JAC Online

On Reformation
by David Whitthoff

Over one weekend, at a conference in USA Central called Re:generation, the idea of the Army reforming itself (at the least in my context) came up. Reformation is an interesting idea. I've been concerned though because of the nature of reformation and how history has shown just how hard it is for an institution to reform itself. No Christian institution that I know of has really reformed itself. I say Christian because I have heard of businesses that get a new CEO and such and do much better. But reformation in the church is much different and much harder. Even The Reformation did not reform the Catholic Church. The Reformers ended up breaking off and starting their own churches. So while they reformed Christianity in incredible ways, we should not think they reformed their church.
 
That brings me to my concern over the state of the Army now. If we hope to reform our institution in any large way we would be doing something even the reformers did not do. On the other hand, the Catholic Hierarchy of that time was much more powerful than any institution that exists now. Still, the Reformers had devotion, probably more than we do, and it was based on the Word of God; it was based on the truth. Yet even with this they still broke off. This shows that even though they did what was right in trying to fix their church, it still ended up in a split.
 
Some say that the answer to the Army's problems is music. If we could have the right music in our corps it would all be right. For others the answer is holiness.  If we could get blessed it would fix everything. For others it is the military metaphor. If we got rid of some of our weird traditions, we'd be alright. The list goes on an on. Until I went to this conference recently I hadn't heard anyone guess that it might be a lack of God's Word that is the root of the Salvation Army’s decline in the West. When that idea crossed my mind I knew it was true. What else could inspire the Reformers to give up their lives? And what else, if missing, could dry up the Army? Brengle said not to let love leak out, but what is love without the Truth of God (and vice versa)? We have almost everything else: we have service ministries, small groups, passion, tradition, heritage, family, friends, community, love, joy, music, fellowship, fun, food, and the list goes on. If we have all these things going for us and our corps, why do we not have a bigger impact on the salvation of the world? We have and do so much more than other denominations and churches.
 
But we lack knowledge of the Word of God.
 
I think we could have love in our corps and in our communities without having the Truth preached well in our corps. We could have soldiers striving for holiness even without the Word of God being accurately taught. We could have great music without the Word of God. We could be more like other churches, even without the Word of God. But the love would be hollow, the holiness would be turned into efforts and legalism, the music would be pointless and dead, and our identity would be stripped from us without the Bible being taught and studied well.
 
Where are our preachers? Who teaches from the Bible? Does your officer preach magazines, books, articles, stories, analogies, life experience, and leave the Word of God to be nothing more than powder sugar on top? I hope for the sake of the Kingdom that they start using the Scripture as their main text (In 1 Timothy 3, it says being "able to teach" is a requirement for pastors).
 
If the Army even hopes to reform itself, on a large or small scale, it will start with a rediscovery of the Word of God. It will establish the Scripture as the center of everything that is The Salvation Army. For too long the Army has been centered on the social gospel, on service, on programs, on being a community center, on being revolutionary. Without the Word of God these will all be in vain. We must be centered on the Scripture.
 
Practical steps toward higher biblical literacy and comprehension can be divided into application for the administration of the Army (THQ, DHQ, and the CFOT), corps, family, and individuals.
 
Individuals
 
A Bible reading plan is a good way to start. Just get reading. If you don't start in Genesis, which is just fine, make sure you are aware of the context that you start in. Pray about what you read. There is a connection between the Holy Spirit inside of believers and the Word of God. He guides us in illuminating the scripture as we read. But don't get disappointed if your reading is not accompanied by strong emotion. As you read more and more of the scripture, the desire for God's Word grows. That has been the experience of most people I know. It may take some time for the emotional connection to develop.
 
I once heard a speaker talk about memorizing a book of the Bible. In fact, this speaker had memorized Ephesians, a few other epistles, the gospel of John, and he was working on Acts, if I remember right. He did this by picking a book and reading it once every day for a few months. Now for John and Acts he read one half first and the second after. Still, by reading a whole book through you get to understand the big idea of the message of the author. If you read a book by your favorite author one page at a time, how exciting do you think it would be? You might lose interest if you went that slowly! If you want to go about memorizing, this would certainly be raising the bar on what we're usually challenged with. If memorization is not your goal, it's still a great study method for understanding a whole book.
 
