Chaplain Corner Submissions - Ben Caudill Chaplain's Corner

THE CROOKED SMILE

He always wore a smile though guarded by his hand. It was almost perfect in nature except for the lower lip on the right side sagged ever so slightly. He always tried to cover it and presented his best smile forward for others to see. At first you don’t notice it but as you become more acquainted with him, he lets his guard down and you see him wearing a crooked smile.

He was quite charming and could talk to you in such a manner that you left feeling like you had been in the presence of greatness. He had a following of people and surely they were aware of his true nature. Slowly you started noting his walk did not depict his words. But how could this be? He seemed like such a nice person and really knew his Scripture. In fact he appeared to be a man of the cloth. Yet, there was something about that smile.

Slowly, ever so slowly you realized that his words were not of serving God but of serving self. His crooked smile became a snarl and he began filling those around him with his poison. Soon you began to realize that he was filled with arrogance, venom, apathy, and was in fact a false prophet. He filled his well with poison but soon only he drank from it.

The Bible is clear about those who wear the crooked smile. In Matthew 7:15, Christ stated to, “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” In Matthew 10:16, Jesus once again addressed the wolves who wear the crooked smile: “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; therefore be shrewd as serpents, and innocent as doves." Finally Paul stated a profound prophecy and warning in Acts 20:29: “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock." This we know: they have walked before us, walk beside us on occasion and will be here until the return of our Redeemer.

How do we fight the crooked smile? When you go to God’s Instruction Manual on Life (Bible) you will find the answers. Our ancestors knew the secret. Just like our ancestors, you must be trained and taught to face the enemy. You must wear the correct uniform as described in Ephesians 6:10-18. “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. ¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. ¹⁸And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”

Take a hard look at our armor. 1. The belt of truth is the Biblical facts which are absolute in nature and infallible. 2. The breastplate of righteousness stands for your commitment to understand and abide by Jesus’ righteousness and to hold the sacred principles within your heart. 3. Feet fitted with readiness of the Gospel of Peace is the peace that passeth all understanding. This allows us to face all adversities with a smile unmarked by a crook. 4. The shield of faith is living by that conviction that you are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ. It is your belief in your eternal salvation and our God that gives you this Impenetrable shield. 5. The helmet of salvation is our resource against the words from the mouth of the crooked smile. It is faith personified and allows us sweet victory over distorted mysticism. 6. The sword of the spirit relies upon the strength of God’s almighty word. By weilding the sword of the spirit you will conquer all who attempt to stand against us.

When dressed in the armor that God provides, the person with the crooked smile has not a chance for we have the power of prayer and so many prayer warriors backing our charge. We will prevail. “Draw nigh unto God and He will draw nigh unto you”! One of the most important aspects of the armor is to pray in the spirit in all occasions. Prayer is the key to the prayer warrior and is the sharper than a two edged sword against those who wear the crooked smile. Pray in all things and believe to achieve!

Romans 8:37-39 says, “That in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.... For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers.... will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." James 4:7 tells us that if we, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

So once again God has supplied all our needs according to the riches of His glory. With God being on our side who can be against us? How do we know if a person is truly serving God? You are known by your works. General Jackson offered insight into this in the following statement: “Denominational distinctions should be kept out of view, and not touched upon. And, as a general rule, I do not think that a chaplain who would preach denominational sermons should be in the army. . . . I would like to see no question asked in the army of what denomination a chaplain belongs to; but let the question be, “Does he preach the Gospel.” General Lee also understood how to walk in the light: “Help me to be, to think, to act what is right, make me truthful, honest and honorable in all things; make me intellectually honest for the sake of right and honor and without thought of reward to me."

Dear friends, let us be resolved to be a model; an example for others and stand against the forces that would lead others (and ourselves) from the narrow path. Let us be slow in our wrath, quick in our love and easy to forgive. Let us follow the examples of Christ and accept our commission with gratitude, as we stand against the crooked smile. Smiling in His love, I remain the old general.