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“Proud To Be A Salvationist?”
by Captain Kelly Goldfarb
Captain Kelly Goldfarb, Corps Officer in Princeton, WV,
discusses whether or not we are losing our love for who we are
as Salvationists.
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Recently I was sitting at my desk and I heard several of our
employees in the kitchen talking about my husband. Let’s just
say they weren’t exactly being complementary. Now granted some
of the things they were saying were true – but still he’s my
husband and no one can talk about him except me! I don’t know
about you, but I was raised with the principle that you have
pride in your family and you always stick up for them and
defend them no matter what. You don’t allow people to tear
down who or what you love.
One of the things that has always fascinated me about
Americans is their unbelievable patriotism. Sure we Brits are
proud of who we are, of the Royal Family, the Beatles, David
Beckham but we are no way as patriotic or proud as Americans.
In recent years I have begun to question just how proud we as
Salvationists are of The Salvation Army. It seems that rather
than pride we look at our heritage and traditions with a sense
of shame. We slowly seem to be moving out our songbooks,
flags, brass bands and uniforms only to replace them with the
modern churches equivalent of the same thing. Songbooks have
been replaced by the screen, flags by banners quoting
Scripture, brass bands by praise and worship groups and the
uniform by jeans and a t-shirt. So I ask myself today, how
proud am I to be a Salvationist and will I stand up for and
defend the Army and our beliefs not just to the outside world
but to those who stand next to me in the ranks.
My heart is saddened by how often I sit around a bunch of
Salvationists and hear them blast the Army. Their attitude is
one of dislike for the Army’s policies, principles, traditions
and beliefs. There is always talk of how we need to change and
adapt, of how outdated our ministries and methods are. People
talk about “the old days” not with a sense of pride but
disdain. It offends me that people will happily take a pay
check, house, car, medical insurance, college education…and
yet have nothing good to say about the organization that is
providing it all. Now I’m not saying that we don’t need to
adapt and move with the times but we need to be proud of our
heritage and realize that The Salvation Army was founded not
solely on the principles of William Booth but the principles
of Jesus Christ. I love a church growth book as much as the
next guy but I think we need to stop trying to transform our
congregations into Willow Creeks and Ginghamsburgs. We are who
we are and we do a lot right. Yes we can learn from other
groups/denominations but we need to remain Salvationists at
our core and in our Corps!
I know of congregations who never even pick up a red songbook
– man are they missing out on some incredible songs! I know of
soldiers and officers who only wear their uniforms when they
“have” to – the words to a beautiful chorus come to my mind
when I put on my tunic and step on the platform, “In royal
robes I don’t deserve, I live to serve your majesty.” I know
of far too many of our people who are confused doctrinally
because we as officers are confused doctrinally.
By this point I’m sure if you are still reading this you are
wondering who wrote this and who do they think they are?! –
Well I’ll tell you – I am a woman who strives to live my
calling every day, who feels privileged that The Army lets me
serve and trusts me not only with thousands of dollars but to
teach and preach Jesus to people. I don’t have any Salvation
Army tattoos and I don’t have a picture of Brengle next to my
bed but I do have a passion and respect for who we are as
Salvationists and of our heritage.
During Holy Week I attended services hosted by local
congregations that were well attended by each of the churches
in the area. It cracked me up everyday because as I looked
around I could easily identify each of the different
congregations – each of them has a “look” – but as I looked
around at my people I realized how diverse we are. From the
man who owns his own business and is a first generation
Salvationist, to the teenage girl who has grown up in the Army
and loves it with the passion of Booth, a former prostitute
redeemed by God who is taking soldiership classes and can’t
wait to put on her uniform and a mentally challenged senior
citizen who struggles to speak and is hard to understand but
walks daily in God’s grace. This is who we are! This is our
heritage; this should be a source of pride. We are doing
soldiership classes with five people who literally can not
wait to put on their uniforms and join the Army and I want
them to join the authentic Army of Booth and not some watered
down version.
So what is the answer? Man, I wish I knew – but what I do
believe is that God is calling us back to our roots – our
roots in Him. God is calling us to a life of holiness and
purity; He is calling us to be true to His Word. If we choose
to serve and worship Him through the Army then I believe He is
calling us to be true to who we are as Salvationists, to be
true to our beliefs and our heritage.
The fact is women are still weeping, children are still
hungry, men are still in and out of prison, alcoholism is
still a problem, there are way too many lost girls on the
street and we can only hope to fight against these injustices
and for these people if we are united in the fight and not
fighting against each other. Perhaps the devils greatest
foothold in the Army is in distracting us with debates about
who we are and what traditions we should keep because that way
he keeps us distracted from our real mission which is to reach
the lost for Christ in Jesus name. So will you join me? You
certainly don’t have to agree with me, but will you lay down
your personal thoughts and philosophies and join with me as we
“serve one another in love” (Galatians 5:13)?
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