Families
 
The family might be an overlooked area for Biblical teaching, but it is one of the most vital ones. God has placed parents to bring up their children to fear (respect, honor, love) the Lord. This is a call to parents to teach God's Word to their children. I've heard of some children who, after every dinner at home, would watch as their Dad took out the Bible and gave devotions when they finished eating. This kind of consistent teaching shows children as they grow that the Word of God has a place and a priority in their family (obviously, devotions and teaching can occur at whatever time works for your family). All parents should teach their children to value the Bible and how to study it for themselves.
 
Corps
 
People in corps should be aware that corps differ drastically from one another. What applies to one might be a disaster in another. So while teaching the Bible should be a priority in every Corps, the method will vary. That being said, there are still a few general principles that all corps can follow.
 
1. Check and make sure that you need your Bible when you go to your Corps (particularly on Sundays or when you are going to anything like a Bible study or small group). If not, your corps has a problem.
 
2. Talk about what you are reading in the Scripture. It reminds people of what they have read recently, or that they have not been studying recently.
 
3. Like I mentioned earlier, preaching should be done from the Bible, and if necessary other sources can be quoted or cited to strengthen a point that is found in the scripture. This applies not only to preachers (which would be all corps officers), but also to Bible study leaders, small groups leaders, cell group leaders, and if possible Corps Cadet teachers (I do realize this class is subject to the curriculum.....). The only exception I can think of is if a small group needs to study a certain issue that the group or church is facing. In that case, a topical study may be more appropriate.
 
4. If you are a teacher of any kind in your Corps, read some books on homiletics, Bible study methods, and hermeneutics (that's how to interpret the Bible). Check out the book list on the end of the article.
 
5. Make the vision of your corps centered on the Word of God. This means that everything the corps does goes through the lens of that priority. We need to be asking the question: How does program “A” relate to God's Word? You may object here and say, "what about a potluck, how does that relate to God's Word?" Or "What about a service project; how does scripture fit into that?" While these programs are made specifically for fellowship or service, or whatever else you might think of, if they are viewed through a lens which has scripture as the priority, then scripture can be worked in where appropriate. Other times it may not even have to be included in service projects of some sorts. But perhaps instead the officer preaches sermons related to serving when the new project is taken on. The point is that whatever we do points back to scripture and in turn back to God.
 
Administration
 
THQs and DHQs (and Commands) can start this way:
 
1. They can cast a new vision for the corps in their regions. If they understand the call to reform ourselves based on scripture, they can prioritize their efforts into getting the Bible taught and studied well in the Corps. But it will start with new vision.
 
2. They can expand their Bible/Resource/Curriculum (whatever has to do with the Bible) Departments. Hire graduates from Christian colleges and from seminaries who have studied in order to teach the Bible. Expanding these departments will allow more people from HQs to visit Corps and teach them how to teach and study the Bible for themselves. Hiring more staff can get more material on Bible study and teaching published for further use as well. With more staff in Bible Departments we can hold more conferences and seminars and can get the tools into the hands of people on the front lines in their Corps who are leading Bible studies and other activities.
 
3. They can plan events (Conferences, seminars, etc.) with Scripture in view as the main feature. Checking out guest speakers thoroughly to make sure that they teach from the Bible will go a long way towards centering who we are on the Bible. The conferences that the HQs put on often set the feel of the territory or division for a large number of people. If the HQs show the importance of learning the Bible, that can influence the corps and the soldiers to turn to the Word of God.
 
Training College
 
This is one tough topic. It seems that everyone has an opinion about training, but there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of unity (or a whole lot of people going there!). Obviously, since from training we get our pastors, from training we get the standard of Biblical knowledge and teaching in the Salvation Army. While there may be people here and there that know different aspects of scripture, the sheer number of officers in the Army, combined with the fact that they all go through the same Training College that others in their territory go to, makes for one standard of education. Most officers in your territory had the same classes and training. While training does a lot that is good, I believe there is serious need for improvement. Officers set the bar for their Corps on Biblical literacy, comprehension, study, teaching, preaching, and on the value of the Word. I don't want to be misunderstood for bashing the Training College, I have a great respect for these institutions, but I do have my suggestions. It seems that it would be in the best interest of God's people in our Corps and in the best interest of making the Bible our strength instead of our weakness if we raised the bar in training. Not all of these steps would have to be taken together:
 
1. Move to a three year program. A Master's of Divinity, which is the standard degree for senior pastors (al least in the US), is a three year program. While the training college accepts people without Bachelor's degrees, moving to an M. Div. model could still be a strong possibility.
 
