“When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold a smoking pot and a flaming torch passed between the pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram.” (Genesis 15:17-18)
“Man, wha’zup wid’ all this 1%er stuff? I mean, who are these hard ridin’, hard partyin’, hard fightin’, an’ hard livin’ bikers?” asked Fat Mike. “That’s a good question,” I replied, “An’, my answer would start with their take on brotherhood. To a 1%er, brotherhood is everything – you know, that sense of total commitment to both the club and its membership. Man, take a gander at their patches sometime – especially the “–F F –” one – an’ you’ll know what I’m talkin’ about.”
Now, ol’ Fat Mike knows what “–F F–” means; but for you who don’t, it’s “_____ Forever, Forever, ______” (add your own preface and postscript). Even non-1%ers have their own versions of this. Unfortunately, too many out there don’t grasp the bond this describes, and that’s particularly true among Christians. There, you hear the word “brother” used with any old thing – “Brother, this!” and “Brother, that!” Meaningless drivel that reduces the term to a cliché. Say, Jesus called us His brothers, but that idea has been so cheapened, it’s almost worthless!
Yet, the 1%ers know better. To them, it’s an attitude, a sense of dedication, a loyalty, and a trust all rolled into one. It represents lives that are fused together so that its members become “blood” kin – hey, they’re not like family, they are family!!! 1%ers are their brother’s keepers – from day one, they’re taught to support their “bro” any way they can whether it means selling their rides to help him, quitting their jobs to go to him, and even defending his life with their own! Why, even if the LEO’s threaten, it doesn’t matter – they’re not giving up a brother!
What’s really interesting about this brotherhood stuff, though, is its source. There’s good reason why the 1%ers’ sense of it is so strong, and that’s because its very heart and soul is from the Bible! Can you believe it? Let me show you what I mean. First off, God deals in covenants. “Okay,” you say, “But, what’s a covenant?” Well, it’s “an unchangeable, divinely imposed legal agreement between God and man that stipulates the conditions of their relationship.” Whew!!! That’s a mouthful! So, how ‘bout this: God tells people how He wants them to act, and He makes promises about how He will act toward them according to how they obey Him.
Next, there are multiple covenants in Scripture, but they all have the same characteristics: one, while a covenant is an “agreement,” man may not negotiate with God nor alter the terms of its content (remember, it’s “divinely imposed”); and, two, it is “unchangeable” – that is, it may be replaced by a different covenant, but it cannot be changed once it’s established.
So, let’s head over to Genesis 15 ‘cause here is God’s covenant with Abraham that is the pattern for the 1%ers idea of brotherhood:
“Then the Lord’s word came to Abram in a vision: ’Don’t be afeared Abram, for I’m your shield, an’ your reward’ll be huge.’ But Abram said, ‘O Lord GOD, what’re you gonna give me, for I ain’t got no children, and my heir is ol’ Eliezer of Damascus? You’ve given me no kids.’ But then, the Lord’s word came again: ‘Ol’ Eliezer won’t be your heir; rather, your very own son’ll be. Look to heaven and number the stars, if you can. Your kids’ll be numbered like them!’ Abram believed the Lord, an’ God counted it as righteousness.
“Then God said, ‘I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur. . .to give you this land.’ But Abram said, ‘O Lord GOD, how can I know that I’ll have it?’ God said, ‘Bring me a heifer three years old, a she-goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.’ And Abram brought all these, cut ‘em in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he didn’t cut the birds in two.
“As the sun was going down, Abram fell asleep. An’ a dreadful and great darkness came on him. The Lord said, ‘Know for certain that your kids’ll be nomads in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. . .I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they’ll come out with great possessions. As for you, you’ll die peacefully – you’ll be buried in a good old age.’
“When the sun was down and it was dark, a smokin’ fire pot and a flamin’ torch passed between the pieces o’ animals. That was the day the Lord made a covenant with Abram.”
