|
Conclusion: The End of
Salvationism
by
Captain Stephen Court
The End part 1.
The End of Salvationism – Destiny
The title of Roger Kimball's essay in the June/July 2008 issue
of First Things is "The End of Art." “That is intentionally
ambiguous, of course, suggesting that when art has no end,
meaning self-transcending purpose, it is the end of art.”
(Richard John Neuhaus)
That is to say, if something lacks a self-transcending
purpose, that spells its own end. The choice is destiny or
demise.
Writing in 'Salvationist' in 1879 William Booth summed up our
destiny in the following simple but striking way:
We are a salvation people - this is our speciality - getting
saved and keeping saved, and then getting somebody else saved,
and then getting saved ourselves more and more until full
salvation on earth makes the heaven within.
“Full Salvation On Earth”
This is Salvationism in fullness, leading missionally to
Booth’s assertion that, "Salvationism means simply the
overcoming and banishing from the earth of wickedness"
(William Booth, The Officer. 1893).
In our early days, the Lord Jesus Christ endorsed this end of
Salvationism. God wrapped a small group of misfits in Holy
Spirit-conviction, infused them with love, dressed them in
prophetic garb, fitted them with a holy disdain for dignified
reputation, trained them in the sacrificial Cross-life,
deployed them amongst the poor, and transformed great swaths
of the world.
The End part 2
The End of Salvationism? – Demise
What distracts us from our destiny can spell our demise.
The opposite of ‘self-transcendent’ in the lead quote above is
‘inferior or ordinary’.
There are some dangerous spiritually ‘inferior and ordinary’
threats to Salvationism. Most appear in insidious fashion to
divert us from our commitment to win the world for Jesus. And,
yet, if we succumb to their subtleties we could possibly
witness the demise of Salvationism. The destiny of
Salvationism is:
• Not the growth of The Salvation Army (it is much more than
that – it is Kingdom expansion to the Revelation 7 depiction
of every language, every people, every nation, every tribe).
• Nor the protection of our reputation (that may or may NOT be
the means – let’s concern ourselves with our character and let
God take care of our reputation).
• Nor the solidification of our
finances/properties/investments (it could conceivably mean the
liquidation of those properties and investments to pour
directly in mission).
• Nor the comfort and support of our officers (i.e. limited
resource belongs in mission before allowances and benefits; we
don’t ‘coddle the saints’ as Commissioner Elijah Cadman
preached).
• Nor the establishment of our ministerial credentials and
place among the Churches (though these are potentially useful,
we are not here for the group photo).
• Nor the clarification of our slot at the top of a bunch of
charities (this is not a service club competition).
• Nor the imitation of other Christians on trendy theological
themes (the goal is not spiritual acceptability within the
Body of Christ).
These don’t just make a list of potential threats. These are
real and active on fronts in different parts of the developed
world.
The destiny of Salvationism is not the aggrandizement of The
Salvation Army. We mustn’t be trapped in this obvious tactic
of the enemy.
What might spell Salvationism’s demise, on top of the threats
listed in the bullets above, is the slavish imitation of
non-Salvationist theology and philosophy that has seeped into
The Salvation Army over past generations.[i] Journal of
Aggressive Christianity, along with a shelf full of new titles
in this latest revival of Salvationist publishing, when
embraced, will protect us from potential demise consequential
to such enthrallment.
Carnality is always a threat. But, praise God, we are part of
the Holiness movement. We believe that holiness is the
solution to every problem. Our embrace of holiness is powerful
enough to overcome the potential distraction and demise of
Salvationism through friendship with the world, with
consumerism, materialism, and hedonism.
The End part 3
“Tear Hell’s Throne to Pieces.”
The means of realising our destiny – the missional end of
Salvationism - is to tear hell’s throne to pieces (“We’ll tear
hell’s throne to pieces and win the world for Jesus” – Colonel
William Pearson SASB800).
How might we most effectively advance toward our destiny, the
end of Salvationism? How can we see full salvation ‘tear
hell’s throne to pieces’, to ‘win the world for Jesus’?
Means to an end
Let’s not compromise on salvation (Mark 1:15,17; repent and
believe, follow Jesus). Let’s hold to unashamedly Wesleyan
holiness (with crisis as a theological necessity[ii]). And
let’s universally embrace covenant, which is potentially
transformative (if we do, it will reverse global fragmentation
and position ourselves such that God can download His destiny
for us).
Let’s remember that we are a movement. While we are obviously
part of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, on many fronts
around the world the inclination to emphasise that aspect of
our identity is counter-missional.
And let’s elevate Salvationist culture to a position that
transcends national culture. The ‘collective of the
covenanted’ (Captain Rowan Castle’s phrase) is much stronger
than national patriotism or mere passport similarities.
Let’s recognise that ‘the fellowship is in the fight’. This is
the most robust and intimate kind of fellowship (not to be
confused with bland coffee and stale biscuits after the Sunday
meeting). Let’s guide our war-fighting by the modus operandi,
‘Capture, Train, Deploy’. And let’s ‘Love to fight and fight
with love’. Why? The love of Jesus in us never fails.
How will we get there, personally? We must be greedy when it
comes to the means of grace. Our spiritual rations must be
more critical for our health than the food we ingest – we
indulge regularly with God through prayer and the Bible. We
must engage in discipling – we get trained up and we train
others up to win the world for Jesus following Paul’s model
with Timothy and reliable men and women (2 Timothy 2:2). And
we throw ourselves into evangelism - this becomes a (super)natural
outcome of fruitful discipleship. And all of this happens
within the context of compassionate, justice-tinged
intentional cultivation of authentic Christian community.
The End?
These exhortations to warfare in the coming generation provide
means to an end – the end of Salvationism. If this does not
closely resemble your experience, then the challenge is
obvious. Respond to the challenge spiritually. Allow God to
transform you such that you are positioned to help fulfil
Catherine Booth’s foundational prophecy, her imagined destiny,
her desired end for The Salvation Army:
The decree has gone forth that the kingdoms of this world
shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ and
that He shall reign, whose right it is, from the River to the
ends of the earth. We shall win. It is only a question of
time. I believe that this Movement shall inaugurate the final
conquest of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Catherine Booth)
The End
Endnotes
[i] These include uncritical embrace of ‘seeker-sensitive’,
‘mega-church’, attractional-model, ‘saved to serve’ (instead
of the authentic ‘saved to save’), non-Wesleyan spirituality,
liberal Biblical theology (on issues like doctrines 1, 6-8,
11), sacramental ritual, secular leadership practice, and
other influences.
[ii] Major Geoff Webb explains:
1. Christians believe that only the perfect can be in heaven
2. For Wesleyans, unless the sinful nature can be dealt with
in this life the possibility of assurance is very limited.
3. Therefore, for Wesleyans, entire sanctification should
occur in this life, in a crisis experience. (As death is a
decisive ending, so dealing with the sin-nature needs to be a
decisive in a similar way.)
4. Thus, for Wesleyans, the crisis of entire sanctification is
a theological necessity rather than an experiential necessity.
For some, it may not be emotionally vivid enough for
subsequent recall.
Each of these points can be derived directly from Wesley’s
writings.
|
