Armour Bearers

This past Monday I had the honour of going to see the Hillsong United Documentary, “Let Hope Rise” in theaters and man was it good! I have always been a big fan of Hillsong Church and the creative content that they are able to put out. This movie was nothing short of that. It was inspiring, entertaining and glorified Jesus. But I’m not here to give a movie review.

This blog however, was inspired by the Hillsong Movie. (SPOILER ALERT) Towards the end of the film, Joel Houston is pressed for time in his attempts to complete a song 77 minutes before their live recording! During this time, Jad Gillies narrates what is happening behind the scenes. Jad tells us how he empathizes with his friend as he tries to complete the song being pressed for time but still wanting to complete it with excellence and to his own personal standards. I loved the way Jad spoke about Joel and how he recognized Joel’s needs at the time. But what I love most was the analogy he gave about his friendship with Joel.

During a very heartfelt moment in the movie, after Jad and Joel had just ministered the song Joel finished 5 minutes before showtime, Jad tells us of the story of the armour bearer. In biblical times, the armour bearer was someone who was in charge of carrying the armour and standing by kings or generals in times of war. They played a protective role or even acted as a covering. Jad sees himself as Joel’s armour bearer and Joel as his own. I was captivated by this beautiful analogy and decided to look further into the life and role of an armour bearer.

In 1 Samuel 14, a brave Jonathan decides he wanted to go over to the Philistine outpost and enter into battle with them. When he shared this with his armour bearer his reply was, “Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul” (verse 7). An armour bearer dedicates themselves completely over to the one they are called to protect. This means that no matter how crazy, radical or outrageous your plan sounds, your armour bearer will stand with you completely. Later in the chapter we see that the Lord gave the Philistines over to Jonathan and where did we find his armour bearer? Right behind Jonathan following him and killing behind him (verse 13). That is what an armour bearer does, they stand right behind you and fend off any enemies that may attack you where your eyes can’t see. They intercede for you. When we look at multiple examples in the Bible, we can see that an armour bearer is someone you respect and can be vulnerable with even to the point of death. In Judges 9:54, Abimelech called to his armour bearer to kill him so that it wouldn’t be said that he was killed by a woman. King Saul also called upon his armour bearer to drive a sword into him so that he wouldn’t be captured by the Philistines (1 Samuel 31:4). And David, who you could say had an armour bearer relationship with Jonathan pleaded with him to kill him if he was found guilty so that David would not suffer the shame of being handed over to Saul (1 Samuel 20:8). An armour bearer is definitely not an easy or light role to have. It can sometimes require placing your life in someone else’s hands. But I see it as an important role that is proven to be valuable in God’s word.

As you’re reading this, you may be thinking of someone in your life who does just that for you. I love this position of an armour bearer because in my own life I have been doing a lot of “defining” in my relationships. It’s always very important to me to be intentional so I try to take time look at the people in my life and label my relationships. This way I know exactly what I’m called to do for each individual that enters my life. Some of these labels include: destiny-helpers, assignments, seasonal friendships, sisters and now armour bearers.

Being an armour bearer is not easy but as christians we are called to “carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). We are commanded to confess our sins to each other and pray for each other so that we may be healed (James 5:16). But most importantly, we are called to love each other selflessly and unconditionally. An armour bearer supports you even when no one else understands. They encourage you to walk in your God given path and they love you with their heart and soul.

Stay Blessed!!! 

Elena Asks.