When It's Time To Say No

When I was a young SWAT cop, our team was asked to assist in the takedown of some very bad people. They were part of a drug cartel and heavily armed. We got some intelligence that members of this group were transiting our area in the back of a U-Haul rental truck in an attempt to avoid suspicion and detection. We were provided with their route of travel and time of passage.

In the briefing for the takedown, one of the command officers had a bright idea. The word “bright” is code for sarcastic. Since our team was trained for tactical rappelling, the officer said, “Let’s secure a helicopter and have your team rappel onto the roof of the truck while it’s in route and from there you can assault the interior of the truck’s cargo area.”

At that moment, the room was filled with silence as the officer looked around and waited for a response. I was one of the newer members of the team and kept my mouth shut, but waited to declare my disapproval at such a foolish option if no one spoke up. After an awkward silence, one of the team leaders, an old salt with years of tactical experience said, “No way. I am not going to let my guys fly in a noisy helicopter over a moving truck and land on top of a metal roof announcing our arrival and then get our asses shot off while a bunch of crazies unload automatic weapons up through the roof. What are your other options?”

The officer who offered the failed option swallowed the uncomfortable lump in his throat and let our team leader come up with a realistic plan that actually worked. Arrests were eventually made. No one got shot and we all went home to our families. 

There are times in your life as a follower of Jesus Christ, when you may need to speak up and say “no” to partnering with foolishness. The cost of decisions not sourced in wisdom will create a breakdown in our mission and create death, not life. 

Every spiritual operation has an over-arching strategy. These strategies get traction when they become a tactic. We have a Kingdom strategy. It’s called the Great Commission. Where we screw things up is in the tactical application of the strategy. Tactics require brutally honest reality checks when a plan is under consideration. 

If you find yourself in a place where a decision is being offered that sounds as goofy as the proposal made to us to do a tactical rappel onto the roof of a moving truck, someone has to speak up. If there is no one to offer a wise alternative to the foolishness being proposed, the task may fall to you. Don’t be afraid to speak. Everyone within earshot that carries a measure of wisdom will be happy you had the courage to speak out what the others were thinking.