Allen B. Clark www.combatfaith.com www.combatfaith.blogspot.com
Linda and I went to a very entertaining and educational presentation this week by Jason Matthews, author of Red Sparrow, a classic spy thriller. Jason is a retired officer of the CIA's former Operations Directorate, now the National Clandestine Service. He served in this capacity for thirty three years.
As a former Military Intelligence officer in Special Forces in Vietnam, spy stories have always had a special fascination for me. Admittedly my experiences over ten months in Vietnam involved low-level tactical intelligence collection and assuredly I did not consider myself any James Bond type. My missions were so low level that I was wounded at an isolated Special Forces camp in 1967, not in some "grand" paramilitary operation or meeting with some traitor in a Moscow subway system or park.
Mr. Matthews answered questions about intelligence tradecraft in a very illuminating manner and halfway through the book I am captivated with the story.
One of the most compelling questions he answered related to recruitment of agents. He was asked what were the reasons people turned on their country and became traitors. He pegged it to the acronym M (Money), I (Ideology), C (Character), and E (Ego). MICE. He said the Russians added an S (for sex).
Over several days I have contemplated his response given with several examples (and further exemplified in his novel) and likened it to our faith (or lack thereof) as a Christian. Money and materialism, what we believe or do not, what is our character (good or lacking), expressions of ego, and temptations of the flesh, all either controlled or run rampart, either maintain us in line with the precepts of Christianity or keep us outside the "wire" as it called in today's battlegrounds when we are not in the protection of our base camp and go out on convoys where we become susceptible to the Improvised Explosive Devices. Being faithful to God and what Jesus came to teach us keeps us inside the "wire" in a protected position.
Obviously we are in danger of mortar attacks and turncoats inside the camp and that represents life, but without a strong faith and prayer life we are always "out in the open", a target for the demon spirits preying on us to recruit us to the bad side through unethical dealings to enrich ourselves (money), too enamored of the materialism of life, having no identity in which to believe (ideology), not accepting the benefits of God's creation and our privilege of eternal life when we accept Jesus as Savior, spoiling our (character) through addiction to alcohol, drugs, pornography, or perverse behavior, much less lying, cheating, or stealing. Then we add the (ego) issues, believing we are always in the right and elevating ourselves way beyond being humble servants of God and reaching out to assist those less fortunate. Obviously promiscuity and unfaithfulness in the marriage covenant take care of our being recruited to the dark side through (sex).
MICES. It makes sense in the shadow world of espionage and spying and also in the everyday world where most of us reside. We must question ourselves. Have we been recruited by the "enemy?" What is our weakness that makes us a traitor to Jesus and pursuing a good and decent life of unselfish living?
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