Armor of God: Part II

The American PASGT Kevlar Helmet of Salvation (Eph 6:17)

Weighing 4.2 lbs, this helmet is constructed of 19 layers of Kevlar. The helmet itself is commonly referred to as simply, "kevlar". 4.2 lbs doesn't sound like much until you consider that a bare human head weighs around 10 lbs. Wearing kevlar is like suddenly gaining another 50% of one's head weight. It caused many headaches until I was used to wearing it.

Below are just a few observations that I made about my Kevlar of Salvation.

Kevlar (as well as any other uniform headgear) protects from the Sun. I once made the mistake of not wearing any headgear for about an hour in the Sun. The burn on my head felt like someone had hit me with a rock.

It protects me from death. Unlike the protection offered by the IBA of Righteousness a penetrating blow to the head would most likely cause immediate death.

It protects my central nervous system - the part of me that controls everything, the center of understanding.

It is not a guarantee from injury. Though the parts of me that the Kevlar of Salvation protects are vitally important, it only covers a small portion of my body.

Armor of God: Part I

I had the honor of spending the Summer of 2007 in Iraq and Afghanistan entertaining Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and my fellow Airmen. While there, I decided to do a little experiment. I have always been interested in the Armor of God (Eph 6:10-17). I understand that this armor is a metaphor, but I wanted a deeper understanding of the root of that metaphor. So I took all of my modern day armor and labeled it according to the Armor of God - individual body armor = breast plate of righteousness, kevlar helmet = helmet of salvation, etc. I learned a few things, some relevant to scripture and some not.

The Interceptor Body Armor (IBA) of Righteousness (Eph 6:14)

This 16.4 lb vest is similar in weight and purpose to the roman breast plate that Paul referred to in Ephesians. Here are the observations that I jotted down in my journal:

IBA is heavy, a burden, and uncomfortable.

It is protective (I feel safer inside it).

The weight, though oppressive in 120 degree heat, is balanced.

It protects my vital organs.

There is a video taken from the view of an enemy sniper shooting a soldier wearing this armor. The man falls to the ground, immediately jumps up, readies his weapon, takes cover, and begins to fight.

When I get around to it, I will write about how some of these observations apply to the Armor of God. Right now I'm just too darn lazy to write all this stuff in one sitting.