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Persons
of Influence
by Commissioner Wesley
Harris
LIKE other Christians Salvationists are people of influence
although they are not always aware of it.
I had an example of this when I talked to a middle-aged
woman in England.
She was a church member but confessed that sometimes on a
Sunday morning she felt inclined to give her church attendance
a miss. Then as regular as clockwork a Salvation Army bandsman
in uniform, with his instrument under his arm, would walk past
her house on his way to an open-air meeting and she would be
jolted into doing what she felt was right, and attend the
service at her church.
A local officer I knew had an executive
position in a large firm and felt led to place a small Army
flag on his desk. Often it would not cause any comment from
business colleagues but from time to time there would be an
inquiry and an opportunity for the Salvationist to share
something of his faith.
Some years ago a woman Salvationist with a key position in the
city of London attended a business meeting fraught with much
difficulty.
Knowing her religious affiliation a colleague said, “We ought
to be like the Salvation Army people and pray about the
matter.” The
woman enquired, “How do you know what Salvationists do?
”The man replied, “Our offices are next to your
international headquarters and we have seen through a window
what happens before the board meetings.”
True Salvationism is more than uniform deep and on weekdays as
well as Sundays the influence of faithful soldiers of Jesus
goes out all over the world, but a discordant note of warning
should be sounded.
If we fail to live holy lives our influence may be
unhelpful. People may be disillusioned about the Army or, even
more importantly, they may be put off faith in Christ. That
thought makes my blood run cold. Indeed, I would be true for
there are those who trust me!
Amen.!
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