2. Teach the original languages of the Scripture in the Training College. Learning the original languages allows the pastor to delve into the nuances and style of the Biblical writers. Preaching that is exegetical draws the truths out of a deep study of the meaning of the important words in a passage. This makes for Biblical and dynamic preaching.
 
3. This is where I may be lacking in understanding concerning the way training is run, but it seems that it would be beneficial to have professors who teach the classes and the management staff as two distinct groups who work at the Colleges. Having teachers who only taught classes would allow them to pour their efforts into one main job instead of two. It also makes more sense because people usually specialize in only one field.
 
4. Hire professors from outside the Army. Hiring professors from outside the Army would bring in new thoughts and stir the academics of the Army. To have teaching that is continually recycled (Officers who train cadets who eventually teach at the training college etc.) does not add to an academic atmosphere. By bringing in more staff from outside the Army we could gain valuable insights into ministry, scripture, theology, etc.
 
5. Develop tracks for the cadets that can eventually be considered a major. With more staff (#4), the professors could teach a diversity of classes leading to specializations for the cadets. If a cadet wants to go into youth work, he can take youth classes; if preaching, preaching classes; if exegesis, exegesis classes; if counseling, counseling classes, and the list could go on. There is so much potential in specialization that I can't imagine how far we could take it. This has the potential to draw many more cadets in as well because more people might fit into officership as they could work in their passion. This also opens the Army up to stationing officers in pastoral teams at corps.
 
6. I don't want to get people riled up on the age issue for training. So while scripture may not even speak to an age requirement for a pastor, it does give us some stringent requirements, and even the idea of an "elder," which in 1 Timothy 3 is someone working in pastoral ministry, has the idea of someone who is older, or at least respected and wise. Without imposing an age requirement or a Bachelor's degree requirement, it would be prudent of the Training Colleges to test candidates ruthlessly on Bible literacy, hermeneutics, exegesis, preaching, and homiletics before they come to training. Obviously training is for teaching these topics, but currently the system cannot devote enough time to them (See #1 and #2).
 
7. Make it the goal that the Training Colleges could be comparable to a Master's level program. Pastors need to study to take care and teach God's people. There doesn’t seem to be a reason why we can't raise the bar, and there seem to be plenty of reasons to raise the bar. The responsibility of pastoral ministry is too great to be negligent with academics. It's time to step it up. With a renewed orientation around scripture, the Salvation Army in the West could be on its way to a new reformation.
 
Think about what could be!
 
 
 
 
 
Book List
 
For help in personal Bible study:
 
How to Read the Bible for all its Worth, by Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart
Grasping God's Word, by J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel Hays
Introduction to Biblical Interpretation, by William W. Klein, Craig L. Blomberg, and Robert L. Hubbard (This might be a bit of a read, and more technical).
 
For Preaching:
 
Biblical Preaching: The Development and Delivery of Expository Messages, by Haddon W. Robinson
Christ Centered Preaching,: Redeeming the Expository Sermon, by Bryan Chapell
The Art of Preaching Old Testament Narrative, by Steven D. Mathewson
 
For Research (Words studies):
 
The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. Kittel and Friedrick*
The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament Abridged, ed. Kittel and Friedrich*
The Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. Balz*
A Biblical Theology of the New Testament, ed. Zuck
The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, ed. Harris, Archer, and Waltke
The New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis, ed. Gemeren*
The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, ed. Brown*
A Biblical Theology of the Old Testament, ed. Zuck
The Tyndale Bible Dictionary, ed. Elwell and Comfort
The Moody Handbook of Theology, by Paul Enns
Systematic Theology, by Grudem
Christian Theology, by Erickson
 
Hope you can find some of these around. A lot of the research books can be bought for the computer which lets you search them very easily.
 
*These may be a bit technical, but still worth looking at.


 

 

 

 

 

   

 

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