Martinet

Somewhere in 17th century France there lived a military officer s'appela Martinet (Jean bien sur).   His particular claim to fame was the ability to turn a raw recruit into a lean, mean, killing machine.  The man was such a harsh disciplinarian, in fact, that his name will forever carry a slight negative connotation.   

He had a reason for his strict methods though.  Apparently, back in the day, the gun wasn't quite the laser guided, GPS programable, extremely lethal weapon it is today.  When you shot your musket you couldn't be sure if you'd hit the deer in front of you or the tree right next to you.  Multiply that by a thousand or so and you can imagine the chaos of the battlefield.  With men running wherever they pleased you might end up killing more people in your own company than the enemy - not a good strategy if you want to win.

So this guy came up with an idea.  All the French soldiers would line up, shoulder to shoulder, marching together in a steady rhythm.  When they were close enough to the enemy lines they would fire - but only upon command and everyone together.  With everyone even together in a line they were protected from their neighbor's erratic aim.  And with  all the bullets shot out together like a curtain it didn't matter where exactly they went - the enemy was doomed based on the sheer number hurtling at them at once.

But you have to think about this - the straight line of soldiers was a pretty easy target for the other side.  I imagine it takes serious guts to stare a bullet in the face without flinching.  To accomplish, and maintain, that level order required extreme discipline so that the men would be able reject their natural fight or flight instinct and work as a single unit.  Essentially they were trained to the point where they lost concern for their individual lives (to some extent at least) in favor of the company as a unit.  

Jon has an old Navy saying he's 'fond' of: 

The true meaning of discipline is not punishment.  It's that men would learn to work together to achieve a common goal.

 

(The recruits would repeat this in unison as they completed push-ups.)  

But it really is true.  France became one of the mightiest armies on the continent because of Martinet's techniques.  The whole succeeded though the individual might perish.   

There is something so powerful about people working together toward a common goal.  The Bible mentions this is the story of the tower of Babel.  God recognized the singularity of purpose among the people and He, Himself, had to disrupt their plans.  

Thank God His plans don't include any fighting like the French.  I really could not handle that.  But the Bible does describe His promises for when His people work as one - the nations will say "show us your ways".  Incredibly that means there ARE answers to the craziness of this world.  There is a better way that IS something people globally can learn from.  It's not just fairy dust and good feeling either - but real solutions to real leadership, economic, social problems.   

Men are working together to achieve a common goal.  Life without all the messed-up-ness.

There are just waaaay fewer push-up involved.