Let’s pick this thing apart, okay? To begin, the covenant between God and Abraham (Abram) was clearly a “bond in blood sovereignly administered” – i.e., it was a promise in which God affirmed that He’d give Abraham an heir from Abraham’s own loins. The affirmation came in the form of a striking ceremony in which animals were slain – cut in two – and then the participants were to pass between the divided pieces. It’s what’s known as an “oath of self-malediction” – i.e., if either party broke the commitment involved in the covenant, they were asking that their own bodies be torn into pieces just as the animals had been divided ceremonially. It was an inherent pledge to death – “blood in blood.” Got it so far?
“But, how does all this covenant stuff relate to the 1%ers’ brotherhood?” you ask. Well, to see that, we’ve got to go back and look at how the 1%ers run their organizations – particularly, how does someone become a 1%er and what does it mean to be a member? First, a guy who wants to join up must establish himself as a “friend” of the club; and he usually does this through a mutual acquaintance. His early contacts may be in a bar or on a run or whatever else the club does. Then, after he’s gotten decent reviews, he may be asked to “hang-around.”
Hang-around periods vary, but it’s a time when the club really begins to check the guy out to see if he will make a good prospect for them – hey, he’s got to be a good fit. He will be asked to most of the club’s activities (except “church” which is a business meeting) and will be scrutinized thoroughly. If he passes muster and finds a “sponsor” (i.e., a club member who will undertake and manage his training) to recommend him to the club, a vote will be taken on whether or not to “prospect” him. Every member has one vote, and for most clubs, it’s an “all or nothing deal” – no black balls. If accepted, he will be given a rocker that says, “Prospect.”
It is now that the real test begins. Basically, the prospect is at the beck and whim of the club’s membership – he has to do what they tell him to do. It may run from the silly (e.g., ridin’ to some far-off place to pick up a six-pack of beer [an’ he’d better come back with the receipt in hand!]) to the pretty doggone serious. The reason for this seemingly brainless obedience is that the club needs to know that they can depend upon him no matter the circumstances (but especially when things head south – “Man, will you watch my back, will you not sell me out, will you take a bullet for me, if necessary?!?!?!”). This is business – serious, serious business!
During this time of prospecting, the “sponsor” will spend a great deal of time training the new man. Hours of heart-to-heart talks and eyeball-to-eyeball confrontations are common. The laughter and the tears will be a mutual experience; an’ hey, if the prospect messes up an’ requires some discipline, the sponsor may very well bear its brunt, too!
When the prospect passes muster, he becomes a fully-patched member. Again, the vote for this status must be 100% for, none against. He then receives his colors, an’ a big ol’ party is thrown celebratin’ the arrival of another brother! (Did you know that the term “covenant” comes from a Hebrew word that means “to cut.” An’ 1%ers call their colors, cuts. That’s cool!!! Well, this first set of a guy’s colors is known as his “originals,” and they must never be cleaned. The stains are testimonials of who he is – the guy your Momma warned you about! Some clubs even “soil” originals so that the 1%er is instantly identified as one of them and not some newbie.)
He now has access to the club with full rights and privileges. No longer will he be thought of or treated poorly. His place is as an equal among equals: good and bad times are to be shared; love, acceptance, and family are his; everything a 1%er owns now belongs to the club; and, by the same token, everything that the club has is now his (an’, if what he needs is not in their immediate possession, then they will figure out a way to get it!). Perhaps, the 1%er falls upon hard times; well, his brothers will assume his financial responsibilities, take care of his children should he have any, and even provide counsel for him and his ol’ lady.
Like I said earlier, these guys are not just like family, they are family! Why, one of the clubs has a patch that says, “Cut one, we all bleed.” If you have ever been around them for any length of time, you know what I’m talking about. Oh sure, they are outlaws (by their own admission), but there is an aura about them that is arresting (pardon the pun!). A 1%er recently told me that when a fellow member had a problem, five of his brothers were there within ten minutes, ten were there within a half an hour, and a couple of chapters assembled within six hours – all there to help their brother out.
