Souvenirs of Salvationism 2
by Commissioner Wesley Harris

A NOTICE in the Australian edition of The War Cry in October 1885 invited orders for ‘Soldiers’Passes’ at four pence each. Apparently these were required to gain entry into specified gatherings such as Soldiers’ meetings.
The passes were coloured red and embossed with gold lettering plus the Army crest and certified that the bearer was authorised and required to perform under the direction of a superior officer all possible duties for the salvation of souls and the glory of God.

The pass indicated that possession of it did not give anyone the position of a soldier any longer than they continued really to be one. It stated that to be a soldier one had to be saved from the guilt and power of sin through true repentance and faith in the blood of Christ.

It laid down that the soldier had to be a total abstainer from all intoxicating drink, from cursing and swearing, lying, deceit and fraud of any kind and be baptized with the Holy Ghost so as to be on fire for the salvation of others and willing to do as they were told by a superior officer for the salvation of souls – without any discussion!

Further requirements included regular attendance at meetings outdoor and in, giving to the funds and making known its publications.

Although the conditions might seem rigorous soldiership was seen as a privilege and in rollicking meetings our forebears could sing meaningfully of ‘joy in The Salvation Army’. Holy hilarity often went along with serious spiritual purpose.

William Booth was both inclusive and exclusive. On the one hand everyone was welcome at the Army but not everyone was welcome in the Army. William Booth wanted soldiers - for without soldiers there could be no army! - but he felt that it was important to have people who would believe and behave as ‘good soldiers of Jesus Christ’.

There were plenty of church spires on the skyline in the mid-nineteenth century but William Booth was not into forming another denomination on lines similar to those already in existence. He wanted to raise a fighting force of militant activists.

We live in another era when people’s mindset may be very different. Post modernism is far removed from the attitudes of Victorian England. But pondering on the soldier’s pass and what may be described as primitive Salvationism may cause us to at least ponder whether ‘the big ask’ of sacrificial service may still have more appeal than attempts to accommodate people in more ‘comfortable pews’ and ever easier ‘churchianity’.

I recently spent some weeks at the new Army ‘War College’ in Vancouver. The Salvationist students have been ‘doing it tough’ living in extremely spartan accomodation and studying and witnessing in an appalling ‘downtown eastside’ district. But these ‘soldiers of the pavement (to use a description of Salvationists attributed to the late Pope John Paul II) would be as happy a group of young people as I have known, and worthy successors of those who would undoubtedly have carried their soldiers’ passes with pride.

 

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