Radically Happy

What if the tools you used as a soldier could also guide you as a disciple?

In the military, the CCRV framework—Critical Capability, Critical Requirements, Critical Vulnerabilities—is used to analyze missions and identify strengths, needs, and threats. But this framework isn’t just for combat. It can also help us live out the Way of Christ—not as a religious label, but as a path, posture, and identity rooted in humility, service, and transformation.

Inspired by Follow the Way of Christ: Becoming Foot-Washers, this guide translates military clarity into spiritual awareness for those stepping onto this new path.

1. Critical Capability (CC) → The Way of Living as Foot-Washer

Spiritual Parallel: The Critical Capability is your capacity to walk the Way of Christ—to embody service, humility, surrender, love, and relational transformation.

In “Becoming Foot-Washers,” the call is not to religious authority but to servant-identity: choosing self-denial, loving others sacrificially, and striving for unity.

Key features of this CC:

1. Relational authority, not positional authority
   Influence through presence, example, and mercy—not coercion or hierarchy.

2. Sacrificial love
   Giving of self (time, resources, vulnerability) for others’ flourishing.

3. Unity over division
   Healing divides, reconciling conflict, and bridging gaps.

4. Self-emptying obedience
   Denying self, taking up your cross, not insisting on your own way.

“Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” — John 13:14–15

This is your spiritual “force multiplier.” If you can live consistently from this posture, the Kingdom of God becomes visible through you.

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2. Critical Requirements (CR) → Supports & Practices of the Way

Spiritual Parallel: These are the inner life practices, relational supports, and daily disciplines that enable you to walk the Way of Christ faithfully.

• Communion with God / abiding
  Without abiding in the Vine, your capacity to love and serve diminishes.

  “Remain in me, as I also remain in you.” — John 15:4

• Discernment, inner healing, humility
  Ongoing reflection, repentance, and transformation protect you from ego and self-righteousness.

• Faith community (fellow foot-washers)
  You need companions who understand the Way and share the journey.

  “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” — Proverbs 27:17

• Scripture, wisdom, and tradition
  Not just dogma, but stories and patterns that shape your moral and spiritual imagination.

• Ritual, silence, spiritual practices
  Solitude, lament, fasting, and acts of service till the soil of your soul.

• Vulnerability & confession
  You must create space to be seen, to confess, and to receive healing.

  “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” — James 5:16

If any of these CRs are weak or absent, the Way becomes unsustainable.

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3. Critical Vulnerabilities (CV) → Entrenchments, Idols, and Break Points

Spiritual Parallel: These are patterns, attachments, or blind spots that, when disturbed or triggered, can derail your walk.

• Desire for recognition / status
  Even subtle ambition—“I’ll serve, but let people notice me”—can invert the posture.

• Burnout / overcommitment
  Over-functioning without rest or boundary destabilizes your center.

• Wounds & unresolved trauma
  Unhealed pain can hijack your response and distort your witness.

• Relational entanglements / power games
  Hierarchy, favoritism, or emotional manipulation undermine the Way.

• Ideological rigidity
  When the Way becomes a system to defend rather than a path to walk, it loses power.

• Disunity or gossip
  Fractures in relationship weaken the communal vessel needed to carry the Way.

“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” — 1 Peter 5:8

These are not sins to be condemned but openings to be healed. Awareness is the beginning of spiritual resilience.

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4. Strategy: Walking the Way Through CCRV Awareness

1. Clarify your CC
   How are you called to embody the Way of Christ in your unique context?
   E.g., “I am to be a foot-washer in my workplace, my family, my neighborhood.”

2. Map your CRs
   What rhythms, relationships, and supports do you need to sustain the Way?

3. Spot your CVs
   Where are you most likely to be tempted, triggered, or derailed?

4. Guard, renew, repair
   Strengthen CRs before they weaken. Address CVs before they fracture. Recalibrate when you drift.

5. Cycle in humility & vigilance
   The Way is lifelong. Return often to the basin and towel, to confession, to stillness, to joy.

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” — 2 Corinthians 12:9

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Final Word

CCRV isn’t just about strategy—it’s about awareness, alignment, and action. If you’re newly walking the Way of Christ, this framework can orient your spiritual formation the same way it once shaped your mission planning.

Only now, your mission is deeper: not to conquer, but to transform—by washing feet, breaking bread, lifting burdens, and embodying the love that changes everything.

And that, soldier of the Way, is a mission worth living for.