1%ers understand the implications of their commitment to the club, and they daily live out those implications in ways that may confuse and threaten us citizens (which is why – when God redeems and delivers one of them – he is a completely “sold-out, no compromise, in your face” brand of Christian that puts the average, run-of–the-mill, American pew-sitter and/ or Christian biker to shame!!!). What’d we say earlier? Let’s see, the commitment involved in a covenant community was one in which a pledge to the death was taken – blood in blood. A 1%er was once asked, “How much did you pay for that patch?” After a brief pause, he said, “My life.”
Let me give you a couple examples of how this “blood in blood” thing works itself out with the 1%ers. Take for instance one of their own going down. The injured brother is carefully watched over, and his family is provided for. I’ve seen guards garrisoned outside of a hospital room – one shift giving way to another – an’ no one gettin’ by unless approved by the club and family. Then, when the brother goes home, the watch-care is transferred there. Should he pass away, the emotion is genuine – heavily-tattooed men an’ their ol’ ladies sharing their grief openly.
Or, consider how discipline is meted out within the club: an enforcer is brought in to get things settled (maybe even two – an older brother with tenure who is able to have a heart-to-heart with the offender and a second who will measure out whatever discipline is needed to bring him back into line). If at all possible, the offending member is restored to the club. That’s right! But no matter what, strife will end and peace will be regained. (Man, o’ man, can this ever provide an example for the church! The Matthew 18 principle – albeit somewhat distorted – is alive and well to the 1%ers. They don’t air their dirty laundry to others [certainly never to outsiders], and their idea of “watching a bro’s six” is admirable. Do we have ears to hear?!?!?!)
You know, these guys have a remarkable brotherhood – they’ve pledged themselves to each other in life and to death. Nevertheless, while the 1%ers’ covenant is not too distant from its biblical fore-bearer, it’s not exactly close either, because the enemy of souls has twisted it. You see, theirs is grounded in neither God’s character nor man’s obedience to God’s Truth.
But, there’s another reason that God’s covenant with Abraham and the 1%ers’ view of brotherhood parts company: the promised redemption of Genesis 15 moves in another direction (characterized by the animal parts being divided) – did you notice that only God passed between the divided pieces. Yeah, He did not require Abraham to pledge himself to self-malediction!!!
This means that God is the Covenant-Maker, and He alone is responsible for completing each and every aspect of the covenant. True, Abraham had obligations, but it was God who sealed the deal. It’s all of grace – the Lord’s pledge to Abraham was that while death was necessary if the covenant was violated, it was God and God alone who would bear the penalty for man’s covenant-breaking! Hey, blood had to be spilled to atone for the breaking of the covenant vows, an’ it was God Himself who would pay that price.
“So, whose blood was shed?” you ask. Dude, that payment was made in full by the death of Christ. Yep, God the Son became true Man with the sole purpose of bearing the penalty of the violated covenant – Jesus Christ came to earth to die!!! That’s why they named Him Jesus – ‘cause He’d “save His people from their sins.” Think of it this way: have any of us – 1%er or not – ever been willin’ to bloody ourselves for someone who violated us??? C’mon, man; we want them to pay big-time, but God was both willing and working to that other end.
So, back to that ol’ “–F F–”. Hey, me an’ Fat Mike have ours – it’s “C F F C” or “CHRIST Forever, Forever CHRIST.” In God’s sight, we ain’t jus’ like family – we are family! Real, live brothers of the Son! True ‘nuf, we broke the covenant vows, but it’s “blood in blood,” an’ we’re blood-bought, man. Jesus bore our punishment on the cross and stamped tetelestai on our hearts – “paid in full.” Not bad; not bad at all. Say, how ‘bout you prospectin’ with Jesus, too? Now, I ain’t sayin’ it’ll be easy – either repentin’ or believin’; no, not easy, but oh, so necessary! Still, if you sign up, I guarantee He’ll “watch your six,” ‘cause none “who trust in Him will be disappointed.” You ol’ covenant-breaker, come to Jesus; you who are worn-out, tired to the bone, an’ weighed down with sin, come to Jesus; what more can I say, dude – come to Jesus!!!
With all due love, loyalty, and respect,
2R
Copyright @ 2007 CrossWind Ministry
