Faint-Hearted God Followers

During the darkest hours of World War II, American fighting men fought with valor throughout the world. Some theatres of battle grew so intense that words could not describe the horror in the heart of a soldier. One such fear was found in the Pacific battles between the Americans and the Japanese. The Japanese government had spent years brainwashing their population in an all out effort to transform their nation into a full scale war machine. One avenue of this brainwashing included the transformation of their view of death. They convinced their men that if they died in a battle fighting for their emperor then their soul would ascend into a state of bliss. Those brave Japanese soldiers became known as Kamikaze warriors.

It was known throughout the forces of the Americans that the Japanese soldiers would simply not surrender. Often they would feign their surrender only to lure unsuspecting Americans closer to them before they would blow themselves up with a hand grenade. In aerial battles, a Japanese fighter would not eject and parachute to safety if his plane was damaged. Instead, he would direct his plane into whatever American craft he could at the cost of his own life. Often they would purposely crash into American destroyers and battleships.

These Japanese men were, without a doubt, brainwashed. They were, some may even say, completely crazy to follow their emperor to such extreme lengths. This one thing, however, was also true about them. They were extremely committed to follow through with that outrageous system of beliefs. They simply did not lack for devotion. They whole-heartedly followed and obeyed their orders even to their own demise.


In September of 2001, a tragedy took place that will burn in the minds of Americans for years to come. Eighteen men boarded four planes in New York City. They set in plan a motion that would end with their own deaths and the deaths of over two-thousand innocent Americans. They hijacked those planes and sacrificed the lives of everyone on them to accomplish their goal.

Some may say that these men were completely crazy…And they were! Some may say that they too, like the Kamikazes mentioned above, were brainwashed…And they were! These men were vile and evil. They epitomized the very essence of all that is bad in this world. Again, however, I am forced to realize that these men did have one good quality. They were willing to give their whole-hearted devotion to a cause that they believed in…even to their own deaths!

"And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart faint as well as his heart." ~ Deuteronomy 20:8

It is a shame that the Kamikaze soldiers were willing to devote their lives and their deaths to the cause of a mortal man and Christians are ashamed in any way to take a stand for our glorious, loving, eternal Savior. It is a shame that the extremist Muslims were willing to march to their deaths for the cause of a false god who exists nowhere except as an imagination in the minds of those who follow him and Christians are ashamed to let their coworkers know that they believe in the God who created the Universe and will someday judge us for our iniquities! It is a shame! It is a shame! IT IS A SHAME!

The Bible is clear in Deuteronomy 20:8 that God is not pleased in the slightest with those who cannot serve him with their whole heart. Simply put, God doesn't desire part of your heart...He desires all of it! If any man is a faint-hearted God follower, God will be pleased if you just go ahead and step off the battlefield. He has no use for you!

Friends, we don’t serve a god made from stone or metal, fashioned at the hands of men. We don’t serve sinful men claiming to be god. We serve the God who controls all things! We serve the Savior of the world! We serve the one who judges the wicked, rewards the righteous, blesses his children, and curses those who reject Him. Friend, we serve a living God who deserves our whole-hearted love and adoration!