He’s Our Guy
Capt. Albert Hoffman was a chaplain with the 34th Infantry Division during the North African campaign. As one of the first Americans in the war, he began to redefine the traditional role of the combat chaplain. He didn’t neglect religious services when appropriate, but he felt that his primary duty was in the front line with his men. Historian Patrick Skelly wrote:
He held (that) the unaided wounded lying out in the field had the highest call on the chaplain’s services. Then front-line troops would fight from greater moral motivation from knowing that their accredited representative of religion was with them personally.
Hoffman, although a quiet nonbelligerent man, simply had a front-line temperament. And the front line troops throughout the regiment would tell one another, “He’s our guy.” They thought of him as a personal possession, the way they did a good combat officer.140
Albert Hoffman provided an example to his men and to us of the most effective form of evangelism. Assigned to a combat unit, he concluded that he would be most effective if he shared the same risks as those he hoped to influence. He didn’t try to be a “holy man” or to stand apart from his soldiers. By sharing everything with them, he became one of them. From this position he was able to influence these men spiritually to an extent that would have been impossible otherwise. The apostle Paul first described this approach to ministry. It is the approach best used by all Christians, whether ordained or not, in bringing others to Christ.
Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible… I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.
—1 Corinthians 9:19, 22