“You gotta do whatcha gotta do, and when you’re done, you’ll be stronger!”

That quote was from legendary Navy SEAL and DEVGRU operator, Adam Brown, who was killed in Afghanistan on March 18, 2010, ultimately sacrificing his own life in order to preserve the lives of his fellow teammates.

Not only was Adam notoriously fearless, but he was also a Christian. The legacy he left was tremendous, one that I know carries on thirteen years after his death. If you want to know more about this real-life hero and selfless warrior, I highly recommend Fearless by Eric Blehm, an incredibly well-written biography of his life.

Adam was a faithful and loving husband and father who understood sacrifice, as well as someone who persevered through some significant trials. He did not merely wake up one day as a legendary SEAL. What made him legendary was his ability and desire to overcome obstacles that would make most of us quit. Not only did he lose vision in his dominant eye, but he also had to learn to shoot with his non-dominant hand, and he still became a SEAL sniper after the fact. This is virtually impossible, has never been done before, and will probably never happen again.

Adam Brown had the testicular fortitude to embrace trials and to overcome them. He had the resolve to set his face like flint and conquer any obstacle he encountered. In the end, those obstacles only made him stronger. When he surrendered his own life for the lives of his teammates, he did what needed to be done, sacrificing the one in order to preserve the many.

Adam lived out the very words of Christ: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:12-13). He rightly understood what sacrificial love looked like.

There is a concrete and asphalt pad at the BUD/S training facility in Coronado, California, affectionately called the “Grinder.” This is the place where men entering into SEAL training complete their calisthenics workouts. The Grinder is surrounded by pull-up and dip bars, instructors, and the offices of both training and commanding officers. One cannot avoid being watched and scrutinized while on the Grinder.

These grueling workouts were designed to holistically test a man. The workouts do not simply push you physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. The goal is to grind you up and spit you out, never relenting from pushing you well past what you thought were your limits.

Only those with a proper mindset can survive the Grinder. Only those with a “never give up, never give in” mentality reach the end. Only those who are willing to “do whatcha gotta do” to pass this test ultimately finish, and when they do, as Adam Brown said, they are stronger. They are willing to grind and be ground up. They themselves are “grinders.”

The word “grinder” is defined by one dictionary as “an athlete who succeeds through hard work and determination rather than exceptional skill.” This is also true of the SEAL trainees who pass that initial phase of the BUD/S training. Now, of course, these men later become some of the most highly skilled warriors the world has ever seen, but the point is that they have the mindset to succeed through hard work and determination. This is the required mindset to be a grinder.

Far too few men in our culture, and especially in the church, even have any desire, let alone this mindset, for anything at all in their lives. Instead of a willingness to be grinded into better husbands, fathers, employees, and followers of Christ, they wilt at the first sight of pressure or opposition. They surrender the moment their task becomes difficult. Instead of taking the path that makes them stronger, they look for the path of least resistance. They are experts at finding the easy way and excel at making excuses and forgoing responsibility. 

Retired Navy SEAL and motivational speaker David Goggins has been quoted as saying: “I don’t stop when I’m tired, I stop when I’m done.” The point is that growing tired, in most instances, is not an acceptable excuse for not finishing a task. This is simply an excuse, and we need to bury our excuses. A grinder does not stop because he is tired. A grinder pushes through the exhaustion until he has done what needs to be done. A task is complete when the job is finished, not when one no longer feels like working.

This discussion is not confined simply to working out or some other rigorous physical task like demolishing a concrete block wall. This discussion can also apply to spending time with your kids, leading your household in family worship, reading the Bible, attending regular worship, completing work for your employer, or even taking your wife on a date.

This is what has often been called the “Puritan Work Ethic.” This concept is nothing more or less than a biblical work ethic, but the Puritans often receive credit for living out that mandate. This way of life emphasizes hard work, diligence, and discipline.

I am grateful to God that this mindset was passed down to me from both sides of my family, as the Puritan Work Ethic has shaped and molded me into the man that I am today. I consistently ask God to allow me to pass this same lifestyle down to my own children, especially to my son.

I have seen far too many young men fail to grasp this concept, including men that happen to cherish Puritan theology. This is to the shame of their fathers, who either were not present, did not model this lifestyle for them, or maybe even made excuses for them, allowing them to perpetually suckle from the teat of their own hard work and provision.

The result is a generation of men who are allergic to hard work: men who are never able to shake adolescence, men who excel at taking the easy way out, men who ultimately further the decline of our culture, and men who are incapable of doing “whatcha gotta do” to even survive on their own, let alone be responsible for others under their care.

Another SEAL, podcaster, and author Jocko Willink once said: “It’s the grind that sharpens the axe.” If you want to not only be sharp, but also stay sharp, you have to be willing to grind.