definition, meaning...whether power, position, name, title.
Nike....to "overcome." A personal favorite of mine. But "overcoming" isn't something that we do, because we "have" a
certain shoe, or position, or ability. Rather, we are told in 1 John 2:14,
"I write to you...because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one..."
I love that thought, "...the word of God abides in you..."
This morning, seeking the Lord, I had read the story of Ahaz, and of Hezekiah restoring temple worship in 2 Chronicles 28-9.
But this one line stood out to me:
"...for the Levites were more upright in heart than the priests in consecrating themselves..." 2 Chronicles 29:34
How profound! And we somehow think that we can have anything less than a wartime mentality...even in the Body...in overcoming evil.
grace and peace,
Martha
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