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Know the Code

Men and boys do love structure.  That’s seems counter intuitive to the messaging of todays modern culture.  Men and boys love adventure, blazing a trail, and building something out of nothing.  Doesn’t structure take the fun out of the adventure.  No, quite the opposite.  The absence of structure in an adventurous life results in dashed dreams, long stretches in the valleys of life and very few mountain top experiences.  One of the foundational structures woven into Royal Rangers, right out of the box, is the Ranger Code.

A Royal Ranger is: Alert, Clean, Honest, Courageous, Loyal, Courteous, Obedient, Spiritual^[30].

• ALERT. He is mentally, physically, and spiritually alert.
• CLEAN. He is clean in body, mind, and speech.
• HONEST. He does not lie, cheat, or steal.
• COURAGEOUS. He is brave, in spite of danger, criticism, or threats.
• LOYAL. He is faithful to his church, family, outpost, and friends.
• COURTEOUS. He is polite, kind, and thoughtful.
• OBEDIENT. He obeys his parents, leaders, and those in authority.
• SPIRITUAL. He prays, reads the Bible, and witnesses.

In Robert Lewis’s book Raising a Modern Day Knight, he points out that men and boys love the idea of Codes.  Something to live by that rises above current circumstances and cultural pressures.

I think men and boys identify with strong words like Code, Commander, and Outpost.  I have enjoyed some of comedian Brian Reagans monologues.  He talks about the military’s use of strong powerful words: The Apache Helicopter, The Tomahawk Cruise Missile.  Then what happened during the development of the Walkie Talkie?  General – “What do you have there son?”  Lieutenant – “Its an untethered communication device so that troops can more effectively communicate in the field.”  General – “What do you call it?”  Lieutenant – “Walkie Talkie.” “Look General, I’m Walkie and Talkie-ing”.

So how can we best use the “Code”?

Commit It to Memory

Walk into any Royal Ranger Outpost and a large percentage of boys won’t even know what the code is or that is part of the Ranger emblem.  Are we not teaching the code because we don’t think it works?  How can something be thought to not work when it’s never been tried.  Many in the world think Christianity doesn’t work.  G.K Chesterton said, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.”  The problem is probably found it assuming.  We are all guilty of this.  We assume that things are being taught or reinforced at home and what we’re left with is a gap, and this gap is growing at an increasing rate.

The good news is that the gap can be closed rapidly.  Find ways to reward and make visual the code and its memorization.  Get intentional.

Commanders, if you haven’t committed it to memory or some of it is a bit foggy, let me encourage you to brush up and take the lead here.

Teachable Moments

Use the code as a kind of lens to examine victories and losses, mistakes and good behavior.

Get Dad & Mom On board

Young parents are often receptive to time proven principles that are Biblically backed.  In addition, parents that find themselves struggling after some missteps are also eager to apply principles that can really help turn things around.

Books We are Reading

TouchPoints by Douglas R. Conant